response to Peggy on Whole System Development article
Thanks Peggy for sharing the Whole Systems Development paper - very timely
given a system I am currently involved in. In relation to: '"Differences
that initially appeared as incompatible demands or entrenched conflicts
became sources of information about what was actually happening. And in each
case, that information made coordinated action possible." Interestingly to
me, this is precisely what happens in a Restorative Justice Conference,
where a 'bigger shared picture' of a conflict/harm emerges in the group,
which then makes it possible for shared action, to improve the situation, to
be agreed.
Michael Wood
Melbourne
www.openspacecoachingandfacilitation.com
Ph. +61 435 065326
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Nice to hear from you Michael!
Glad Sandra’s paper https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00218863261460939 was useful. Interesting to me and not surprising that you see the same pattern in restorative justice work.
I think Sandra eloquently named something so fundamental that it is easy to miss. At least in the US, we’ve differentiated our way into cliques that see “the other” as enemy. It makes it a leap of faith to trust that actually listening to each other helps us experience each other’s humanity and discover what we mutually long for such that we act together.
Practices like Open Space, Restorative Justice, Future Search, Appreciative Inquiry, and so many more create the conditions where this happens.
I hope we reach the place where most people intuitively trust this pattern is real. It reminds me of when I first started working with Open Space. I considered every experience a leap of faith, hoping something novel in insights, actions, and relationships would emerge. It took a few years, but I finally came to trust that it always does.
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com
Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity https://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Jul 14, 2026, at 1:03 AM, spacemaker62--- via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Thanks Peggy for sharing the Whole Systems Development paper - very timely
given a system I am currently involved in. In relation to: '"Differences
that initially appeared as incompatible demands or entrenched conflicts
became sources of information about what was actually happening. And in each
case, that information made coordinated action possible." Interestingly to
me, this is precisely what happens in a Restorative Justice Conference,
where a 'bigger shared picture' of a conflict/harm emerges in the group,
which then makes it possible for shared action, to improve the situation, to
be agreed.
Michael Wood
Melbourne
www.openspacecoachingandfacilitation.com Nice
Ph. +61 435 065326
-----Original Message-----
From: everyone-request@oslist.org everyone-request@oslist.org
Sent: Tuesday, 14 July 2026 5:30 PM
To: everyone@oslist.org
Subject: OSList Digest, Vol 51, Issue 1
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Great read. Thanks for sharing Peggy and for writing it Sandra!
Makes it cear that there are many ways to create this common ground for action, bridging over differences. I may use it as an example with a client right now.
Thomas H
Skickat från Outlook för iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef
Från: Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Skickat: Sunday, 19 July 2026 18:23:01
Till: Open Space Listserv everyone@oslist.org
Ämne: [OSList] Re: response to Peggy on Whole System Development article
Nice to hear from you Michael!
Glad Sandra’s paperhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00218863261460939 was useful. Interesting to me and not surprising that you see the same pattern in restorative justice work.
I think Sandra eloquently named something so fundamental that it is easy to miss. At least in the US, we’ve differentiated our way into cliques that see “the other” as enemy. It makes it a leap of faith to trust that actually listening to each other helps us experience each other’s humanity and discover what we mutually long for such that we act together.
Practices like Open Space, Restorative Justice, Future Search, Appreciative Inquiry, and so many more create the conditions where this happens.
I hope we reach the place where most people intuitively trust this pattern is real. It reminds me of when I first started working with Open Space. I considered every experience a leap of faith, hoping something novel in insights, actions, and relationships would emerge. It took a few years, but I finally came to trust that it always does.
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com
Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunityhttps://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Jul 14, 2026, at 1:03 AM, spacemaker62--- via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Thanks Peggy for sharing the Whole Systems Development paper - very timely
given a system I am currently involved in. In relation to: '"Differences
that initially appeared as incompatible demands or entrenched conflicts
became sources of information about what was actually happening. And in each
case, that information made coordinated action possible." Interestingly to
me, this is precisely what happens in a Restorative Justice Conference,
where a 'bigger shared picture' of a conflict/harm emerges in the group,
which then makes it possible for shared action, to improve the situation, to
be agreed.
Michael Wood
Melbourne
www.openspacecoachingandfacilitation.com Nice
Ph. +61 435 065326
-----Original Message-----
From: everyone-request@oslist.org everyone-request@oslist.org
Sent: Tuesday, 14 July 2026 5:30 PM
To: everyone@oslist.org
Subject: OSList Digest, Vol 51, Issue 1
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