Fwd: [OSLIST] What have we learned?
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!
…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,
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
Begin forwarded message:
From: Harrison Owen hhowen@comcast.net
Subject: [OSLIST] What have we learned?
Date: March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Reply-To: OSLIST OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we learned?
This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?
This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!
And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned in
the 20 years on the journey.
Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. ho
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com http://www.openspaceworld.com/
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
---=========================
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
Dear all,
Thank you Peggy for your and Harrison’s invitation to keep adding our
personal learning - including with Harrison. I heard the invitation and it
spoke to me. Finally, I made time to write.
I had the privilege to meet OST at age 18 through Michael M Pannwitz in
2000. He facilitated several OST meetings at my school in Berlin. He later
helped me facilitate my first OST and today I am a fulfilled consultant and
facilitator working the genuine contact way - having facilitated many many
OSTs in person and online.
I met Harrison several times in Europe: in Berlin for his birthday and a
wave rider workshop, in Sardinia for the European OS Learning Exchange,
where the fifth principle of OST emerged, in London for a WOSonOS with
Phelim and his team, and in Sevilla where he facilitated an Open Space for
100 imams and 100 rabbis and I was a member of the team. And last time in
Washington for the WOSonOS.
Unfortunately, he could not attend the WosonOS in 2010 in Berlin, where we
had self-published a book celebrating OST, with many of you on the OS List
contributing. It was there that I realized that there is more than one
origin story to the emergence of OST. The two martinis and the man with the
hat is only one version.
I was glad to learn many women were involved in creating OST, while
Harrison wrote the book about it. Today I am facilitating and teaching OST
based on his teachings and enriched by the “Berlin” approach and the
Genuine Contact approach.
Why some people, including Harrison, love wearing hats always - I don’t
know. To me, it turns a bit into a costume (the man with the hat) and it
feels less genuine. At the Open Space with the imams and rabbis, all the
men had their unique outfits - it was a bit hilarious.
When Harrison tried to make a last announcement at the marketplace after
the agenda creation - standing in the middle of the room on a chair with
his hat on - trying to get everyone’s attention I had another
demystification moment.
Of course, I like him and I love even more the OST grassroots movement in
the world.
I was truly truly impressed by the tender, calm, and very welcoming
facilitation of Barry Owen at the WOSonOS in Washington - which I partly
attribute to the son and father’s deep learning journey together.
I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite
loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” - it feels too narrow and
cold to me. But I should probably go back to his writings to remember he
also said more about the essence of OST.
One story, from the online gathering two weeks ago, felt also a bit harsh
to me: When Harrison had recommended to the facilitator to walk the circle,
look everyone in the eyes and internally say something like “fuck you all”
or something along this line. I get the teaching point. And I trust he has
shared other recommendations to OST facilitators that are warmer, focusing
on spirit and acknowledging the dimension of holding people’s lives in
one’s hands.
I look forward to seeing you here there and hopefully in Istanbul and keep
learning together.
Lots of Love
Anna Caroline
P.s. Here a wonderful song from Etta James You can leave your hat on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEThimbixQY
Anna Caroline Türk
Mentor to Visionary Leaders
+49(0)176 24872254 | TruthCircles.com http://TruthCircles.com
On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 5:27 PM Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org
wrote:
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I
stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist
exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his
question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the
20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is
a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would
be a good time to break
the silence!!!
…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And
not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,
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
Begin forwarded message:
*From: *Harrison Owen hhowen@comcast.net
*Subject: *[OSLIST] What have we learned?
*Date: *March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
*To: *OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
*Reply-To: *OSLIST OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we
learned?
This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?
This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in
which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is
a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to
break
the silence!!!
And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And
not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a
lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years
in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned
in
the 20 years on the journey.
Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. ho
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
---=========================
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Dear Anna & AllThanks for including "I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” I believe the most loyal way to celebrate a hero is to clarify what each of us learnt from hero that our own being knows no other way of action learning.
My own view is that while self-organisation matters to be trustworthy/ have presence etc, there may be many different ways to self organisation. Actually I had a chat with Harrison and he told me in my case that I needed to attend a masterclass of Meg Wheatley Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley I did and I did. Among other Wheatley truths - many pioneers will never be fully thanked or rewarded -
For me -any useful work I ever do is on system innovation - the hardest type of innovation (for me as its the only one i judge myself on; please note yes i have done projects where self-organisation was needed by most or all of the client too (so i hope I know people who can facilitate that if its part of overall delivery)
SYSTEM INNOVATION. Harrison framing that this needs taking everyone who is conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time is the principle and method that I would never have seen without Harrison
Anyhow just my cents worth. And as mathematics is my thing I realise I am an odd ball so to speak Chris AI20s.com Wash DC chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk
|
|
|
| | |
|
|
|
| |
Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley
|
|
|
On Wednesday, 24 April 2024 at 11:46:40 GMT-4, Anna Caroline Türk via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear all,
Thank you Peggy for your and Harrison’s invitation to keep adding our personal learning - including with Harrison. I heard the invitation and it spoke to me. Finally, I made time to write.
I had the privilege to meet OST at age 18 through Michael M Pannwitz in 2000. He facilitated several OST meetings at my school in Berlin. He later helped me facilitate my first OST and today I am a fulfilled consultant and facilitator working the genuine contact way - having facilitated many many OSTs in person and online.
I met Harrison several times in Europe: in Berlin for his birthday and a wave rider workshop, in Sardinia for the European OS Learning Exchange, where the fifth principle of OST emerged, in London for a WOSonOS with Phelim and his team, and in Sevilla where he facilitated an Open Space for 100 imams and 100 rabbis and I was a member of the team. And last time in Washington for the WOSonOS.
Unfortunately, he could not attend the WosonOS in 2010 in Berlin, where we had self-published a book celebrating OST, with many of you on the OS List contributing. It was there that I realized that there is more than one origin story to the emergence of OST. The two martinis and the man with the hat is only one version.
I was glad to learn many women were involved in creating OST, while Harrison wrote the book about it. Today I am facilitating and teaching OST based on his teachings and enriched by the “Berlin” approach and the Genuine Contact approach.
Why some people, including Harrison, love wearing hats always - I don’t know. To me, it turns a bit into a costume (the man with the hat) and it feels less genuine. At the Open Space with the imams and rabbis, all the men had their unique outfits - it was a bit hilarious.
When Harrison tried to make a last announcement at the marketplace after the agenda creation - standing in the middle of the room on a chair with his hat on - trying to get everyone’s attention I had another demystification moment.
Of course, I like him and I love even more the OST grassroots movement in the world.
I was truly truly impressed by the tender, calm, and very welcoming facilitation of Barry Owen at the WOSonOS in Washington - which I partly attribute to the son and father’s deep learning journey together.
I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” - it feels too narrow and cold to me. But I should probably go back to his writings to remember he also said more about the essence of OST.
One story, from the online gathering two weeks ago, felt also a bit harsh to me: When Harrison had recommended to the facilitator to walk the circle, look everyone in the eyes and internally say something like “fuck you all” or something along this line. I get the teaching point. And I trust he has shared other recommendations to OST facilitators that are warmer, focusing on spirit and acknowledging the dimension of holding people’s lives in one’s hands.
I look forward to seeing you here there and hopefully in Istanbul and keep learning together.
Lots of Love
Anna Caroline
P.s. Here a wonderful song from Etta James You can leave your hat on
Anna Caroline TürkMentor to Visionary Leaders+49(0)176 24872254 | TruthCircles.com
On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 5:27 PM Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!
…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,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
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
Begin forwarded message:
From: Harrison Owen hhowen@comcast.net
Subject: [OSLIST] What have we learned?
Date: March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Reply-To: OSLIST OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we learned?
This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?
This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!
And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned in
the 20 years on the journey.
Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. ho
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com http://www.openspaceworld.com/
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
---=========================
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Hi Chris,
Reading this I got curious:
”Harrison framing that [system innovation] needs taking everyone who is conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time”
Will you help me see the concept of ”conflict barrier”?
Kindly wondering,
Thomas Perrer
___
All is possible together
On 24. Apr 2024, at 20.14, christopher macrae via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Anna & All
Thanks for including "I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” I believe the most loyal way to celebrate a hero is to clarify what each of us learnt from hero that our own being knows no other way of action learning.
My own view is that while self-organisation matters to be trustworthy/ have presence etc, there may be many different ways to self organisation. Actually I had a chat with Harrison and he told me in my case that I needed to attend a masterclass of Meg Wheatley Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley I did and I did. Among other Wheatley truths - many pioneers will never be fully thanked or rewarded -
For me -any useful work I ever do is on system innovation - the hardest type of innovation (for me as its the only one i judge myself on; please note yes i have done projects where self-organisation was needed by most or all of the client too (so i hope I know people who can facilitate that if its part of overall delivery)
SYSTEM INNOVATION
. Harrison framing that this needs taking everyone who is conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time is the principle and method that I would never have seen without Harrison
Anyhow just my cents worth. And as mathematics is my thing I realise I am an odd ball so to speak Chris AI20s.com Wash DC chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk
Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley
On Wednesday, 24 April 2024 at 11:46:40 GMT-4, Anna Caroline Türk via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear all,
Thank you Peggy for your and Harrison’s invitation to keep adding our personal learning - including with Harrison. I heard the invitation and it spoke to me. Finally, I made time to write.
I had the privilege to meet OST at age 18 through Michael M Pannwitz in 2000. He facilitated several OST meetings at my school in Berlin. He later helped me facilitate my first OST and today I am a fulfilled consultant and facilitator working the genuine contact way - having facilitated many many OSTs in person and online.
I met Harrison several times in Europe: in Berlin for his birthday and a wave rider workshop, in Sardinia for the European OS Learning Exchange, where the fifth principle of OST emerged, in London for a WOSonOS with Phelim and his team, and in Sevilla where he facilitated an Open Space for 100 imams and 100 rabbis and I was a member of the team. And last time in Washington for the WOSonOS.
Unfortunately, he could not attend the WosonOS in 2010 in Berlin, where we had self-published a book celebrating OST, with many of you on the OS List contributing. It was there that I realized that there is more than one origin story to the emergence of OST. The two martinis and the man with the hat is only one version.
I was glad to learn many women were involved in creating OST, while Harrison wrote the book about it. Today I am facilitating and teaching OST based on his teachings and enriched by the “Berlin” approach and the Genuine Contact approach.Why some people, including Harrison, love wearing hats always - I don’t know. To me, it turns a bit into a costume (the man with the hat) and it feels less genuine. At the Open Space with the imams and rabbis, all the men had their unique outfits - it was a bit hilarious.
When Harrison tried to make a last announcement at the marketplace after the agenda creation - standing in the middle of the room on a chair with his hat on - trying to get everyone’s attention I had another demystification moment.Of course, I like him and I love even more the OST grassroots movement in the world.
I was truly truly impressed by the tender, calm, and very welcoming facilitation of Barry Owen at the WOSonOS in Washington - which I partly attribute to the son and father’s deep learning journey together.
I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” - it feels too narrow and cold to me. But I should probably go back to his writings to remember he also said more about the essence of OST.
One story, from the online gathering two weeks ago, felt also a bit harsh to me: When Harrison had recommended to the facilitator to walk the circle, look everyone in the eyes and internally say something like “fuck you all” or something along this line. I get the teaching point. And I trust he has shared other recommendations to OST facilitators that are warmer, focusing on spirit and acknowledging the dimension of holding people’s lives in one’s hands.I look forward to seeing you here there and hopefully in Istanbul and keep learning together.
Lots of Love
Anna CarolineP.s. Here a wonderful song from Etta James You can leave your hat on
Anna Caroline Türk
Mentor to Visionary Leaders
+49(0)176 24872254 | TruthCircles.com
On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 5:27 PM Peggy Holman via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.comBellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.comEnjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew DellingerBegin forwarded message:
From: Harrison Owen <hhowen@comcast.net>
Subject: [OSLIST] What have we learned?
Date: March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Reply-To: OSLIST <OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we learned?This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned in
the 20 years on the journey.Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. hoHarrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
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Many thanks Anna Caroline for bringing this question back up. I had a hunch when I posted it that it was too soon. I was just taken by the coincidence of the date being the anniversary of when Harrison originally posed the question.
Like you, I wasn’t ready to answer the question when I posted it. After sitting with the question for five weeks, I offer my answer to what I have learned below. Apologies for the length.
Before I share my story...Chris, thank you for also reflecting on the question. I love the notion of “conflict barrier!” Thomas, my interpretation of the phrase is that Open Space runs counterintuitive to the generally accepted practices of conflict negotiation. Rather than having an intermediary working separately with the parties in conflict, Open Space invites them to come together around a topic they care about and work things out for themselves. I’ve seen it happen many times. My lesson from Open Space is that when the purpose is something people care about, they stick with working through their differences and discover common ground. Often with a breakthrough everyone likes that has elements of what mattered to everyone involved. Who knew?
To my reflections on what I learned…
Peggy
What I learned from Harrison
I have thought about the gifts of Harrison’s creation - Open Space Technology - and how it shaped my world view and my life. I have also been appreciating what knowing Harrison, the person, has meant to me....
Beginnings
When I ran into Open Space in 1994, I was primed for it by research I had done in 1993 for US WEST on “knowledge transfer” and “organizational learning.” I had reached the conclusion that a great way to encourage such things was by encouraging random encounters. Open Space was a practical way to make that happen.
I learned of Open Space from a friend who had experienced it at Antioch University Seattle and sent me an article from Training Magazine called Welcome to Open Space. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dsvJAbN_ib_MaMJ30DfLOylRveA-Qeci/view?usp=sharing (I couldn’t find the article online so scanned my tired, hard to read copy. I found out years later that Anne Stadler brought OST to Antioch. So, she was indirectly responsible for my discovering OST.) The last page of the article had Harrison’s phone number. So I called him. That led to my attending an OST workshop in New York City and doing a 250-person, 2.5-day Open Space with Harrison, which, at Harrison’s suggestion, we documented via video. At 16 minutes, at that time, it was considered short. We never used it at U S WEST but when the Open Space Institute-US was formed, we got the rights and sold it as a source of income for OSI-US. Now it’s free on Vimeo: U S WEST Open Spac https://vimeo.com/25251316?share=copye. It has a lovely interview with Harrison going over the principles and the law.
What I learned
I started to write the evolution of my learning from Open Space and discovered a pretty thorough response to Harrison’s invitation to answer that question in 2005. It hasn’t changed. So I will share it and then build on it. And then talk about what I learned from the man himself.
Lessons from 2005...
From my 2005 response to Harrison’s question, “What you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open Space, about organizations in Open Space:”
Where to begin? Open Space changed my life. So many, many lessons. And
after 11 years of working with it, I still feel I am just at the beginning
of my learning.
Here is a bit of a retrospective of learnings.
The miracle of my first Open Space was to see that it somehow enabled the
needs of the individual and the collective to be met. That's when I fell in
love with it.
I think my very first practical realization was that as a facilitator, I
wasn't responsible for other people's experiences. What a revelation! I
could do my best to create the conditions for the work to be done. Beyond
that, it was up to the people in the room.
Over the next several years, I found myself talking about my lessons from
Open Space. Some of them come through your words, Harrison, others through
the experience itself:
Focus on essence -- the form of OS is so elegantly simple that it is a clear
message that what is most important is the core content of whatever the
subject is. I remember very clearly a conversation with Chris Kloth at
OSonOS IV in Washington, D.C [1996]. He told me that where other change
communities he was a part of spent most of their time focused on questions
and arguments about process, the OS community was always asking about
essence, purpose, the core meaning of whatever it was we were discussing.
Kerry shared recently a comment from a participant: "one day in open space
was the equivalent of two years of hearings." I think this is because when
all you've got to pay attention to is the essence of what's important, well,
it sure makes it easier to let all the nonsense fall by the wayside and
focus on getting something done!
Simplicity of design -- you gifted me/us with a very profound design
question: what is one less thing to do? (and I would add implicit in the
question: and have this be whole and complete?) While I sometimes joke that
you came to this by being a master of laziness, I think continually doing
less ensures the focus remains on what is most important. Whether OS or
just life, I find this insight of remarkable power. Anytime a group is
struggling, with how to do something, this question cuts through the mess.
During my Total Quality days, there was a saying: "remedy first, then deal
with the root cause." My definition of remedies were they always added more
steps -- made things more complicated. When the root cause was handled,
100% of the time, it resulted in less steps -- a simpler process. And it
always required looking at the essence, the purpose as the starting point.
Invitation/Inclusion -- you talk about invite whoever cares about the
subject and welcome the stranger -- whoever comes. It is such a huge gift
to accept the rightness of whomever and whatever shows up. It is also at
times a deeply courageous act of faith. Through the years I have seen
people healed by the experience of being welcomed, with all of their quirks,
of feeling heard. I have also seen it as a challenging test of people
uncomfortable with those who are different. The rewards for those who
usually exclude others and for those who are often excluded are powerful.
People discover compassion in themselves. Outcasts experience something
often unfamiliar: support. I remember years ago at OSonOS in Monterey
(1998?), an intense day 2 opening circle where there was this conflicted
discussion of "in group" and "outsiders". Finally, this woman, I don't know
her name and I never saw her again, got up and walked, or perhaps she flew,
around the circle, inside and out. Her words were something about belonging
coming from within ourselves. It shifted everything.
Generosity of Spirit -- you gave OS away, no trademark, copyright,
certification or other hurdles. You said there is one responsibility -- to
give back what you've learned. I look at the extraordinary community that
we've created -- one that shares its stories, its fears, triumphs,
insecurities, and questions. I follow several learning communities. This
one is my home. It is in part because of the incredible ethic of sharing we
gift to each other.
Abundance -- there is always enough for what is important. When I've
underestimated the number of break out sessions for an event, I often joke
that time and space are infinitely expandable and people figure out where
and when to meet. This is a reminder to me of just how incredibly creative
we are as a species when something is important to us. People find
remarkable solutions.
These were my first deep lessons from living with Open Space. I think
somewhere about this time, I began to realize that self-organization and
spirit -- the two ways I talked about OS -- described the same phenomenon in
different language.
And then Spirited Work began [the brain child of Anne Stadler]. While I already understood Open Space was waymore than a good meeting method, this quarterly foray into living in Open Space opened a new and deeper journey of understanding. It was Anne Stadler who helped me understand that the Law of Two Feet is about taking
responsibility for what you love. I now believe this is the essence of Open
Space. It is the power of this one idea -- to take responsibility for what
you love -- that creates the remarkable invitation to listen to our internal
voice and act on its message. Now I understand the dynamics behind what I
originally loved about OS: when people take responsibility for what they
love, they discover that others love the same things. Thus, the needs of
the individual and the collective are met.
At Spirited Work, watching Anne Stadler showing up wherever there was
dissonance or conflict, I learned to welcome disturbances. I came to
understand that they are indicators that something new wants to emerge. And
it was watching the patterns of behavior at Spirited Work, the complex,
unpredictable human behavior as people experimented with living with spirit
in the material world that I have come to understand what Open Space
governance looks like, what it means to make difficult decisions in Open
Space (way beyond consensus), the role of silence in individual and
collective learning.
I now understand the dynamics of emergence when consciously embraced.
Emergence is spirit in action -- where people discover that what is most
personal is also universal. When this happens, what we in the OS community
call Convergence naturally occurs. People move into coherent individual and
collective action. This has shaped how I see my work today -- to grow the
capacity for emergence through caring for ourselves, others and the whole in
service to meaningful purpose. What I see today is that Open Space provides
the essential conditions for emergence without the destructive force that
comes when the disturbances that signal something wanting to emerge are
resisted. It happens by asking an attractive question that matters (the
theme), inviting all who care to take responsibility for what they love, and
by putting them in a circle to begin and end each day to reflect together.
This pattern enables people to step into what they fear with some glimmer of
hope that something useful will happen. And, miraculously, time and again,
it does.
Doing the international Practice of Peace conference [in 2003] -- an experience
planned in OS mostly by people from the Spirited Work community -- brought
new lessons. We took the leap that we would have sufficient participation to
fund inviting 10 OS practitioners from conflict areas from around the world.
We not only accomplished that but created an experience that many, many
participants described as life changing. [In fact, I am still in touch with many of the people who were there.]. They describe some variant of feeling their own capacity to make a difference. I got a deeply embodied experience of what Anne Stadler named the Radiant Network -- that innate knowing that we are all connected, that we are held in some mystical way. When my heart is open, I feel the connection. When not, the connection is still there, it is just hard to believe it exists. My lesson from PoP is that what is on the other side of emergence is the coherence of the Radiant
Network. The most powerful OS events bring people to where they feel a
sense of collective consciousness. They touch that place of deep, personal
meaning that connects them to others and they have at least a glimmer of
their connection to the whole.
Today, I wonder about how the people I have worked with have been touched by
their time in Open Space. How have they been changed by the experience?
What has been the effect when OS is used over and over in a community or
organization? How have people and collectives been changed by the
experience? That's what I hope we learn through the research questions that
Larry, Chris and I put out.
http://www.openspaceworld.org/network/wiki.cgi?OpenSpaceResearch
[Sad to say we never pursued that research.]
I believe that we are growing people's capacity to deal with what they fear,
what they resist by offering them a path to emergence that runs through
powerful, attractive questions. What are their stories?
Harrison, for all that you are and all that you have done, I thank you.
Finding you and your work was a turning point in my life.
Lessons since then
Perhaps the main lessons are about what it means to live conscious of complexity in human systems.
A marriage of science and spirit
I love that Open Space can be explained through the lens of complexity AND the lens of spirit. The first time I did a workshop with Harrison, he told me of his dissertation research while he was a practicing Anglican priest. (Mind you, this story is my memory of the conversation so may be technically inaccurate.) Harrison was reading the text of the bible in the original Aramaic. He said at that time (mid-1950’s?) the common thinking was that seeming contradictions in the Bible were considered wrong. They were about God as immanent and God as transcendent. His dissertation asked a question: what if the contradictions were on purpose? That God was both immanent and transcendent? God was present in embracing the contradictions. That that led Harrison into a study of chaos and order. So his studies of complexity preceded viewing it through science. I loved that both explanations worked.
I took me on a deep dive into the science of complexity. A few of my favorites:
Corning, Peter. “The Re-emergence of ‘Emergence’: A Venerable Concept in Search of a Theory.” Complexity 7, no. 6 (2002): 18–30.
Johnson, Steven. Emergence: The Connective Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. New York: Scribner, 2001.
Kauffman, Stuart. At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. [Harrison pointed me to this one.]
Waldrop, M. Mitchell. Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Chaos. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992
Transition from hierarchies to networks
I think the question I am most immersed in these days is how do we support a transition in how humans organize themselves from hierarches to networks?
I believe Thomas Kuhn said in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions that how humans organize is influenced by the science of the time. Autocrats were common when “God’s will” was our prevailing explanation for how things worked. The industrial revolution brought us hierarchies. Now that technology enables us to see systems, giving us a “macroscopic” view, networks are becoming visible. They’ve always been there. It’s just we now have technology that helps us work with them. I wrote an article in 2010, Leadership in a Networked World, https://peggyholman.com/leadership-in-a-networked-world/ about the principle aspects of networks – links and hubs – and the implications for human organizing.
Open Space gives us great examples of what happens when networks reign. They liberate human spirit because they put what we care about at the center. They are a form that relies on people belonging by bringing their unique selves. Just as OST is an exquisite mix of the masculine (the directionality of purpose) and feminine (the circle of community), networks are an exquisite mix of “we” – belonging and “me” – attending to what I love.
I think the many conflicts we face are because of this transition from hierarchies to networks. My bias is that the more of us who support the shift towards networks, the greater our chance of dealing with the overwhelming issues we face. Opening space helps people embody this very different way of working by connecting us to our own humanity, to others who see the world differently, and to our wholeness. Our connectedness is most visible when our hearts open. Open Space helps that happen.
It has been my journey with Open Space that has led me to this view.
What I learned from knowing Harrison
I’ve saved my final lessons for reflecting on what knowing Harrison has meant to me.
Beyond the knowledge that I’ll always be asking myself what is one less thing to do, three essential lessons come to mind:
Be myself. Harrison was unapologetically himself. He could be blunt, rude even. And alcohol was an issue. In other words, he was hardly perfect. Still, I always felt his love and respect. His ability to just show up is something I deeply admire. I hope I continue to shed whatever layers are left in me of worrying about what others think. He and Anne Stadler are my standards for what that looks like.
Be generous. Harrison gave away Open Space but did it with the responsibility of giving back what you learned. What a gift! It is a recursive, generative stance, give something away with the responsibility of sharing learning that can reinforce and grow more of it.
My favorite story: The first time we did an OST workshop, I wanted to add in a live Open Space and build the training around it. Harrison said he thought it was a bad idea but if I wanted to try it, we would. I thought that was incredibly generous, that even doubting it was a good thing to do, he was willing to support me. We did. And he told me afterwards that he thought it worked well. Generosity again in acknowledging my idea was a good one.
As I find myself more and more working as a mentor, his willingness to support a younger colleague is something I take to heart and have now lived from the elder’s view.
Love is all there is. I was so struck during my last conversations with Harrison, even knowing his days were numbered, he was joyful. There are tears in my eyes as I write this. Perhaps it is the ultimate lesson. When I be love, everything else happens in that context. There’s a poem someone gave me when my mother died that I often share when someone dies. I carry it in my heart and spread it as best I can. It is how I leave you with this last lesson that Harrison so embodied:
GIVE WHAT'S LEFT OF ME AWAY
When I die
Remember me with a smile and laughter.
If thoughts of me provoke no love,
Only sadness and tears,
I ask that I be soon forgotten.
Give what's left of me away
To children and old men who wait to die.
And if you must cry, cry for your brother
Who walks in grief beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms around anyone,
And give them what you need to give me.
I want to leave you something.
Something better than words or sounds.
Look for me in the people I've known or loved,
Or helped in some special way.
And if you cannot give me away,
Let me live in your eyes for awhile,
As well as in your mind.
You can love me most
By letting love live
Within the circle of your arms
Embracing the frightened ones.
Love doesn't die, people do.
So when all that's left of me is love,
Give me away.
-- Merrit Malloy
On Apr 24, 2024, at 10:51 AM, Thomas Perret via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Hi Chris,
Reading this I got curious:
”Harrison framing that [system innovation] needs taking everyone who is conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time”
Will you help me see the concept of ”conflict barrier”?
Kindly wondering,
Thomas Perrer
All is possible together
On 24. Apr 2024, at 20.14, christopher macrae via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Dear Anna & All
Thanks for including "I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” I believe the most loyal way to celebrate a hero is to clarify what each of us learnt from hero that our own being knows no other way of action learning.
My own view is that while self-organisation matters to be trustworthy/ have presence etc, there may be many different ways to self organisation. Actually I had a chat with Harrison and he told me in my case that I needed to attend a masterclass of Meg Wheatley Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley https://margaretwheatley.com/ I did and I did. Among other Wheatley truths - many pioneers will never be fully thanked or rewarded -
For me -any useful work I ever do is on system innovation - the hardest type of innovation (for me as its the only one i judge myself on; please note yes i have done projects where self-organisation was needed by most or all of the client too (so i hope I know people who can facilitate that if its part of overall delivery)
SYSTEM INNOVATION
. Harrison framing that this needs taking everyone who is conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time is the principle and method that I would never have seen without Harrison
Anyhow just my cents worth. And as mathematics is my thing I realise I am an odd ball so to speak Chris AI20s.com Wash DC chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk
Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley
https://margaretwheatley.com/
On Wednesday, 24 April 2024 at 11:46:40 GMT-4, Anna Caroline Türk via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Dear all,
Thank you Peggy for your and Harrison’s invitation to keep adding our personal learning - including with Harrison. I heard the invitation and it spoke to me. Finally, I made time to write.
I had the privilege to meet OST at age 18 through Michael M Pannwitz in 2000. He facilitated several OST meetings at my school in Berlin. He later helped me facilitate my first OST and today I am a fulfilled consultant and facilitator working the genuine contact way - having facilitated many many OSTs in person and online.
I met Harrison several times in Europe: in Berlin for his birthday and a wave rider workshop, in Sardinia for the European OS Learning Exchange, where the fifth principle of OST emerged, in London for a WOSonOS with Phelim and his team, and in Sevilla where he facilitated an Open Space for 100 imams and 100 rabbis and I was a member of the team. And last time in Washington for the WOSonOS.
Unfortunately, he could not attend the WosonOS in 2010 in Berlin, where we had self-published a book celebrating OST, with many of you on the OS List contributing. It was there that I realized that there is more than one origin story to the emergence of OST. The two martinis and the man with the hat is only one version.
I was glad to learn many women were involved in creating OST, while Harrison wrote the book about it. Today I am facilitating and teaching OST based on his teachings and enriched by the “Berlin” approach and the Genuine Contact approach.
Why some people, including Harrison, love wearing hats always - I don’t know. To me, it turns a bit into a costume (the man with the hat) and it feels less genuine. At the Open Space with the imams and rabbis, all the men had their unique outfits - it was a bit hilarious.
When Harrison tried to make a last announcement at the marketplace after the agenda creation - standing in the middle of the room on a chair with his hat on - trying to get everyone’s attention I had another demystification moment.
Of course, I like him and I love even more the OST grassroots movement in the world.
I was truly truly impressed by the tender, calm, and very welcoming facilitation of Barry Owen at the WOSonOS in Washington - which I partly attribute to the son and father’s deep learning journey together.
I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” - it feels too narrow and cold to me. But I should probably go back to his writings to remember he also said more about the essence of OST.
One story, from the online gathering two weeks ago, felt also a bit harsh to me: When Harrison had recommended to the facilitator to walk the circle, look everyone in the eyes and internally say something like “fuck you all” or something along this line. I get the teaching point. And I trust he has shared other recommendations to OST facilitators that are warmer, focusing on spirit and acknowledging the dimension of holding people’s lives in one’s hands.
I look forward to seeing you here there and hopefully in Istanbul and keep learning together.
Lots of Love
Anna Caroline
P.s. Here a wonderful song from Etta James You can leave your hat on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEThimbixQY
Anna Caroline Türk
Mentor to Visionary Leaders
+49(0)176 24872254 | TruthCircles.com http://truthcircles.com/
On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 5:27 PM Peggy Holman via OSList <everyone@oslist.org mailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!
…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.com mailto:peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com http://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
Begin forwarded message:
From: Harrison Owen <hhowen@comcast.net mailto:hhowen@comcast.net>
Subject: [OSLIST] What have we learned?
Date: March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Reply-To: OSLIST <OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we learned?
This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?
This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!
And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned in
the 20 years on the journey.
Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. ho
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com http://www.openspaceworld.com/ http://www.openspaceworld.com/
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org http://www.openspaceworld.org/
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
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Peggy,
This is an extraordinary gift to us all, unifying Harrison’s work and Anne Stadler’s work. It means so much to me personally.
With gratitude,
Kathy Minardi
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 28, 2024, at 2:36 PM, Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Many thanks Anna Caroline for bringing this question back up. I had a hunch when I posted it that it was too soon. I was just taken by the coincidence of the date being the anniversary of when Harrison originally posed the question.
Like you, I wasn’t ready to answer the question when I posted it. After sitting with the question for five weeks, I offer my answer to what I have learned below. Apologies for the length.
Before I share my story...Chris, thank you for also reflecting on the question. I love the notion of “conflict barrier!” Thomas, my interpretation of the phrase is that Open Space runs counterintuitive to the generally accepted practices of conflict negotiation. Rather than having an intermediary working separately with the parties in conflict, Open Space invites them to come together around a topic they care about and work things out for themselves. I’ve seen it happen many times. My lesson from Open Space is that when the purpose is something people care about, they stick with working through their differences and discover common ground. Often with a breakthrough everyone likes that has elements of what mattered to everyone involved. Who knew?
To my reflections on what I learned…
Peggy
What I learned from Harrison
I have thought about the gifts of Harrison’s creation - Open Space Technology - and how it shaped my world view and my life. I have also been appreciating what knowing Harrison, the person, has meant to me....
Beginnings
When I ran into Open Space in 1994, I was primed for it by research I had done in 1993 for US WEST on “knowledge transfer” and “organizational learning.” I had reached the conclusion that a great way to encourage such things was by encouraging random encounters. Open Space was a practical way to make that happen.
I learned of Open Space from a friend who had experienced it at Antioch University Seattle and sent me an article from Training Magazine called Welcome to Open Space.https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dsvJAbN_ib_MaMJ30DfLOylRveA-Qeci/view?usp=sharing (I couldn’t find the article online so scanned my tired, hard to read copy. I found out years later that Anne Stadler brought OST to Antioch. So, she was indirectly responsible for my discovering OST.) The last page of the article had Harrison’s phone number. So I called him. That led to my attending an OST workshop in New York City and doing a 250-person, 2.5-day Open Space with Harrison, which, at Harrison’s suggestion, we documented via video. At 16 minutes, at that time, it was considered short. We never used it at U S WEST but when the Open Space Institute-US was formed, we got the rights and sold it as a source of income for OSI-US. Now it’s free on Vimeo: U S WEST Open Spachttps://vimeo.com/25251316?share=copye. It has a lovely interview with Harrison going over the principles and the law.
What I learned
I started to write the evolution of my learning from Open Space and discovered a pretty thorough response to Harrison’s invitation to answer that question in 2005. It hasn’t changed. So I will share it and then build on it. And then talk about what I learned from the man himself.
Lessons from 2005...
From my 2005 response to Harrison’s question, “What you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open Space, about organizations in Open Space:”
Where to begin? Open Space changed my life. So many, many lessons. And
after 11 years of working with it, I still feel I am just at the beginning
of my learning.
Here is a bit of a retrospective of learnings.
The miracle of my first Open Space was to see that it somehow enabled the
needs of the individual and the collective to be met. That's when I fell in
love with it.
I think my very first practical realization was that as a facilitator, I
wasn't responsible for other people's experiences. What a revelation! I
could do my best to create the conditions for the work to be done. Beyond
that, it was up to the people in the room.
Over the next several years, I found myself talking about my lessons from
Open Space. Some of them come through your words, Harrison, others through
the experience itself:
Focus on essence -- the form of OS is so elegantly simple that it is a clear
message that what is most important is the core content of whatever the
subject is. I remember very clearly a conversation with Chris Kloth at
OSonOS IV in Washington, D.C [1996]. He told me that where other change
communities he was a part of spent most of their time focused on questions
and arguments about process, the OS community was always asking about
essence, purpose, the core meaning of whatever it was we were discussing.
Kerry shared recently a comment from a participant: "one day in open space
was the equivalent of two years of hearings." I think this is because when
all you've got to pay attention to is the essence of what's important, well,
it sure makes it easier to let all the nonsense fall by the wayside and
focus on getting something done!
Simplicity of design -- you gifted me/us with a very profound design
question: what is one less thing to do? (and I would add implicit in the
question: and have this be whole and complete?) While I sometimes joke that
you came to this by being a master of laziness, I think continually doing
less ensures the focus remains on what is most important. Whether OS or
just life, I find this insight of remarkable power. Anytime a group is
struggling, with how to do something, this question cuts through the mess.
During my Total Quality days, there was a saying: "remedy first, then deal
with the root cause." My definition of remedies were they always added more
steps -- made things more complicated. When the root cause was handled,
100% of the time, it resulted in less steps -- a simpler process. And it
always required looking at the essence, the purpose as the starting point.
Invitation/Inclusion -- you talk about invite whoever cares about the
subject and welcome the stranger -- whoever comes. It is such a huge gift
to accept the rightness of whomever and whatever shows up. It is also at
times a deeply courageous act of faith. Through the years I have seen
people healed by the experience of being welcomed, with all of their quirks,
of feeling heard. I have also seen it as a challenging test of people
uncomfortable with those who are different. The rewards for those who
usually exclude others and for those who are often excluded are powerful.
People discover compassion in themselves. Outcasts experience something
often unfamiliar: support. I remember years ago at OSonOS in Monterey
(1998?), an intense day 2 opening circle where there was this conflicted
discussion of "in group" and "outsiders". Finally, this woman, I don't know
her name and I never saw her again, got up and walked, or perhaps she flew,
around the circle, inside and out. Her words were something about belonging
coming from within ourselves. It shifted everything.
Generosity of Spirit -- you gave OS away, no trademark, copyright,
certification or other hurdles. You said there is one responsibility -- to
give back what you've learned. I look at the extraordinary community that
we've created -- one that shares its stories, its fears, triumphs,
insecurities, and questions. I follow several learning communities. This
one is my home. It is in part because of the incredible ethic of sharing we
gift to each other.
Abundance -- there is always enough for what is important. When I've
underestimated the number of break out sessions for an event, I often joke
that time and space are infinitely expandable and people figure out where
and when to meet. This is a reminder to me of just how incredibly creative
we are as a species when something is important to us. People find
remarkable solutions.
These were my first deep lessons from living with Open Space. I think
somewhere about this time, I began to realize that self-organization and
spirit -- the two ways I talked about OS -- described the same phenomenon in
different language.
And then Spirited Work began [the brain child of Anne Stadler]. While I already understood Open Space was waymore than a good meeting method, this quarterly foray into living in Open Space opened a new and deeper journey of understanding. It was Anne Stadler who helped me understand that the Law of Two Feet is about taking
responsibility for what you love. I now believe this is the essence of Open
Space. It is the power of this one idea -- to take responsibility for what
you love -- that creates the remarkable invitation to listen to our internal
voice and act on its message. Now I understand the dynamics behind what I
originally loved about OS: when people take responsibility for what they
love, they discover that others love the same things. Thus, the needs of
the individual and the collective are met.
At Spirited Work, watching Anne Stadler showing up wherever there was
dissonance or conflict, I learned to welcome disturbances. I came to
understand that they are indicators that something new wants to emerge. And
it was watching the patterns of behavior at Spirited Work, the complex,
unpredictable human behavior as people experimented with living with spirit
in the material world that I have come to understand what Open Space
governance looks like, what it means to make difficult decisions in Open
Space (way beyond consensus), the role of silence in individual and
collective learning.
I now understand the dynamics of emergence when consciously embraced.
Emergence is spirit in action -- where people discover that what is most
personal is also universal. When this happens, what we in the OS community
call Convergence naturally occurs. People move into coherent individual and
collective action. This has shaped how I see my work today -- to grow the
capacity for emergence through caring for ourselves, others and the whole in
service to meaningful purpose. What I see today is that Open Space provides
the essential conditions for emergence without the destructive force that
comes when the disturbances that signal something wanting to emerge are
resisted. It happens by asking an attractive question that matters (the
theme), inviting all who care to take responsibility for what they love, and
by putting them in a circle to begin and end each day to reflect together.
This pattern enables people to step into what they fear with some glimmer of
hope that something useful will happen. And, miraculously, time and again,
it does.
Doing the international Practice of Peace conference [in 2003] -- an experience
planned in OS mostly by people from the Spirited Work community -- brought
new lessons. We took the leap that we would have sufficient participation to
fund inviting 10 OS practitioners from conflict areas from around the world.
We not only accomplished that but created an experience that many, many
participants described as life changing. [In fact, I am still in touch with many of the people who were there.]. They describe some variant of feeling their own capacity to make a difference. I got a deeply embodied experience of what Anne Stadler named the Radiant Network -- that innate knowing that we are all connected, that we are held in some mystical way. When my heart is open, I feel the connection. When not, the connection is still there, it is just hard to believe it exists. My lesson from PoP is that what is on the other side of emergence is the coherence of the Radiant
Network. The most powerful OS events bring people to where they feel a
sense of collective consciousness. They touch that place of deep, personal
meaning that connects them to others and they have at least a glimmer of
their connection to the whole.
Today, I wonder about how the people I have worked with have been touched by
their time in Open Space. How have they been changed by the experience?
What has been the effect when OS is used over and over in a community or
organization? How have people and collectives been changed by the
experience? That's what I hope we learn through the research questions that
Larry, Chris and I put out.
http://www.openspaceworld.org/network/wiki.cgi?OpenSpaceResearch
[Sad to say we never pursued that research.]
I believe that we are growing people's capacity to deal with what they fear,
what they resist by offering them a path to emergence that runs through
powerful, attractive questions. What are their stories?
Harrison, for all that you are and all that you have done, I thank you.
Finding you and your work was a turning point in my life.
Lessons since then
Perhaps the main lessons are about what it means to live conscious of complexity in human systems.
A marriage of science and spirit
I love that Open Space can be explained through the lens of complexity AND the lens of spirit. The first time I did a workshop with Harrison, he told me of his dissertation research while he was a practicing Anglican priest. (Mind you, this story is my memory of the conversation so may be technically inaccurate.) Harrison was reading the text of the bible in the original Aramaic. He said at that time (mid-1950’s?) the common thinking was that seeming contradictions in the Bible were considered wrong. They were about God as immanent and God as transcendent. His dissertation asked a question: what if the contradictions were on purpose? That God was both immanent and transcendent? God was present in embracing the contradictions. That that led Harrison into a study of chaos and order. So his studies of complexity preceded viewing it through science. I loved that both explanations worked.
I took me on a deep dive into the science of complexity. A few of my favorites:
Corning, Peter. “The Re-emergence of ‘Emergence’: A Venerable Concept in Search of a Theory.” Complexity 7, no. 6 (2002): 18–30.
Johnson, Steven. Emergence: The Connective Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. New York: Scribner, 2001.
Kauffman, Stuart. At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. [Harrison pointed me to this one.]
Waldrop, M. Mitchell. Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Chaos. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992
Transition from hierarchies to networks
I think the question I am most immersed in these days is how do we support a transition in how humans organize themselves from hierarches to networks?
I believe Thomas Kuhn said in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions that how humans organize is influenced by the science of the time. Autocrats were common when “God’s will” was our prevailing explanation for how things worked. The industrial revolution brought us hierarchies. Now that technology enables us to see systems, giving us a “macroscopic” view, networks are becoming visible. They’ve always been there. It’s just we now have technology that helps us work with them. I wrote an article in 2010, Leadership in a Networked World,https://peggyholman.com/leadership-in-a-networked-world/ about the principle aspects of networks – links and hubs – and the implications for human organizing.
Open Space gives us great examples of what happens when networks reign. They liberate human spirit because they put what we care about at the center. They are a form that relies on people belonging by bringing their unique selves. Just as OST is an exquisite mix of the masculine (the directionality of purpose) and feminine (the circle of community), networks are an exquisite mix of “we” – belonging and “me” – attending to what I love.
I think the many conflicts we face are because of this transition from hierarchies to networks. My bias is that the more of us who support the shift towards networks, the greater our chance of dealing with the overwhelming issues we face. Opening space helps people embody this very different way of working by connecting us to our own humanity, to others who see the world differently, and to our wholeness. Our connectedness is most visible when our hearts open. Open Space helps that happen.
It has been my journey with Open Space that has led me to this view.
What I learned from knowing Harrison
I’ve saved my final lessons for reflecting on what knowing Harrison has meant to me.
Beyond the knowledge that I’ll always be asking myself what is one less thing to do, three essential lessons come to mind:
Be myself. Harrison was unapologetically himself. He could be blunt, rude even. And alcohol was an issue. In other words, he was hardly perfect. Still, I always felt his love and respect. His ability to just show up is something I deeply admire. I hope I continue to shed whatever layers are left in me of worrying about what others think. He and Anne Stadler are my standards for what that looks like.
Be generous. Harrison gave away Open Space but did it with the responsibility of giving back what you learned. What a gift! It is a recursive, generative stance, give something away with the responsibility of sharing learning that can reinforce and grow more of it.
My favorite story: The first time we did an OST workshop, I wanted to add in a live Open Space and build the training around it. Harrison said he thought it was a bad idea but if I wanted to try it, we would. I thought that was incredibly generous, that even doubting it was a good thing to do, he was willing to support me. We did. And he told me afterwards that he thought it worked well. Generosity again in acknowledging my idea was a good one.
As I find myself more and more working as a mentor, his willingness to support a younger colleague is something I take to heart and have now lived from the elder’s view.
Love is all there is. I was so struck during my last conversations with Harrison, even knowing his days were numbered, he was joyful. There are tears in my eyes as I write this. Perhaps it is the ultimate lesson. When I be love, everything else happens in that context. There’s a poem someone gave me when my mother died that I often share when someone dies. I carry it in my heart and spread it as best I can. It is how I leave you with this last lesson that Harrison so embodied:
GIVE WHAT'S LEFT OF ME AWAY
When I die
Remember me with a smile and laughter.
If thoughts of me provoke no love,
Only sadness and tears,
I ask that I be soon forgotten.
Give what's left of me away
To children and old men who wait to die.
And if you must cry, cry for your brother
Who walks in grief beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms around anyone,
And give them what you need to give me.
I want to leave you something.
Something better than words or sounds.
Look for me in the people I've known or loved,
Or helped in some special way.
And if you cannot give me away,
Let me live in your eyes for awhile,
As well as in your mind.
You can love me most
By letting love live
Within the circle of your arms
Embracing the frightened ones.
Love doesn't die, people do.
So when all that's left of me is love,
Give me away.
-- Merrit Malloy
On Apr 24, 2024, at 10:51 AM, Thomas Perret via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Hi Chris,
Reading this I got curious:
”Harrison framing that [system innovation] needs taking everyone who is conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time”
Will you help me see the concept of ”conflict barrier”?
Kindly wondering,
Thomas Perrer
All is possible together
On 24. Apr 2024, at 20.14, christopher macrae via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Dear Anna & All
Thanks for including "I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” I believe the most loyal way to celebrate a hero is to clarify what each of us learnt from hero that our own being knows no other way of action learning.
My own view is that while self-organisation matters to be trustworthy/ have presence etc, there may be many different ways to self organisation. Actually I had a chat with Harrison and he told me in my case that I needed to attend a masterclass of Meg Wheatley Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatleyhttps://margaretwheatley.com/ I did and I did. Among other Wheatley truths - many pioneers will never be fully thanked or rewarded -
For me -any useful work I ever do is on system innovation - the hardest type of innovation (for me as its the only one i judge myself on; please note yes i have done projects where self-organisation was needed by most or all of the client too (so i hope I know people who can facilitate that if its part of overall delivery)
SYSTEM INNOVATION
. Harrison framing that this needs taking everyone who is conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time is the principle and method that I would never have seen without Harrison
Anyhow just my cents worth. And as mathematics is my thing I realise I am an odd ball so to speak Chris AI20s.com Wash DC chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk
https://margaretwheatley.com/
Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley
On Wednesday, 24 April 2024 at 11:46:40 GMT-4, Anna Caroline Türk via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Dear all,
Thank you Peggy for your and Harrison’s invitation to keep adding our personal learning - including with Harrison. I heard the invitation and it spoke to me. Finally, I made time to write.
I had the privilege to meet OST at age 18 through Michael M Pannwitz in 2000. He facilitated several OST meetings at my school in Berlin. He later helped me facilitate my first OST and today I am a fulfilled consultant and facilitator working the genuine contact way - having facilitated many many OSTs in person and online.
I met Harrison several times in Europe: in Berlin for his birthday and a wave rider workshop, in Sardinia for the European OS Learning Exchange, where the fifth principle of OST emerged, in London for a WOSonOS with Phelim and his team, and in Sevilla where he facilitated an Open Space for 100 imams and 100 rabbis and I was a member of the team. And last time in Washington for the WOSonOS.
Unfortunately, he could not attend the WosonOS in 2010 in Berlin, where we had self-published a book celebrating OST, with many of you on the OS List contributing. It was there that I realized that there is more than one origin story to the emergence of OST. The two martinis and the man with the hat is only one version.
I was glad to learn many women were involved in creating OST, while Harrison wrote the book about it. Today I am facilitating and teaching OST based on his teachings and enriched by the “Berlin” approach and the Genuine Contact approach.
Why some people, including Harrison, love wearing hats always - I don’t know. To me, it turns a bit into a costume (the man with the hat) and it feels less genuine. At the Open Space with the imams and rabbis, all the men had their unique outfits - it was a bit hilarious.
When Harrison tried to make a last announcement at the marketplace after the agenda creation - standing in the middle of the room on a chair with his hat on - trying to get everyone’s attention I had another demystification moment.
Of course, I like him and I love even more the OST grassroots movement in the world.
I was truly truly impressed by the tender, calm, and very welcoming facilitation of Barry Owen at the WOSonOS in Washington - which I partly attribute to the son and father’s deep learning journey together.
I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” - it feels too narrow and cold to me. But I should probably go back to his writings to remember he also said more about the essence of OST.
One story, from the online gathering two weeks ago, felt also a bit harsh to me: When Harrison had recommended to the facilitator to walk the circle, look everyone in the eyes and internally say something like “fuck you all” or something along this line. I get the teaching point. And I trust he has shared other recommendations to OST facilitators that are warmer, focusing on spirit and acknowledging the dimension of holding people’s lives in one’s hands.
I look forward to seeing you here there and hopefully in Istanbul and keep learning together.
Lots of Love
Anna Caroline
P.s. Here a wonderful song from Etta James You can leave your hat on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEThimbixQY
Anna Caroline Türk
Mentor to Visionary Leaders
+49(0)176 24872254 | TruthCircles.com http://truthcircles.com/
[https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xXVPkh6x5cvdl2DBrsq5hZFtWXpHYeOpwmV9YPGbD18v0Q4zzrhhbZQCGFZEP7ktX2Op3cQY-rQmy9]
On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 5:27 PM Peggy Holman via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!
…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.commailto:peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.comhttp://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
Begin forwarded message:
From: Harrison Owen <hhowen@comcast.netmailto:hhowen@comcast.net>
Subject: [OSLIST] What have we learned?
Date: March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDUmailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Reply-To: OSLIST <OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDUmailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we learned?
This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?
This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!
And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned in
the 20 years on the journey.
Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. ho
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.comhttp://www.openspaceworld.com/ http://www.openspaceworld.com/
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.orghttp://www.openspaceworld.org/
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDUmailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
---=========================
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I have a short, and perhaps odd in some ways, reaction to what OS has
taught me (purposefully reversing the learning and teaching in the
question...)
OS has taught me that the most important part of progress is the
enhancement, opening and refinement of relationships with each other, and
the concepts we struggle to communicate and work with, and that OS is a
phenomenal way to advance these causes - one that as a side effect tends to
generate new, intriguing and useful outputs. What I think it has taught me
about this balance is that focusing on outputs will destroy the ability to
obtain them, and that placing the focus on opening and refining
relationships opens the door to surprising new possibilitiies.
OS provides an environment that advances this shift in balance in an
innocuous enough way that people are open to moving their center point in
this direction without the typical opposition to changes in thinking.
I guess that ended up being 25c vs 2c, but there ya go :)
Thanks for posing the question!
On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 12:26 PM Peggy Holman via OSList <
everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I
stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist
exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his
question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the
20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is
a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would
be a good time to break
the silence!!!
…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And
not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,
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
Begin forwarded message:
*From: *Harrison Owen hhowen@comcast.net
*Subject: *[OSLIST] What have we learned?
*Date: *March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
*To: *OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
*Reply-To: *OSLIST OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we
learned?
This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?
This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in
which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is
a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to
break
the silence!!!
And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And
not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a
lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years
in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned
in
the 20 years on the journey.
Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. ho
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
---=========================
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Joel,
If I understand correctly what you have written, it is similar to my
experience back in the 1990's with OST. In a meditation/reflection period
in 1999 about the essence of OST, I was provided with the words 'genuine
contact'. I understand that genuine contact comes about with self, with one
other in one with one relating, with the collective of the whole circle,
and with creation/Creator.
OST was a foundation of what became the Genuine Contact program, way of
working, and the learning playground for its community (genuinecontact.net)
in genuine contact,
Birgitt
Birgitt Williams
*Senior consultant-author-mentor to leaders and consultants *
Specialist in organizational and systemic transformation, leadership
development, and the benefits of nourishing a culture of leadership.
www.dalarinternational.com
16 Sunny Acres Dr., Etowah, North Carolina, USA 28729
Phone: 01-919-522-7750
Like us on Facebook
https://dalarinternational.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=35ed818c946a88ba7344da05f&id=6677c35b38&e=e7zyhHfiqG
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On Mon, Apr 29, 2024 at 2:14 PM Joel Foner via OSList everyone@oslist.org
wrote:
I have a short, and perhaps odd in some ways, reaction to what OS has
taught me (purposefully reversing the learning and teaching in the
question...)
OS has taught me that the most important part of progress is the
enhancement, opening and refinement of relationships with each other, and
the concepts we struggle to communicate and work with, and that OS is a
phenomenal way to advance these causes - one that as a side effect tends to
generate new, intriguing and useful outputs. What I think it has taught me
about this balance is that focusing on outputs will destroy the ability to
obtain them, and that placing the focus on opening and refining
relationships opens the door to surprising new possibilitiies.
OS provides an environment that advances this shift in balance in an
innocuous enough way that people are open to moving their center point in
this direction without the typical opposition to changes in thinking.
I guess that ended up being 25c vs 2c, but there ya go :)
Thanks for posing the question!
On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 12:26 PM Peggy Holman via OSList <
everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I
stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist
exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his
question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of
the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This
is a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would
be a good time to break
the silence!!!
…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And
not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that
we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,
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
Begin forwarded message:
*From: *Harrison Owen hhowen@comcast.net
*Subject: *[OSLIST] What have we learned?
*Date: *March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
*To: *OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
*Reply-To: *OSLIST OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year
(in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20
years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we
learned?
This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American
journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't
recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?
This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in
which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This
is a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to
break
the silence!!!
And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And
not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a
lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years
in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned
in
the 20 years on the journey.
Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. ho
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <
http://www.openspaceworld.com/>
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
---=========================
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here:
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To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
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Peggy Holman! 💛
___
All is possible together
On 28. Apr 2024, at 21.36, Peggy Holman via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Many thanks Anna Caroline for bringing this question back up. I had a hunch when I posted it that it was too soon. I was just taken by the coincidence of the date being the anniversary of when Harrison originally posed the question.
Like you, I wasn’t ready to answer the question when I posted it. After sitting with the question for five weeks, I offer my answer to what I have learned below. Apologies for the length.
Before I share my story...Chris, thank you for also reflecting on the question. I love the notion of “conflict barrier!” Thomas, my interpretation of the phrase is that Open Space runs counterintuitive to the generally accepted practices of conflict negotiation. Rather than having an intermediary working separately with the parties in conflict, Open Space invites them to come together around a topic they care about and work things out for themselves. I’ve seen it happen many times. My lesson from Open Space is that when the purpose is something people care about, they stick with working through their differences and discover common ground. Often with a breakthrough everyone likes that has elements of what mattered to everyone involved. Who knew?
To my reflections on what I learned…
Peggy
What I learned from Harrison
I have thought about the gifts of Harrison’s creation - Open Space Technology - and how it shaped my world view and my life. I have also been appreciating what knowing Harrison, the person, has meant to me....
Beginnings
When I ran into Open Space in 1994, I was primed for it by research I had done in 1993 for US WEST on “knowledge transfer” and “organizational learning.” I had reached the conclusion that a great way to encourage such things was by encouraging random encounters. Open Space was a practical way to make that happen.
I learned of Open Space from a friend who had experienced it at Antioch University Seattle and sent me an article from Training Magazine called Welcome to Open Space. (I couldn’t find the article online so scanned my tired, hard to read copy. I found out years later that Anne Stadler brought OST to Antioch. So, she was indirectly responsible for my discovering OST.) The last page of the article had Harrison’s phone number. So I called him. That led to my attending an OST workshop in New York City and doing a 250-person, 2.5-day Open Space with Harrison, which, at Harrison’s suggestion, we documented via video. At 16 minutes, at that time, it was considered short. We never used it at U S WEST but when the Open Space Institute-US was formed, we got the rights and sold it as a source of income for OSI-US. Now it’s free on Vimeo: U S WEST Open Space. It has a lovely interview with Harrison going over the principles and the law.
What I learned
I started to write the evolution of my learning from Open Space and discovered a pretty thorough response to Harrison’s invitation to answer that question in 2005. It hasn’t changed. So I will share it and then build on it. And then talk about what I learned from the man himself.
Lessons from 2005...
From my 2005 response to Harrison’s question, “What you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open Space, about organizations in Open Space:”
Where to begin? Open Space changed my life. So many, many lessons. And
after 11 years of working with it, I still feel I am just at the beginning
of my learning.Here is a bit of a retrospective of learnings.
The miracle of my first Open Space was to see that it somehow enabled the
needs of the individual and the collective to be met. That's when I fell in
love with it.I think my very first practical realization was that as a facilitator, I
wasn't responsible for other people's experiences. What a revelation! I
could do my best to create the conditions for the work to be done. Beyond
that, it was up to the people in the room.Over the next several years, I found myself talking about my lessons from
Open Space. Some of them come through your words, Harrison, others through
the experience itself:Focus on essence -- the form of OS is so elegantly simple that it is a clear
message that what is most important is the core content of whatever the
subject is. I remember very clearly a conversation with Chris Kloth at
OSonOS IV in Washington, D.C [1996]. He told me that where other change
communities he was a part of spent most of their time focused on questions
and arguments about process, the OS community was always asking about
essence, purpose, the core meaning of whatever it was we were discussing.
Kerry shared recently a comment from a participant: "one day in open space
was the equivalent of two years of hearings." I think this is because when
all you've got to pay attention to is the essence of what's important, well,
it sure makes it easier to let all the nonsense fall by the wayside and
focus on getting something done!Simplicity of design -- you gifted me/us with a very profound design
question: what is one less thing to do? (and I would add implicit in the
question: and have this be whole and complete?) While I sometimes joke that
you came to this by being a master of laziness, I think continually doing
less ensures the focus remains on what is most important. Whether OS or
just life, I find this insight of remarkable power. Anytime a group is
struggling, with how to do something, this question cuts through the mess.
During my Total Quality days, there was a saying: "remedy first, then deal
with the root cause." My definition of remedies were they always added more
steps -- made things more complicated. When the root cause was handled,
100% of the time, it resulted in less steps -- a simpler process. And it
always required looking at the essence, the purpose as the starting point.Invitation/Inclusion -- you talk about invite whoever cares about the
subject and welcome the stranger -- whoever comes. It is such a huge gift
to accept the rightness of whomever and whatever shows up. It is also at
times a deeply courageous act of faith. Through the years I have seen
people healed by the experience of being welcomed, with all of their quirks,
of feeling heard. I have also seen it as a challenging test of people
uncomfortable with those who are different. The rewards for those who
usually exclude others and for those who are often excluded are powerful.
People discover compassion in themselves. Outcasts experience something
often unfamiliar: support. I remember years ago at OSonOS in Monterey
(1998?), an intense day 2 opening circle where there was this conflicted
discussion of "in group" and "outsiders". Finally, this woman, I don't know
her name and I never saw her again, got up and walked, or perhaps she flew,
around the circle, inside and out. Her words were something about belonging
coming from within ourselves. It shifted everything.Generosity of Spirit -- you gave OS away, no trademark, copyright,
certification or other hurdles. You said there is one responsibility -- to
give back what you've learned. I look at the extraordinary community that
we've created -- one that shares its stories, its fears, triumphs,
insecurities, and questions. I follow several learning communities. This
one is my home. It is in part because of the incredible ethic of sharing we
gift to each other.Abundance -- there is always enough for what is important. When I've
underestimated the number of break out sessions for an event, I often joke
that time and space are infinitely expandable and people figure out where
and when to meet. This is a reminder to me of just how incredibly creative
we are as a species when something is important to us. People find
remarkable solutions.These were my first deep lessons from living with Open Space. I think
somewhere about this time, I began to realize that self-organization and
spirit -- the two ways I talked about OS -- described the same phenomenon in
different language.
And then Spirited Work began [the brain child of Anne Stadler]. While I already understood Open Space was waymore than a good meeting method, this quarterly foray into living in Open Space opened a new and deeper journey of understanding. It was Anne Stadler who helped me understand that the Law of Two Feet is about taking
responsibility for what you love. I now believe this is the essence of Open
Space. It is the power of this one idea -- to take responsibility for what
you love -- that creates the remarkable invitation to listen to our internal
voice and act on its message. Now I understand the dynamics behind what I
originally loved about OS: when people take responsibility for what they
love, they discover that others love the same things. Thus, the needs of
the individual and the collective are met.At Spirited Work, watching Anne Stadler showing up wherever there was
dissonance or conflict, I learned to welcome disturbances. I came to
understand that they are indicators that something new wants to emerge. And
it was watching the patterns of behavior at Spirited Work, the complex,
unpredictable human behavior as people experimented with living with spirit
in the material world that I have come to understand what Open Space
governance looks like, what it means to make difficult decisions in Open
Space (way beyond consensus), the role of silence in individual and
collective learning.I now understand the dynamics of emergence when consciously embraced.
Emergence is spirit in action -- where people discover that what is most
personal is also universal. When this happens, what we in the OS community
call Convergence naturally occurs. People move into coherent individual and
collective action. This has shaped how I see my work today -- to grow the
capacity for emergence through caring for ourselves, others and the whole in
service to meaningful purpose. What I see today is that Open Space provides
the essential conditions for emergence without the destructive force that
comes when the disturbances that signal something wanting to emerge are
resisted. It happens by asking an attractive question that matters (the
theme), inviting all who care to take responsibility for what they love, and
by putting them in a circle to begin and end each day to reflect together.
This pattern enables people to step into what they fear with some glimmer of
hope that something useful will happen. And, miraculously, time and again,
it does.Doing the international Practice of Peace conference [in 2003] -- an experience
planned in OS mostly by people from the Spirited Work community -- brought
new lessons. We took the leap that we would have sufficient participation to
fund inviting 10 OS practitioners from conflict areas from around the world.
We not only accomplished that but created an experience that many, many
participants described as life changing. [In fact, I am still in touch with many of the people who were there.]. They describe some variant of feeling their own capacity to make a difference. I got a deeply embodied experience of what Anne Stadler named the Radiant Network -- that innate knowing that we are all connected, that we are held in some mystical way. When my heart is open, I feel the connection. When not, the connection is still there, it is just hard to believe it exists. My lesson from PoP is that what is on the other side of emergence is the coherence of the Radiant
Network. The most powerful OS events bring people to where they feel a
sense of collective consciousness. They touch that place of deep, personal
meaning that connects them to others and they have at least a glimmer of
their connection to the whole.
Today, I wonder about how the people I have worked with have been touched by
their time in Open Space. How have they been changed by the experience?
What has been the effect when OS is used over and over in a community or
organization? How have people and collectives been changed by the
experience? That's what I hope we learn through the research questions that
Larry, Chris and I put out.
http://www.openspaceworld.org/network/wiki.cgi?OpenSpaceResearch
[Sad to say we never pursued that research.]I believe that we are growing people's capacity to deal with what they fear,
what they resist by offering them a path to emergence that runs through
powerful, attractive questions. What are their stories?Harrison, for all that you are and all that you have done, I thank you.
Finding you and your work was a turning point in my life.Lessons since then
Perhaps the main lessons are about what it means to live conscious of complexity in human systems.
A marriage of science and spirit
I love that Open Space can be explained through the lens of complexity AND the lens of spirit. The first time I did a workshop with Harrison, he told me of his dissertation research while he was a practicing Anglican priest. (Mind you, this story is my memory of the conversation so may be technically inaccurate.) Harrison was reading the text of the bible in the original Aramaic. He said at that time (mid-1950’s?) the common thinking was that seeming contradictions in the Bible were considered wrong. They were about God as immanent and God as transcendent. His dissertation asked a question: what if the contradictions were on purpose? That God was both immanent and transcendent? God was present in embracing the contradictions. That that led Harrison into a study of chaos and order. So his studies of complexity preceded viewing it through science. I loved that both explanations worked.
I took me on a deep dive into the science of complexity. A few of my favorites:
Corning, Peter. “The Re-emergence of ‘Emergence’: A Venerable Concept in Search of a Theory.” Complexity 7, no. 6 (2002): 18–30.
Johnson, Steven. Emergence: The Connective Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. New York: Scribner, 2001.
Kauffman, Stuart. At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. [Harrison pointed me to this one.]
Waldrop, M. Mitchell. Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Chaos. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992
Transition from hierarchies to networks
I think the question I am most immersed in these days is how do we support a transition in how humans organize themselves from hierarches to networks?
I believe Thomas Kuhn said in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions that how humans organize is influenced by the science of the time. Autocrats were common when “God’s will” was our prevailing explanation for how things worked. The industrial revolution brought us hierarchies. Now that technology enables us to see systems, giving us a “macroscopic” view, networks are becoming visible. They’ve always been there. It’s just we now have technology that helps us work with them. I wrote an article in 2010, Leadership in a Networked World, about the principle aspects of networks – links and hubs – and the implications for human organizing.
Open Space gives us great examples of what happens when networks reign. They liberate human spirit because they put what we care about at the center. They are a form that relies on people belonging by bringing their unique selves. Just as OST is an exquisite mix of the masculine (the directionality of purpose) and feminine (the circle of community), networks are an exquisite mix of “we” – belonging and “me” – attending to what I love.
I think the many conflicts we face are because of this transition from hierarchies to networks. My bias is that the more of us who support the shift towards networks, the greater our chance of dealing with the overwhelming issues we face. Opening space helps people embody this very different way of working by connecting us to our own humanity, to others who see the world differently, and to our wholeness. Our connectedness is most visible when our hearts open. Open Space helps that happen.
It has been my journey with Open Space that has led me to this view.
What I learned from knowing Harrison
I’ve saved my final lessons for reflecting on what knowing Harrison has meant to me.
Beyond the knowledge that I’ll always be asking myself what is one less thing to do, three essential lessons come to mind:
Be myself. Harrison was unapologetically himself. He could be blunt, rude even. And alcohol was an issue. In other words, he was hardly perfect. Still, I always felt his love and respect. His ability to just show up is something I deeply admire. I hope I continue to shed whatever layers are left in me of worrying about what others think. He and Anne Stadler are my standards for what that looks like.
Be generous. Harrison gave away Open Space but did it with the responsibility of giving back what you learned. What a gift! It is a recursive, generative stance, give something away with the responsibility of sharing learning that can reinforce and grow more of it.
My favorite story: The first time we did an OST workshop, I wanted to add in a live Open Space and build the training around it. Harrison said he thought it was a bad idea but if I wanted to try it, we would. I thought that was incredibly generous, that even doubting it was a good thing to do, he was willing to support me. We did. And he told me afterwards that he thought it worked well. Generosity again in acknowledging my idea was a good one.
As I find myself more and more working as a mentor, his willingness to support a younger colleague is something I take to heart and have now lived from the elder’s view.
Love is all there is. I was so struck during my last conversations with Harrison, even knowing his days were numbered, he was joyful. There are tears in my eyes as I write this. Perhaps it is the ultimate lesson. When I be love, everything else happens in that context. There’s a poem someone gave me when my mother died that I often share when someone dies. I carry it in my heart and spread it as best I can. It is how I leave you with this last lesson that Harrison so embodied:
GIVE WHAT'S LEFT OF ME AWAY
When I die
Remember me with a smile and laughter.
If thoughts of me provoke no love,
Only sadness and tears,
I ask that I be soon forgotten.Give what's left of me away
To children and old men who wait to die.
And if you must cry, cry for your brother
Who walks in grief beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms around anyone,
And give them what you need to give me.I want to leave you something.
Something better than words or sounds.
Look for me in the people I've known or loved,
Or helped in some special way.
And if you cannot give me away,
Let me live in your eyes for awhile,
As well as in your mind.You can love me most
By letting love live
Within the circle of your arms
Embracing the frightened ones.Love doesn't die, people do.
So when all that's left of me is love,
Give me away.-- Merrit Malloy
On Apr 24, 2024, at 10:51 AM, Thomas Perret via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Hi Chris,
Reading this I got curious:
”Harrison framing that [system innovation] needs taking everyone who is conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time”
Will you help me see the concept of ”conflict barrier”?
Kindly wondering,
Thomas Perrer
___
All is possible together
On 24. Apr 2024, at 20.14, christopher macrae via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Anna & All
Thanks for including "I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” I believe the most loyal way to celebrate a hero is to clarify what each of us learnt from hero that our own being knows no other way of action learning.
My own view is that while self-organisation matters to be trustworthy/ have presence etc, there may be many different ways to self organisation. Actually I had a chat with Harrison and he told me in my case that I needed to attend a masterclass of Meg Wheatley Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley I did and I did. Among other Wheatley truths - many pioneers will never be fully thanked or rewarded -
For me -any useful work I ever do is on system innovation - the hardest type of innovation (for me as its the only one i judge myself on; please note yes i have done projects where self-organisation was needed by most or all of the client too (so i hope I know people who can facilitate that if its part of overall delivery)
SYSTEM INNOVATION
. Harrison framing that this needs taking everyone who is conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time is the principle and method that I would never have seen without Harrison
Anyhow just my cents worth. And as mathematics is my thing I realise I am an odd ball so to speak Chris AI20s.com Wash DC chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk
Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley
On Wednesday, 24 April 2024 at 11:46:40 GMT-4, Anna Caroline Türk via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear all,
Thank you Peggy for your and Harrison’s invitation to keep adding our personal learning - including with Harrison. I heard the invitation and it spoke to me. Finally, I made time to write.
I had the privilege to meet OST at age 18 through Michael M Pannwitz in 2000. He facilitated several OST meetings at my school in Berlin. He later helped me facilitate my first OST and today I am a fulfilled consultant and facilitator working the genuine contact way - having facilitated many many OSTs in person and online.
I met Harrison several times in Europe: in Berlin for his birthday and a wave rider workshop, in Sardinia for the European OS Learning Exchange, where the fifth principle of OST emerged, in London for a WOSonOS with Phelim and his team, and in Sevilla where he facilitated an Open Space for 100 imams and 100 rabbis and I was a member of the team. And last time in Washington for the WOSonOS.
Unfortunately, he could not attend the WosonOS in 2010 in Berlin, where we had self-published a book celebrating OST, with many of you on the OS List contributing. It was there that I realized that there is more than one origin story to the emergence of OST. The two martinis and the man with the hat is only one version.
I was glad to learn many women were involved in creating OST, while Harrison wrote the book about it. Today I am facilitating and teaching OST based on his teachings and enriched by the “Berlin” approach and the Genuine Contact approach.Why some people, including Harrison, love wearing hats always - I don’t know. To me, it turns a bit into a costume (the man with the hat) and it feels less genuine. At the Open Space with the imams and rabbis, all the men had their unique outfits - it was a bit hilarious.
When Harrison tried to make a last announcement at the marketplace after the agenda creation - standing in the middle of the room on a chair with his hat on - trying to get everyone’s attention I had another demystification moment.Of course, I like him and I love even more the OST grassroots movement in the world.
I was truly truly impressed by the tender, calm, and very welcoming facilitation of Barry Owen at the WOSonOS in Washington - which I partly attribute to the son and father’s deep learning journey together.
I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” - it feels too narrow and cold to me. But I should probably go back to his writings to remember he also said more about the essence of OST.
One story, from the online gathering two weeks ago, felt also a bit harsh to me: When Harrison had recommended to the facilitator to walk the circle, look everyone in the eyes and internally say something like “fuck you all” or something along this line. I get the teaching point. And I trust he has shared other recommendations to OST facilitators that are warmer, focusing on spirit and acknowledging the dimension of holding people’s lives in one’s hands.I look forward to seeing you here there and hopefully in Istanbul and keep learning together.
Lots of Love
Anna CarolineP.s. Here a wonderful song from Etta James You can leave your hat on
Anna Caroline Türk
Mentor to Visionary Leaders
+49(0)176 24872254 | TruthCircles.com
On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 5:27 PM Peggy Holman via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.comBellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.comEnjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew DellingerBegin forwarded message:
From: Harrison Owen <hhowen@comcast.net>
Subject: [OSLIST] What have we learned?
Date: March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Reply-To: OSLIST <OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we learned?This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break
the silence!!!And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned in
the 20 years on the journey.Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. hoHarrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
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Hi Peggy and thank you for your long post about what we have learned. Thank
you Anna Caroline for your contribution too. I, like Kathy, really
appreciate the mention of Anne Stadler and her role. And like Anna Caroline
has said, there have been incredible female mentors from the earliest days
of OST. For me, OST would not have made it around the world without Anne's
mentorship to Harrison, encouraging him that he has something worth
sharing, helping him to frame it, laughing at him when he needed to call
one in the group who came up with the OS concepts to find out what the four
principles were as he had forgotten. So much of my gratitude for OST goes
to Anne.
I need to respond to the richness of what you both have written in smaller
pieces, one topic at a time. Today, my response is about the essence of
OST. In early days, those of us who started embracing OST embraced spirit
as the essence of OST. Those who joined in later didn't benefit from the
richness of those conversations and understanding in quite the same way.
The shift to focusing on self organization by Harison and others came
later. Those who joined later usually had only this perspective of the
essence of OST.
In the Working with OST training of the Genuine Contact program, we offer
six to eight possibilities for the essence, not only these two, and then
invite participants to determine their own interpretation of the essence of
OST that they want to carry into the future work that they do with OST.
There is no judgment about what is chosen, only that it is genuinely true
as the essence of OST for the person.
Why is it so important for the person to choose their own definition of the
essence of OST? When planning for and facilitating OST meetings, there are
many micro-decisions the facilitator is making. These cannot follow any
kind of rule book. The decisions don't get anchored in rules, they get
anchored in the essence of OST, each facilitator according to their own
determination of that essence.
warmly,
Birgitt
Birgitt Williams
*Senior consultant-author-mentor to leaders and consultants *
Specialist in organizational and systemic transformation, leadership
development, and the benefits of nourishing a culture of leadership.
www.dalarinternational.com
16 Sunny Acres Dr., Etowah, North Carolina, USA 28729
Phone: 01-919-522-7750
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On Sun, Apr 28, 2024 at 9:13 PM Kathy Minardi via OSList <
everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Peggy,
This is an extraordinary gift to us all, unifying Harrison’s work and Anne
Stadler’s work. It means so much to me personally.
With gratitude,
Kathy Minardi
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 28, 2024, at 2:36 PM, Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org
wrote:
Many thanks Anna Caroline for bringing this question back up. I had a
hunch when I posted it that it was too soon. I was just taken by the
coincidence of the date being the anniversary of when Harrison originally
posed the question.
Like you, I wasn’t ready to answer the question when I posted it. After
sitting with the question for five weeks, I offer my answer to what I have
learned below. Apologies for the length.
Before I share my story...Chris, thank you for also reflecting on the
question. I love the notion of “conflict barrier!” Thomas, my
interpretation of the phrase is that Open Space runs counterintuitive to
the generally accepted practices of conflict negotiation. Rather than
having an intermediary working separately with the parties in conflict,
Open Space invites them to come together around a topic they care about and
work things out for themselves. I’ve seen it happen many times. My lesson
from Open Space is that when the purpose is something people care about,
they stick with working through their differences and discover common
ground. Often with a breakthrough everyone likes that has elements of what
mattered to everyone involved. Who knew?
To my reflections on what I learned…
Peggy
*What I learned from Harrison *
I have thought about the gifts of Harrison’s creation - Open Space
Technology - and how it shaped my world view and my life. I have also been
appreciating what knowing Harrison, the person, has meant to me....
Beginnings
When I ran into Open Space in 1994, I was primed for it by research I had
done in 1993 for US WEST on “knowledge transfer” and “organizational
learning.” I had reached the conclusion that a great way to encourage such
things was by encouraging random encounters. Open Space was a practical way
to make that happen.
I learned of Open Space from a friend who had experienced it at Antioch
University Seattle and sent me an article from Training Magazine called Welcome
to Open Space.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dsvJAbN_ib_MaMJ30DfLOylRveA-Qeci/view?usp=sharing (I
couldn’t find the article online so scanned my tired, hard to read copy. I
found out years later that Anne Stadler brought OST to Antioch. So, she was
indirectly responsible for my discovering OST.) The last page of the
article had Harrison’s phone number. So I called him. That led to my
attending an OST workshop in New York City and doing a 250-person, 2.5-day
Open Space with Harrison, which, at Harrison’s suggestion, we documented
via video. At 16 minutes, at that time, it was considered short. We never
used it at U S WEST but when the Open Space Institute-US was formed, we got
the rights and sold it as a source of income for OSI-US. Now it’s free on
Vimeo: U S WEST Open Spac https://vimeo.com/25251316?share=copye. It
has a lovely interview with Harrison going over the principles and the law.
What I learned
I started to write the evolution of my learning from Open Space and
discovered a pretty thorough response to Harrison’s invitation to answer
that question in 2005. It hasn’t changed. So I will share it and then build
on it. And then talk about what I learned from the man himself.
Lessons from 2005...
From my 2005 response to Harrison’s question, “What you, personally, have
learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open Space, about organizations in
Open Space:”
Where to begin? Open Space changed my life. So many, many lessons. And
after 11 years of working with it, I still feel I am just at the beginning
of my learning.
Here is a bit of a retrospective of learnings.
The miracle of my first Open Space was to see that it somehow
enabled the needs of the individual and the collective to be met.
That's when I fell in
love with it.
I think my very first practical realization was that
as a facilitator, I wasn't responsible for other people's experiences. What
a revelation! I
could do my best to create the conditions for the work to be done. Beyond
that, it was up to the people in the room.
Over the next several years, I found myself talking about my lessons from
Open Space. Some of them come through your words, Harrison, others through
the experience itself:
Focus on essence -- the form of OS is so elegantly simple that it is a
clear
message that what is most important is the core content of whatever the
subject is. I remember very clearly a conversation with Chris Kloth at
OSonOS IV in Washington, D.C [1996]. He told me that where other change
communities he was a part of spent most of their time focused on questions
and arguments about process, the OS community was always asking about
essence, purpose, the core meaning of whatever it was we were discussing.
Kerry shared recently a comment from a participant: "one day in open space
was the equivalent of two years of hearings." I think this is because when
all you've got to pay attention to is the essence of what's important,
well,
it sure makes it easier to let all the nonsense fall by the wayside and
focus on getting something done!
*Simplicity of design *-- you gifted me/us with a very profound design
question: what is one less thing to do? (and I would add implicit in the
question: and have this be whole and complete?) While I sometimes joke
that
you came to this by being a master of laziness, I think continually doing
less ensures the focus remains on what is most important. Whether OS or
just life, I find this insight of remarkable power. Anytime a group is
struggling, with how to do something, this question cuts through the mess.
During my Total Quality days, there was a saying: "remedy first, then deal
with the root cause." My definition of remedies were they always added
more
steps -- made things more complicated. When the root cause was handled,
100% of the time, it resulted in less steps -- a simpler process. And it
always required looking at the essence, the purpose as the starting point.
Invitation/Inclusion -- you talk about invite whoever cares about the
subject and welcome the stranger -- whoever comes. It is such a huge gift
to accept the rightness of whomever and whatever shows up. It is also at
times a deeply courageous act of faith. Through the years I have seen
people healed by the experience of being welcomed, with all of their
quirks,
of feeling heard. I have also seen it as a challenging test of people
uncomfortable with those who are different. The rewards for those who
usually exclude others and for those who are often excluded are powerful.
People discover compassion in themselves. Outcasts experience something
often unfamiliar: support. I remember years ago at OSonOS in Monterey
(1998?), an intense day 2 opening circle where there was this conflicted
discussion of "in group" and "outsiders". Finally, this woman, I don't
know
her name and I never saw her again, got up and walked, or perhaps she flew,
around the circle, inside and out. Her words were something about
belonging
coming from within ourselves. It shifted everything.
Generosity of Spirit -- you gave OS away, no trademark, copyright,
certification or other hurdles. You said there is one responsibility -- to
give back what you've learned. I look at the extraordinary community that
we've created -- one that shares its stories, its fears, triumphs,
insecurities, and questions. I follow several learning communities. This
one is my home. It is in part because of the incredible ethic of sharing
we
gift to each other.
Abundance -- there is always enough for what is important. When I've
underestimated the number of break out sessions for an event, I often joke
that time and space are infinitely expandable and people figure out where
and when to meet. This is a reminder to me of just how incredibly creative
we are as a species when something is important to us. People find
remarkable solutions.
These were my first deep lessons from living with Open Space. I think
somewhere about this time, I began to realize that
*self-organization and spirit -- the two ways I talked about OS --
described the same phenomenon in different language. *
And then Spirited Work began [the brain child of Anne Stadler]. While I
already understood Open Space was waymore than a good meeting method, this
quarterly foray into living in Open Space opened a new and deeper journey
of understanding. It was Anne Stadler who helped me understand that the
Law of Two Feet is about taking responsibility for what you love. I
now believe this is the essence of Open
Space. It is the power of this one idea -- to take responsibility for what
you love -- that creates the remarkable invitation to listen to our
internal
voice and act on its message. Now I understand the dynamics behind what I
originally loved about OS:
when people take responsibility for what they love, they discover that
others love the same things. Thus, the needs of the individual and the
collective are met.
At Spirited Work, watching Anne Stadler showing up wherever there was
dissonance or conflict, I learned to welcome disturbances. I came to
understand that they are indicators that something new wants to emerge.
And
it was watching the patterns of behavior at Spirited Work, the complex,
unpredictable human behavior as people experimented with living with spirit
in the material world that I have come to understand what Open Space
governance looks like, what it means to make difficult decisions in Open
Space (way beyond consensus), the role of silence in individual and
collective learning.
I now understand the dynamics of emergence when consciously embraced.
Emergence is spirit in action -- where people discover that what is most
personal is also universal. When this happens, what we in the OS
community
call Convergence naturally occurs. People move into coherent individual
and
collective action. This has
shaped how I see my work today -- to grow the capacity for emergence
through caring for ourselves, others and the whole in service to meaningful
purpose. What I see today is that Open Space provides
the essential conditions for emergence without the destructive force that
comes when the disturbances that signal something wanting to emerge are
resisted. It happens by
asking an attractive question that matters (the theme), inviting all who
care to take responsibility for what they love, and by putting them in a
circle to begin and end each day to reflect together.
This pattern enables people to step into what they fear with some glimmer
of
hope that something useful will happen. And, miraculously, time and again,
it does.
Doing the international Practice of Peace conference [in 2003] -- an
experience
planned in OS mostly by people from the Spirited Work community -- brought
new lessons. We took the leap that we would have sufficient participation
to
fund inviting 10 OS practitioners from conflict areas from around the
world.
We not only accomplished that but created an experience that many, many
participants described as life changing. [In fact, I am still in touch
with many of the people who were there.]. They describe some variant of
feeling their own capacity to make a difference. I got a deeply embodied
experience of what Anne Stadler named the Radiant Network -- that innate
knowing that we are all connected, that we are held in some mystical way.
When my heart is open, I feel the connection. When not, the connection is
still there, it is just hard to believe it exists. My lesson from PoP
is that
*what is on the other side of emergence is the coherence of the Radiant
Network. The most powerful OS events bring people to where they feel a
sense of collective consciousness. They touch that place of deep, personal
meaning that connects them to others and they have at least a glimmer of
their connection to the whole. *
Today, I wonder about how the people I have worked with have been touched
by
their time in Open Space. How have they been changed by the experience?
What has been the effect when OS is used over and over in a community or
organization? How have people and collectives been changed by the
experience? That's what I hope we learn through the research questions
that
Larry, Chris and I put out.
http://www.openspaceworld.org/network/wiki.cgi?OpenSpaceResearch
[Sad to say we never pursued that research.]
I believe that we are growing people's capacity to deal with what they
fear,
what they resist by offering them a path to emergence that runs through
powerful, attractive questions. What are their stories?
Harrison, for all that you are and all that you have done, I thank you.
Finding you and your work was a turning point in my life.
Lessons since then
Perhaps the main lessons are about what it means to live conscious of
complexity in human systems.
A marriage of science and spirit
I love that Open Space can be explained through the lens of complexity AND
the lens of spirit. The first time I did a workshop with Harrison, he told
me of his dissertation research while he was a practicing Anglican priest.
(Mind you, this story is my memory of the conversation so may be
technically inaccurate.) Harrison was reading the text of the bible in the
original Aramaic. He said at that time (mid-1950’s?) the common thinking
was that seeming contradictions in the Bible were considered wrong. They
were about God as immanent and God as transcendent. His dissertation asked
a question: what if the contradictions were on purpose? That God was both
immanent and transcendent? God was present in embracing the contradictions.
That that led Harrison into a study of chaos and order. So his studies of
complexity preceded viewing it through science. I loved that both
explanations worked.
I took me on a deep dive into the science of complexity. A few of my
favorites:
Corning, Peter. “The Re-emergence of ‘Emergence’: A Venerable Concept in
Search of a Theory.” Complexity 7, no. 6 (2002): 18–30.
Johnson, Steven. Emergence: The Connective Lives of Ants, Brains,
Cities, and Software. New York: Scribner, 2001.
Kauffman, Stuart. At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of
Self-Organization and Complexity. New York: Oxford University Press,
1996. [Harrison pointed me to this one.]
Waldrop, M. Mitchell. Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of
Chaos. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992
Transition from hierarchies to networks
I think the question I am most immersed in these days is how do we support
a transition in how humans organize themselves from hierarches to networks?
I believe Thomas Kuhn said in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
that how humans organize is influenced by the science of the time.
Autocrats were common when “God’s will” was our prevailing explanation for
how things worked. The industrial revolution brought us hierarchies. Now
that technology enables us to see systems, giving us a “macroscopic” view,
networks are becoming visible. They’ve always been there. It’s just we now
have technology that helps us work with them. I wrote an article in 2010, Leadership
in a Networked World,
https://peggyholman.com/leadership-in-a-networked-world/ about the
principle aspects of networks – links and hubs – and the implications for
human organizing.
Open Space gives us great examples of what happens when networks reign.
They liberate human spirit because they put what we care about at the
center. They are a form that relies on people belonging by bringing their
unique selves. Just as OST is an exquisite mix of the masculine (the
directionality of purpose) and feminine (the circle of community), networks
are an exquisite mix of “we” – belonging and “me” – attending to what I
love.
I think the many conflicts we face are because of this transition from
hierarchies to networks. My bias is that the more of us who support the
shift towards networks, the greater our chance of dealing with the
overwhelming issues we face. Opening space helps people embody this very
different way of working by connecting us to our own humanity, to others
who see the world differently, and to our wholeness. Our connectedness is
most visible when our hearts open. Open Space helps that happen.
It has been my journey with Open Space that has led me to this view.
What I learned from knowing Harrison
I’ve saved my final lessons for reflecting on what knowing Harrison has
meant to me.
Beyond the knowledge that I’ll always be asking myself what is one less
thing to do, three essential lessons come to mind:
Be myself. Harrison was unapologetically himself. He could be blunt,
rude even. And alcohol was an issue. In other words, he was hardly
perfect. Still, I always felt his love and respect. His ability to just
show up is something I deeply admire. I hope I continue to shed whatever
layers are left in me of worrying about what others think. He and Anne
Stadler are my standards for what that looks like.
Be generous. Harrison gave away Open Space but did it with the
responsibility of giving back what you learned. What a gift! It is a
recursive, generative stance, give something away with the responsibility
of sharing learning that can reinforce and grow more of it.
My favorite story: The first time we did an OST workshop, I wanted to add
in a live Open Space and build the training around it. Harrison said he
thought it was a bad idea but if I wanted to try it, we would. I thought
that was incredibly generous, that even doubting it was a good thing to do,
he was willing to support me. We did. And he told me afterwards that he
thought it worked well. Generosity again in acknowledging my idea was a
good one.
As I find myself more and more working as a mentor, his willingness to
support a younger colleague is something I take to heart and have now lived
from the elder’s view.
*Love is all there is. *I was so struck during my last conversations with
Harrison, even knowing his days were numbered, he was joyful. There are
tears in my eyes as I write this. Perhaps it is the ultimate lesson. When I
be love, everything else happens in that context. There’s a poem someone
gave me when my mother died that I often share when someone dies. I carry
it in my heart and spread it as best I can. It is how I leave you with this
last lesson that Harrison so embodied:
GIVE WHAT'S LEFT OF ME AWAY
When I die
Remember me with a smile and laughter.
If thoughts of me provoke no love,
Only sadness and tears,
I ask that I be soon forgotten.
Give what's left of me away
To children and old men who wait to die.
And if you must cry, cry for your brother
Who walks in grief beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms around anyone,
And give them what you need to give me.
I want to leave you something.
Something better than words or sounds.
Look for me in the people I've known or loved,
Or helped in some special way.
And if you cannot give me away,
Let me live in your eyes for awhile,
As well as in your mind.
You can love me most
By letting love live
Within the circle of your arms
Embracing the frightened ones.
Love doesn't die, people do.
So when all that's left of me is love,
Give me away.
-- Merrit Malloy
On Apr 24, 2024, at 10:51 AM, Thomas Perret via OSList <
everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Hi Chris,
Reading this I got curious:
”Harrison framing that [system innovation] needs taking everyone who is
conflict with each other through a conflict barrier at the same time”
Will you help me see the concept of ”conflict barrier”?
Kindly wondering,
Thomas Perrer
All is possible together
On 24. Apr 2024, at 20.14, christopher macrae via OSList <
everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Anna & All
Thanks for including "I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that
Harrison promoted quite loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” I
believe the most loyal way to celebrate a hero is to clarify what each of
us learnt from hero that our own being knows no other way of action
learning.
My own view is that while self-organisation matters to be trustworthy/
have presence etc, there may be many different ways to self organisation.
Actually I had a chat with Harrison and he told me in my case that I needed
to attend a masterclass of Meg Wheatley Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret
J. Wheatley https://margaretwheatley.com/ I did and I did. Among other
Wheatley truths - many pioneers will never be fully thanked or rewarded -
For me -any useful work I ever do is on system innovation - the hardest
type of innovation (for me as its the only one i judge myself on; please
note yes i have done projects where self-organisation was needed by most
or all of the client too (so i hope I know people who can facilitate that
if its part of overall delivery)
SYSTEM INNOVATION
. Harrison framing that this needs taking everyone who is conflict with
each other through a conflict barrier at the same time is the principle and
method that I would never have seen without Harrison
Anyhow just my cents worth. And as mathematics is my thing I realise I am
an odd ball so to speak Chris AI20s.com Wash DC chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk
Margaret J. Wheatley – Margaret J. Wheatley
On Wednesday, 24 April 2024 at 11:46:40 GMT-4, Anna Caroline Türk via
OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Dear all,
Thank you Peggy for your and Harrison’s invitation to keep adding our
personal learning - including with Harrison. I heard the invitation and it
spoke to me. Finally, I made time to write.
I had the privilege to meet OST at age 18 through Michael M Pannwitz in
2000. He facilitated several OST meetings at my school in Berlin. He later
helped me facilitate my first OST and today I am a fulfilled consultant and
facilitator working the genuine contact way - having facilitated many many
OSTs in person and online.
I met Harrison several times in Europe: in Berlin for his birthday and a
wave rider workshop, in Sardinia for the European OS Learning Exchange,
where the fifth principle of OST emerged, in London for a WOSonOS with
Phelim and his team, and in Sevilla where he facilitated an Open Space for
100 imams and 100 rabbis and I was a member of the team. And last time in
Washington for the WOSonOS.
Unfortunately, he could not attend the WosonOS in 2010 in Berlin, where we
had self-published a book celebrating OST, with many of you on the OS List
contributing. It was there that I realized that there is more than one
origin story to the emergence of OST. The two martinis and the man with the
hat is only one version.
I was glad to learn many women were involved in creating OST, while
Harrison wrote the book about it. Today I am facilitating and teaching OST
based on his teachings and enriched by the “Berlin” approach and the
Genuine Contact approach.
Why some people, including Harrison, love wearing hats always - I don’t
know. To me, it turns a bit into a costume (the man with the hat) and it
feels less genuine. At the Open Space with the imams and rabbis, all the
men had their unique outfits - it was a bit hilarious.
When Harrison tried to make a last announcement at the marketplace after
the agenda creation - standing in the middle of the room on a chair with
his hat on - trying to get everyone’s attention I had another
demystification moment.
Of course, I like him and I love even more the OST grassroots movement in
the world.
I was truly truly impressed by the tender, calm, and very welcoming
facilitation of Barry Owen at the WOSonOS in Washington - which I partly
attribute to the son and father’s deep learning journey together.
I am not a fan of the dominant storyline that Harrison promoted quite
loudly that OST is all about “self-organization” - it feels too narrow and
cold to me. But I should probably go back to his writings to remember he
also said more about the essence of OST.
One story, from the online gathering two weeks ago, felt also a bit harsh
to me: When Harrison had recommended to the facilitator to walk the circle,
look everyone in the eyes and internally say something like “fuck you all”
or something along this line. I get the teaching point. And I trust he has
shared other recommendations to OST facilitators that are warmer, focusing
on spirit and acknowledging the dimension of holding people’s lives in
one’s hands.
I look forward to seeing you here there and hopefully in Istanbul and keep
learning together.
Lots of Love
Anna Caroline
P.s. Here a wonderful song from Etta James You can leave your hat on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEThimbixQY
Anna Caroline Türk
Mentor to Visionary Leaders
+49(0)176 24872254 | TruthCircles.com http://truthcircles.com/
On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 5:27 PM Peggy Holman via OSList <
everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I
stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist
exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned?
Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his
question. An excerpt from below:
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the
20 years in which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is
a
call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would
be a good time to break
the silence!!!
…
Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And
not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it.
Love,
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
Begin forwarded message:
*From: *Harrison Owen hhowen@comcast.net
*Subject: *[OSLIST] What have we learned?
*Date: *March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST
*To: *OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
*Reply-To: *OSLIST OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in
case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years
(not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we
learned?
This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal,
JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science"
offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the
usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One
of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I
would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" -
including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall
seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel
inspired to ask a question - What have we learned?
This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not
about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all
about a genuine question - What have we learned????
My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to
reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in
which
you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of
what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open
Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you
choose to share.
I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is
a
call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on
OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to
break
the silence!!!
And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for
our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the
Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to
reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And
not
just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is
your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we
just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle.
In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a
lot
of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years
in
Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to
everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned
in
the 20 years on the journey.
Harrison
Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that
learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our
Collected Works would be fun to read. ho
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
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