Open Space Technology works on passion bounded by responsibility. It’s about people finding what they want to do and assembling the resources around them to make that happen. It’s about support those people and their ideas with resources and openness. It really works, not just for meetings, but for organizational structures as well. It’s about redefining measurements of success and letting go of control.
Now a new book has come out about the practice of very Open Space-like principles at the Brazillian holding company Semco:
It’s our lack of formal structure, our willingness to let workers follow their interests and their instincts when choosing jobs or projects.
It’s our insistence that workers seek personal challenges and satisfaction before trying to meet the company’s goals.
It’s our commitment to encouraging employees to ramble through their day or week so that they will meander into new ideas and new business opportunities.
It’s our philosophy of embracing democracy and open communication, and inciting questions and dissent in the workplace.
On-the-job democracy isn’t just a lofty concept but a better, more profitable way to do things. We all demand democracy in every other aspect of our lives and culture. People are considered adults in their private lives, at the bank, at their children’s schools, with family and among friends–so why are they suddenly treated like adolescents at work? Why can’t workers be involved in choosing their own leaders? Why shouldn’t they manage themselves? Why can’t they speak up–challenge, question, share information openly?
What is it about this kind of model that makes people eschew it?
Thanks to Jeremy for the link.
Following up on my rant/question of yesterday. Today I met two doctors who I like alot, one of whom I count as a friend and one who is new to me and I was reminded again that what matters is creating conversations where parts of a system talk to one another. We can’t simply write off the whole system because there is wisdom within it that we need to draw us forward. There is also wisdom outside of it too, wisdom that really maters. In the bigger system, convening conversations, like what we did in Chicago matters a lot. In the body-as-system creating conversations with respect to one’s health means looking at everything holistically and inviting the healthy parts to talk to one another, be those cells, organs or caregivers.
Furthermore, Harry’s comments on yesterday’s post has me thinking about that edge I was trying to get at yesterday.
…I think she and her colleagues are members of a revolutionary, intellectual vanguard. The amount of influence they have for decency is miniscule in proportion to the ideological support they give, however inadvertently, to high powered snake oil salesmen and police state visionaries.
That’s a pretty direct statement. It’s why I am not a libertarian, willing to give over all of these areas to the kinds of forces that fill a vacuum with power and money. Instead, I want to enable communities and individuals to be able to care foir themselves and each other in a way that supports the capacity required to do that. I’m trying to be both optimistic, supportive and on guard against the kinds of people that Harry describes as “snake oil salesmen and police state visionaries.”
I feel like I’m rambling on here…something is niggling away in my brain, and I’m looking for words, ideas and metaphors to describe it.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Through Euan, I found out that Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the author of On Death and Dying, herself died on Wednesday.
Her work on the grief cycle especially has been very influential in my own life in dealing with people, organizations and communities undergoing deep change. But her legacy, as David Weinberger points out, may be that she gave North American culture a language for talk about death and being with dying people.
Canada’s new twenty dollar bill from the Bank of Canada
Lately we have had a lot of nice art on our money. With the recent new designs for our bills, we now have a gorgeous five dollar bill featuring kids tobaganning and playing hockey with a quote from Roch Carrier’s “The Hockey Sweater,” as iconic a book about Canadian winters as there is.
But today comes an exciting development. At the end of next month the Bank of Canada will release the new series of twenty dollar bills and this time they feature a selection of work from Haida artist the late Bill Reid. Despite being no stranger to controversy, Reid played a significant role in establish a contemporary movement of Haida art. Along with Robert Davidson, Reg Davidson and many others, Reid was part of a surge in the later half of the 20th century that put Haida art on the global map as more than an anthropological curiosity.
It’s great to see him honoured.
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By the way, I heard a great joke on the CBC about our colourful money, which Americans often describe as “Monopoly money.”
Q. Why does Canadian money have colours?
A. Because our beer has alcohol.
The 2004 Guide to Aboriginal organizations and services in British Columbia is now available for download from the provincial government.
In addition to being a great resource, every year I get more and more amazed with the amount of activity that is happening around the province. Self-government happens right here at the coal face, as people and communities organize to make things better. If you want amazing stories of people working for change, phone any one of these organizations and start asking!