Harrison Owen is president of H. H. Owen and Company. His aca- demic background and training centered on the nature and function of myth, ritual, and culture. In the mid-1960s, he left academe to work with a variety of organizations, including small West African villages, urban community organizations (both in the United States and in Africa), the Peace Corps, regional medical programs, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and the U. S. Veterans Administration. Along the way, he discovered that his study of myth, ritual, and culture had direct application to these social systems. In 1977, he created H. H. Owen and Company in order to explore the culture of organizations in transfor- mation as a theorist and practicing consultant. Harrison convened the First International Symposium on Organization Transformation and is the originator of Open Space Technology. He is the author of Open Space Technology- The Users Guide; Spirit- Transformation and Development in Organiza- tion; Leadership Is; Riding the Tiger; The Millennium Organization; Tales from Open Space; and Expanding Our Now- The Story of Open Space Technology.
"“Makes a compelling argument that applying principles of complex, adaptive systems at work leads to high-performance organizations and that Open Space Technology is an expression of this phenomenon in action—a wonderfully engaging and insightful contribution to the leadership literature!” —Dr. Arthur L. Jue, Director, Global Organization and Talent Development, Oracle Corporation, and coauthor of Leadership Moments: Turning Points That Changed Lives and Organizations “Shows us why almost everything we think we know about planning, organizing, directing, and controlling is wrong…and what we need to do instead.“ —Rodney Plimpton, PhD, former Senior Vice President, Human Resources, American Electric Power “The current economic downturn has focused business discourse on efficiency, measuring systems, downsizing, and other linear top-down measures, but Owen draws from decades of his grassroot experience to prove that passion, responsibility, and self-organizing are the main ingredients of long-term performance.’ —Sari Stenfors, PhD, Associate Director, Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research, Stanford University “With characteristic humility Harrison has issued an invitation for authentic leaders to recognize the true nature of how effective organizations work. We have only to decide whether we try to convince ourselves we are still in control or get on the board and become a `wave rider’"" —Phelim McDermott, Co-Artistic Director, Improbable theatre company, London"