Harrison, et al.
It's been a while since I checked in, but this thread brought back many
fond memories of several OST events over the years, and one in particular.
It's been many years since I was contacted by a group that included
multiple coalitions of mental health professionals, administrators, and
policy makers from throughout Ohio. At the time, local urban and local
rural leaders of county mental health boards were battling with each
other and state mental health officials over what was described as
inequitable, differential funding of urban and rural systems by the
state. One of the local coalitions had an active lawsuit pending against
the state over inequitable funding. At that point the lawsuit had been
pending for several years.
However, the reason they contacted me was that the state legislature had
initiated legislation on a particular policy that each of the three
groups found problematic for different reasons. Several of them had
experienced OST in other settings and thought it might be a way sort
things out on the legislative issue.
During the planning process we spent quite a bit of time
considering/testing potential questions to frame an inclusive invitation
to a wide variety of people concerned about the issue. Several times
during the planning process members of the planning group made it clear
that they did not want to take on the other issues and that they
expected me to "manage" that "problem." I kept saying that, whatever
question we arrived at, I couldn't promise the other topics wouldn't
come up if it was important to people at the event. I did say that I
thought the organizing question they landed on seemed inclusive and that
they would quite likely end up someplace that would help them advance
their cause.
The day we were opening space, with about 100 people attending, the
bulletin board filled up with all kinds of good stuff. As you might
predict, most of the topics were on the legislation, but some of the
topics were related to inequitable funding. A few of their planners
continued to be frustrated and approached me. I advised that they each
think about what they felt passionate about and were willing to accept
responsibility for working on... and then vote with their feet. The
first day people worked on what they cared about, with most focusing on
the legislation. Some people stayed irritated, but those few working on
inequitable funding seemed to be really listening to one another in
their sessions. The next day work continued on the legislation, building
on work from the day before. However, as the morning evolved I noticed
and increasing amount of bee and butterfly activity, much more than I
was used to seeing. I listened in on some of the conversations and the
talk was about equitable funding (not inequitable funding). At the time
I said the air was electric - but sizzles works. After lunch most of the
participants attended one huge session that had been posted as funding
related. In the next 90 minutes they came to common ground on an
approach to addressing funding issues!
My take on the closing circle was that 4 themes emerged. One was that
working together on the legislation reminded all of them what they all
felt passion about - providing community based options for individuals
and families experiencing the effects of mental illness. Another theme
was how good they felt about working together again after so many
years... they remembered the "good old days" that had brought them
together so many years ago. Third, they realized that, for quite a
while, there had been some people who had been ready to engage in
dialogue about funding, but hadn't found a nontoxic space to do so in...
until then. Finally, they noticed the paradox I suspect all of us have
experienced in one form or another... when they stopped thinking about
the "problem" or "the conflict" or the toxicity they had all come to
accept as "normal," something else showed up!
The results? During the next several weeks they each did their part in
preparing to address the legislature. After the legislative hearings,
about 6 weeks after the OST, the legislature shifted its approach.
That's lightening speed when addressing a complicated, statewide public
policy and fiscal issue in a volatile political and economic
environment. Within about 6 months of the OST the lawsuit (the one they
wanted me to make sure didn't get discussed) was resolved and a
collaborative group had developed options that all could all invest in.
Harrison described organizations without conflict as dead. I agree. One
way I think of conflict is: the opportunity for diverse groups of
passionate people who really care about what they are doing, are
invested in taking responsibility for what they are doing, and (not
but), have very different perspectives about what is going on, what to
make of it and what, if anything, to do about it. From my perspective,
in a world characterized by diversity, complexity, chaos, implicate
order, emergent order, the capacity for self-organization (and more),
the good news is that healthy conflict can enrich our understanding of
what, in the moment, we are experiencing, what we will make of that
experience, and what, if anything, we will do about it.
OST leads to avoiding conflict? Not in my approximately 25 years of
opening space... quite the opposite.
--
Shalom,
Chris Kloth
Principal/Lead Consultant
ChangeWorks of the Heartland
254 South Merkle Road
Columbus, OH 43209-1801
P - 1+ 614-239-1336
F - 1+ 614-237-2347
www.got2change.com
Think globally, act locally.
On 2/1/2018 2:58 PM, Harrison Owen via OSList wrote:
There is conflict, and then there is destructive conflict. I think
they are two entirely different things. Conflict is an essential part
of living, life, the total evolutionary process. Show me any
organization that has no conflict and I’ll show you a dead one.
Conflict occurs when two or more critical concerns (cares) but heads.
Given sufficient room, they will find a way. Close that space and they
will kill each other. My experience in Open Space has always been one
of intense conflict combined with serious way finding. Parties who
would ordinarily kill each other find common ground. And the air
sizzles. Believe me, I’ve been there.
Harrison
Winter Address
7808 River Falls Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
301-365-2093
Summer Address
189 Beaucauire Ave
Camden, ME 04843
207 763-3261
Websites
www.openspaceworld.com
www.ho-image.com
*From:*OSList [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] *On
Behalf Of *Harold Shinsato via OSList
*Sent:* Tuesday, January 30, 2018 5:25 PM
*To:* oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
*Cc:* Harold Shinsato
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] OST encourages avoidance of conflict
Daniel,
Interesting concern. I think I remember hearing this from a well
respected management guru as a critique of Open Space. I can't help
but wonder the following:
- How well do individual adults resolve conflicts when an authority
figure forces them?
- How well do conflicting peoples or tribal communities resolve
conflicts when they are forcibly held together by an imperial force
(think Rome, USSR, pre-partition India, etc etc etc)
If you are dealing with children or developmentally challenged
individuals - especially those who have violated others rights are are
in prison - I can imagine there being some value to some level of
compulsion or coercion here. But even there, it may temporarily
resolve the fighting and damage, but not the children's growth.
If you are dealing with severe human rights being violated in tribal
scenarios, I can see how that might justify gunboat diplomacy. But I
can't imagine the tribal system will evolve to respect human rights
without a huge additional investment from the gunboat diplomats. And
it is all too likely that such interference may not only cause even
bigger problems later on, but can also encourage exploitation of the
less developed tribe/community.
Thanks for asking this question!
Harold
On 1/30/18 2:07 PM, Daniel Mezick via OSList wrote:
I am hearing this pointed criticism from some quarters: That OST
actually encourages conflict-avoidance via the Law of 2 Feet. In
other words, people who need to be resolving conflict (or at least
discussing it) can just avoid the touchy topic... and each other.
Could this actually be true? If not why not?
--
Daniel Mezick
Culture Strategist. Author. Keynoter.
(203) 915 7248. Bio. <http://www.DanielMezick.com/> Blog.
<http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/> Twitter.
<https://twitter.com/DanielMezick>
Book: The Culture Game. <http://theculturegame.com/>
Book: The OpenSpace Agility Handbook.
<http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
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