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Open Space Books
NOW AVAILABLE!
The Practice of Peace –
The following book review was written by OSIC Member,
Audrey
Coward and published by the Human Systems Dynamic
Institute. Audrey had agreed to write this book review during our last
members' teleconference. A PDF version of this review is attached for
your convenience.
If you wish to order a copy of this book, you may
do so through OSIC. See the attached form for details.
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The
Practice of Peace – A Book Review
©2004. Audrey Briffett Coward. All rights reserved.
The
Practice of Peace
by Harrison Owen
Published by Human Systems Dynamics Institute, 2004
Book review by Audrey Briffett
Coward, BA (Ed.) CHRP MS (OD)
Harrison
defines Peace as "…the dynamic interrelationship of complex forces
(including chaos, conflict and confusion) productive of wholeness, health and
harmony." He goes on to state that the "practice of peace" is
the intentional creation of the requisite conditions under which peace may
occur.
According to Harrison,
the core mechanism in "The Practice of Peace" is self-organization—a core
practice of what we now call Open Space Technology (OST). Self-organization
drives toward peace, and, when freely operative, self-organization generates
the dynamic interrelationship of complex forces that produce
peace—wholeness, health and harmony.
Harrison's
gift as a story teller, his use of informal words like
"critters," "snake belly low," and metaphors like "a
skunk at a garden party" surprise and delight the reader. The book is
filled with easy-to-understand applications of the works of Thomas Kuhn, Ken
Wilbur, James Gleick, Stuart Kauffman, and Ira Prigogine, among others.
Harrison and others have used OST more than 40,000
times in 83 countries with groups from 5-2000. The book describes the
technology in terms that beginners, as well as experienced practitioners, can
understand and apply. Harrison provides an easily understood explanation for
learning practitioners along with a more in-depth analysis for experienced
practitioners. He explores how the power of self-organizing can support the
search for peace both in organizations and in our world.
According to Harrison,
anyone and everyone can set the
conditions for peace to self organize—governments, NGO'S,
multi-national organizations, local communities, teachers, farmers and you.
How does this work contribute to human systems
dynamics, as a field of work?
- Both
ask us to continue thinking, talking and being together differently, in
ways that understand and encourage self-organization.
- OST
changes our ways of looking at people, systems and processes, and it
questions our beliefs about how systems and people grow, change and transform.
Indeed, it changes our way of being in the world and the way we do our
work.
- We
have an opportunity to open dialogue so practitioners and theorists can
pose more questions, look for points of intersection, and share their
discoveries.
The
Practice of Peace – A Book Review
©2004. Audrey Briffett Coward. All rights reserved.
Harrison Owen, (Open Space Institutes, 2003), spiral
bound, 182 pages.
To order the book, please download
the order form in PDF format or in MS Word.
Harrison Owen
through Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco.
McGraw-Hill Ryerson is the
distributor in Canada
To order call 1-800-295-0957, fax 905-473-4219
2000. The Power of Spirit: How Organizations Transform.
1999. The Spirit of Leadership:
Liberating the Spirit in Each of Us. San Francisco.
Berrett-Koehler Publishers
1997. Expanding Our Now. San Francisco.
Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
1997. Open Space Technology: A User's Guide. San
Francisco. Berrett-Koehler
Publishers.
Earlier Harrison
Owen books by self-published by Abbott Publishing, some
available through OSI Canada,
contact Larry Peterson, larry@spiritedorg.com
1995. Tales from Open Space
1994. The Millennium Organization
1991. Riding The Tiger
1987. Spirit: Transformation and Development in Organizations
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