‘Open space rewards consensus and punishes dissent’
jenny Mackness, Jenny Connected, January 26, 2012.

Interesting commentary about open spaces and dissent, following from some of Dave Snowden's comments in #Change11. As an aside - I don't get where this view that I have some kind of authority comes from. I have no authority. My academic credentials are from another field, and are inadequate anyways. I supervise zero people. I don't issue grades, pass or fail people, or impact their career prospects in any way. In theory I could maybe block some people from using one of my websites, but in practice I don't, and a determined person could probably get around any sanctions I would apply. The only authority whatsoever that I have comes from the weight of my words - and even then, I frequently remind people to disregard them, to weight their own opinions, and write their own words (preferably on their own website outside my scope and control). All this is in its own way a good thing. Because to the extent that I am in a position to punish dissent, I am weakened. (Hits Today: 2 Total: 567) [Direct Link] [Tags: Assessment, Academia]

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Re: 'Open space rewards consensus and punishes dissent'

VCVaile, January 26, 2012

adding to oxymoron list. the image of iconoclast punishing dissent makes my day.... unless that is speaking out strongly in disagreement counts as such [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: 'Open space rewards consensus and punishes dissent'

Anymouse, January 27, 2012

I was using the word 'authority', in the sense of 'power to influence'. Reminding people to

disregard them (your weight of words), to weight their own opinions, and write their own words (preferably on their own website outside my scope and control

doesn't reduce the weight of your words, if they are perceived to have weight.

If you are in a position to punish dissent, doesn't that equate to having the 'power to influence' and therefore 'authority' in the sense that I was using the word? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: 'Open space rewards consensus and punishes dissent'

jennymackness, January 27, 2012

Sorry - I forgot to log in before posting the above comment - hence coming up as Anymouse [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

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