Christopher Macrae sent to the OSLIST this videos and interesting link: an EEL comes to Brooklyn.
Then Brett Barndt ads:
"Thorstein Veblen is good about this topic. His 1918 books is called The
Higher Learning in America: A Memorandum on the Conduct of Universities
by Business Men. It reflects the dependence of our universities on money
in our system. Maybe a mutual credit money system would result in a
different outcome. These new types of credit exchange systems are being
explored now, mostly in Europe."
(Harrison Owen tells on the OSLIST this funny story on the origin of the "T" for Technology in the name Open Space Technology)
It was 1989 in Bombay (now Mumbai). My friend and colleague, one V.S. Mahesh, a senior member of the Tata Administrative Service Corps, had invited me to do a series of lectures, in addition to an Open Space conference in Goa. How could I resist?
At the conclusion of the several programs, Mahesh convened a press conference for the business reporters of India. This was rather a formal event, and in the way of such things in India, Mahesh’s introduction of myself seemed to go on forever. He covered my CV in detail, including articles and activities I had forgotten, one of which was a review of a colleague’s book entitled, “Global Management Principles.” This 725 page monster described the work of 4 management theorists under such headings as, “Primal Management,” “Developmental Management,” – and last, “Metaphysical Management,” ...and that was me.As Mahesh drew to a heart stopping close, he said... It is my pleasure to introduce Harrison Owen ... and Harrison will you please explain to the gentlemen of the press what you mean by Metaphysical Management and Open Space...Technology. And he sat down.I think I could have shot him. “Metaphysical Management” was the invention of a colleague. I think I know what he was getting at, but it surely would not have been my choice of wording. As for Open Space Technology, that was, I do believe, Mahesh’s invention. “Open Space,” I admit to... as for “Technology” – I can only think that Mahesh got on a roll. “Metaphysical Management” was pretty cool. But “Open Space” was a little weak. Needed a tweak. “Technology” might just make it into the titles of the next day’s articles.Mahesh was right. The Press took the bait. And we have been stuck with it ever since.So that’s the story... as best as I can tell it. But I think there is a moral. If we ever take what we are doing too seriously, we are definitely in trouble. What we “do” is really a joke. Truthfully, it all happens by itself. We just take naps... if we are smart.Harrison
Thanks, Dan, for opening the space with your questions!
Last night I watched a film called The Dallas Buyers Club. It won a couple of Academy Awards last year. It tells the story from the mid 1980s about how groups of people living with AIDS self organised themselves to source and experiment with various 'unauthorised' treatments. This fringe work ultimately shaped more mainstream treatments. Over breakfast this morning I was thinking about it some more and thinking what a powerful example it was of a self-organising system. There was a complex/wicked problem, a few people stepped forward combining passion and responsibility and invited other people to join them.
Then I started wondering what other movies give such good illustrations of the power of self organisation. When we try to tell others about the self-organising principles of OST it is usually easiest to tell stories and movies are a form of story telling.
I accept that if we live in a self-organising world then all movies will illustrate self-organisation in some way. However, I suspect that some films illustrate it more clearly than others. What movie would you point to as vividly illustrating the power of self-organisation, and why?
A powerful, poetic, visual and introspective journey into the heart of an astonishingly symbolic environmental tragedy. On one of the remotest islands on our planet, tens of thousands of baby albatrosses lie dead on the ground, their bodies filled with plastic from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Returning to the island over several years, our team is witnessing the cycles of life and death of these birds as a multi-layered metaphor for our times. With photographer Chris Jordan as our guide, we walk through the fire of horror and grief, facing the immensity of this tragedy—and our own complicity—head on. And in this process, we find an unexpected route to a transformational experience of beauty, acceptance, and understanding.
We frame our story in the vividly gorgeous language of state-of-the-art high-definition digital cinematography, surrounded by millions of live birds in one of the world’s most beautiful natural sanctuaries. The viewer will experience stunning juxtapositions of beauty and horror, destruction and renewal, grief and joy, birth and death, coming out the other side with their heart broken open and their worldview shifted. Stepping outside the stylistic templates of traditional environmental or documentary films, MIDWAY will take viewers on a guided tour into the depths of their own spirits, delivering a profound message of reverence and love.
Watching and reading this takes us to embrace chaos, confusion and conflict as Harrison Owen suggests us; birth and death, breath in, breath out; let go through the grief process,... Open Space. It also takes us to Byron Katie´s proposal to love what is.
I met Tova in Wosonos Berlin 2010. She shared some days ago on the OSLIST the way she knew about OST and her views. What a brilliant explanation of Open Space!. Here some lines from the TED page and some words on it by other people on the list
In her TEDxJaffa talk, Tova Averbuch explores the at-times contentious relationship between self and whole and proposes a form for resolution: Open Space
Tova has been an Organization Development consultant for 30 years, teaching in the graduate program of Tel Aviv University's business school. She is a facilitator and host of generative group meetings, applying methodologies and perspectives that enable and promote bottom up, cross boundaries and self-organizing processes, to create conditions for the emergence of collective new wisdom and new action in business and in socio-political life in Israel. Born in Poland, Tova emigrated to Israel in 1957 and is committed to promoting and exploring creative dialogue between polarized groups in the Israeli society and between 'center' and 'edge' in human systems.
"...At the risk of "gilding the lily" you speak so beautifully of a living entity - being and becoming, autonomous and connected, the importance of diversity, wisdom that comes from that diversity, the simultaneous learning and self-organization, a living entity not an economic machine as companies so often are. Our work at Autognomics Institute has been working for over 50 years in the study of the nature of living entities - you have spoken so eloquently on Open Space and on these foundational principles that show up throughout life - living organisms and the living cosmos in which we live. Thanks so much for this. And thanks for this Open Space list of fantastic conversations. You all inspire me to the bones. "
Skye Hirst, PhD (www.autognomics.org)
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The heart of your talk for me was in these words at about 16:30 in: “we've achieved a lot; we are in the growing business of making social living systems and not mechanical system. In mechanical system, we must start with clear goals and clear vision and clear objectives and we proceed to get them. In a living system we are preoccupied with being and belonging before we set objectives. A living system will try to root itself, preferably in nourishing environment, and to take time to make sure it's alive before it figures out its destination, and before the horizon is clear.”
This clarifies something I have never been able to put into words and metaphors before. It carries the thought further, and tells us what OS and all true conversation and meeting (see the work of Martin Buber) is about: birthing a living system.
This is a step off into wide open space...and we find solid ground beneath our foot. Anybody want to take this another step?
Tova, do you have similar writings available somewhere? :- Doug. .................................................................................................................................................................
Dear Tova This is beautiful. Self organization by living systems
A write-up of the description of open space given by Tova at the TEDx talk: We are trying to create an infrastructure for human interaction to take place, mainly face to face but also could be virtual, to create organizations that are living systems, not mechanical systems.
Now how do we work in open space? What kind of principles or ways of conduct do we use, that make it possible to come as fully me and yet in the same time to be totally open to others, to all sorts of others, to create a collective we.
From all the methodologies that I know that are opening space I could draw up seven principles or ways of conduct. They are weary simple.
1. You are invited, you don't have to come, but you are invited. 2. You are included, and what makes you included is that you wish to come. 3. You are the right people, no shame, no blame, you are perfect the way you are. 4. It is all done by self organization, no one is telling you what to do, you are making it happen, creating the agenda, etc. 5. Transparency, we do it all in transparency so we can build on the wisdom, of one and another, of layer by layer. 6. We encourage and invite simultaneity and multi version, it dose not have to be in sequential or linear logic, it happens all at the same time, it is great!
7. You are free at all times to be mobile, and let your legs carry you to where your heart and mind wants to be
If we are getting or putting people together and we do not insist that they must agree, then they don't have to fight and compromise. And if we take people and we allow them to move freely, that means that people can self regulate and if they had enough and they feel that the emotion is arising and they can not control it, they can go somewhere else, they can self regulate themselves and they feel no constrain. And in this way of work where individuals can be fully themselves,
they become, as I can see, fully alive, and create collectives that are living systems and not mechanical or machine like systems.
ElederBuM31 Mind Mapping-Open Space Technology-Creativity
Jack Martin Leigh, from THE SAMURAI, sent this piece of information to the OSLIST.
Would this meeting help you?
Living and working in ever more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times means that our old and trusted ways of working are no longer working. Doing what we have always done will only create the same but a little different. And this is not enough!
Having begun our series with an experiment into what it means to 'build and lead cultures of innovation', this second Creative Dialogue will experientially explore the conscious and unconscious dynamics and capacities of creative teams - the core forum from which nearly all innovation and change emerges.
Royal Designer of Industry, multiple Digital Award winner, RSA fellow and BAFTA panelist, Simon Waterfall, and executive leader, chairman, adjunct professor and board member of INSEAD, Vivienne Cox, will give their Evocative Talks, setting the context for an inspiring and generative dialogue.
I just received this message from Chris Corrigan to the OSLIST. It seems a great choice to meet people and learn about hosting and some other creativity enhancing stuff.
Please consider joining us on Bowen Island, BC, Canada for an Art of Hosting October 3-6, 2010. On the hosting team will be Chris Corrigan, Teresa Posakony, Caitlin Frost and Tenneson Woolf. Pass along to your networks or to anyone you know interested in this opportunity.
As well as working with and learning about participatory process (Open Space, World Cafe and Circle) living systems, and chaordic design, in this Art of Hosting retreat we will be working extensively with harvesting, with change models currently being developed by the Berkana Institute, with Byron Katie's inquiry work focusing on limiting beliefs and with some improv theatre exercises. There will also be juggling practice and musical evenings as well as great food and magnificent views from the top of an 800 foot mountain overlooking the Salish Sea. Lots of inquiry and embodiment to support the personal practices of hosting, facilitation and leadership held in a retreat centre that emphasizes reflection and contemplation. More info here.
Feel free to give us a call if you have any questions.
I'm just an Ubuntu user, but I'm delighted about all these people making such a great experience possible.
Harrison Owen says that everything has always been, is and will be self-organized. Ubuntu may be just one more proof of this statement.
I discovered this video thanks to a message from Jo Toepfer in the OSLIST (mail list for those interested in Open Space Technology). Eleder BM31_ BILBAO: Mind Mapping-Open Space Technology-Creativity
