Barry Oshry
Transforming System-blindness into System-sight

Tear the Whole System Down

I look at America today through the lens of the Power Lab. What I see, in part, is a revolution of the Bottoms in response to their oppression at the hands of the Tops. I have observed similar processes unfold in countless Power Labs over…

Advice to Young People Seeking a Life of Crime

Advice to young people considering a life in crime: Stay in school, get an MBA, and work your way up to the executive suite; that's where the real possibilities lie. Every day. the business section of the newspaper looks more and more like the…

A New Cleansing

At the end of World War II, as the details of the Holocaust were being made public-describing the systematic murder of millions of men, women, and children-people were saying Oh my God, I just didn’t know! Maybe they knew and maybe they didn’t. The…

Zinn and Dissent

Yesterday, as part of my work on A Systems Perspective on Love and Power, I was writing about the challenges and potential contributions of dissent. Then, this morning I learned that Howard Zinn died. This brought back memories of anti-war protests…

Yesterday

Yesterday, the day before Terry Schiavo's death, I had a moment of clarity--free from ranting talk show commentators, self-serving fanatics and hypocrites, the demands of pro-lifers and pro-choicers, judicial decisions, cynical politicians…

Who can predict where distraction can lead you?

Yesterday it took me to Kupishock, Lithuania, and the emigration in 1894 of my parents and grandparents; from there I strayed ever backward to 18thand 19thcentury eastern Europe and into the middle of the conflict between the Misnagdim and the…

White Privilege

White privilege is a concept that drives many white people, including me, wild. We become angry and defensive. I’m not a racist. I'm poor and not feeling particularly privileged. My folks came here long after slavery. Etcetera. Now let's take a…

Where Does Responsibility Lie?

In Bruce Feiler's book Abraham, a Mullah, when asked to explain how God could have allowed the murder of six million Jews, replied that the Jews must have done something terrible to deserve such punishment from God. Certain Muslim victims of the…

When World Views are Challenged

I am reading Steve Coll's Ghost Wars, a fascinating study of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Afghanistan at the time is in the center of the East/West Cold War. The Soviet Union is having difficulty maintaining its client communist…

When We Really Don't Know Anything

The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools has won a major battle; after a 12-year struggle, it has managed to get schoolboards across the country to accept its Bible curriculum, a curriculum the Council maintains is currently being…

What a Difference a Heart Beat Makes

I have my problems with both Pro-Choice and Pro-Life advocates. Pro-Choice people upset me when they say "It's my body to do with as I choose" to which Isay, "No, it is not just your body; take a look, there is something else going on in there." At…

Well, why wouldn’t Wall Street be delighted?

Well, why wouldn’t Wall Street be delighted? They have managed to pull off the slickest trick of the century; they have busted the economy, caused millions of people to lose their homes, their jobs, and their savings. Yet, midst all that…

WE/THEM Bottomness

Our world is awash in bottomness. Large segments of the populace are afraid and angry. Whether in the UK, the US, Holland, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, or France, the underlying fear is: The world I know–my livelihood, my culture-are under threat, and…

Two Books

Two books I'm reading have variations on the theme: Attention: Message from God. In The Gifts of the Jews, Thomas Cahill retells the cliff-hanger where God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac; Abraham, knife in hand, prepares to…

To See the Other as the Other Really Is

The goal of connecting with our Other in voluntary, ongoing, and mutually meaningful projects is not only to experience our commonality with the other but also our difference as that difference really is-free of whatever myths, distortions,…

This is How the Story Goes

This is how the story goes. A non-Jew, convinced that it was impossible to do, challenges Reb Hillel to state the essence of the Torah while standing on one foot. Reb Hillel's response: That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That…

The Skill to Deceive and the Will to Believe

We're seeing the pattern with regard to Social Security(Hurry, hurry, the system and your future are in peril) despite the testimony of experts that there is no imminent danger; we saw it in the run-up to the Iraq war(We've must act now before…

The Prospects of Presidential Impeachment (GW Bush)

"The Secret Downing Street Memo" reputedly describes a July 2002 meeting between Tony Blair and his top aides, eight months before the U.S. and its allies launched their war on Iraq. In the meeting one aide, identified only as "C”, reported on his…

The Iraq War as a System Power Move

Because I have been so firmly opposed to the Iraq war, I have failed to appreciate it for what itis: a classic system power move. An embarrassing oversight on my part, since, for over three decades, we have been teaching the concept of system power…

The Impeachment of George W. Bush

An item in yesterday's news brought back an event that happened over thirty years ago in one of our Power Labs. A group of disgruntled Bottoms, tired of being put off again and again by the Tops, broke into the Tops' home gaining entry by smashing a…

Ted Cadwallader is the British Columbia Provincial Coordinator for Aboriginal Education

Ted Cadwallader is the British Columbia Provincial Coordinator for Aboriginal Education. He has been using my poem "Dominant/Dominated" (pp. 103-110 in Seeing Systems) to help non-Aboriginal teachers and administrators see that the issues they…

Tear the Whole System Down

Stars vs. Developers

Coca-Cola has recently named its fifth head of marketing in seven years.(New York Times, April 5, 2005.) This regular reshuffling at the top provides a clue as to Coke’s Star Search orientation to leadership: Search until you find that person who…

Snowflakes, Uncertainty, and Choice

Snowflakes (see New York Times, June 2, 2005)-children who have developed out of embryos that otherwise would have been destroyed or discarded at fertility clinics-bring new energy to the question: What to do with such embryos? Should they be used…

Skeptcism is Not a Disease

Tops were telling the truth about what life was like for them in the organization: feeling distant, out of touch, overwhelmed by complexity, uncertain as to how to proceed, concerned that they were letting down the organization. This happened in the…

Should Terri Schiavo be taken off life support?

Whether you believe that the correct action is to leave Terri Schiavo's feeding tube in and support life or to remove the tube and end it, rest assured: you are right. After all, the woman did say three times that she did not want to live under…

Reb Hillel

Radical Fringe

I'm re-posting this from 2010. Theodore Roosevelt said, "Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe," and I have been taken to task for paying too much attention to the Tea Party's lunatic fringe-guns, hate, threats, comparisons to Hitler and…

Power is...

Power is the ability to act as if you can make happen whatever it is you want to have happen, knowing that you cannot, and being ready to work with whatever does happen.

Politics of Power and Love

I. Power versus Love Politics is the ongoing battle between Power and Love. Power promises freedom; Love promises equality and unity. Power says: Let us freely compete and we will create great wealth and products and services beyond…

Philosopher...or Plumber Needed

I need a philosopher or plumber to work me out of this tangle. On the one hand, it is very clear to me that healthy functioning-in the brain, family, community, organization, ethnic and racial interactions-requires a balance between separateness and…

Person as Many

I've been working on a puzzle: How is it that we can be so certain-and righteous-about matters for which there is no certainty. More about that in later entries. The point for this entry is that that question led me to think about each of us as a…

Peace Play

I've just learned that The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom will be presenting my 10-minute play "Peace" this summer at various locations on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. “Peace" examines the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as played out…

Originalist and Nihilists

For those of us unschooled in the history of our U.S. constitution, Jill Lepore, in The Whites of Their Eyes, offers some fascinating information. It seems, for example, that the only people who did not hold the constitution as immutable were those…

My White Identity

1.While reading Can We Truly See the Other, it struck one reader that she is two “others.” Bornin America with Mexican heritage, the family then moved to Mexico; and she now lives and moves back and forth between the two cultures. In Mexico, she is…

Marginality

My intention here is to further explore the relationship between Marginals-those who critique organizations and institutions (e.g., for their sexism, racism, anti-Semitism)-and Insiders-members of these organizations and institutions who are the…

Living in an Outdated Paradigm

In her seminal book, Thinking In Systems, Donella Meadows lists 12 leverage points for intervening in systems. High on her list in terms of effectiveness are those interventions that result in paradigm shifts. Citing Copernicus, Kepler, Einstein,…

Katami in the Middle

Most of us know what it is to be "caught in the middle." Top management wants us to do one thing but workers want us to do something very different; two children are arguing and they’re looking to us to settle it; one parent is caught between the…

It Was Proust Who Said

It was Proust who said "The voyage of discovery starts not in traveling to new lands but in seeing with new eyes. “Seeing with new eyes is what this blog is about, bringing a human systems perspective to everyday events in the news as well as issues…

In and Out of the Club

A high-level Army investigation has cleared four top Officers of responsibility for prison abuses (New York Times, April 23, 2005) despite the fact that a previous non-military panel had found them derelict in their duties. All of which proves the…

I Don’t Care Who the Boss Is

wo books I'm reading have variations on the theme: Attention: Message from God. In The Gifts of the Jews, Thomas Cahill retells the cliff-hanger where God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac; Abraham, knife in hand, prepares to kill…

I do not want to be tolerated

I do not want to be tolerated. I want to be valued for the unique contribution I make. I do not want you to be kind to me. I want you to be more robust because of me. Beneath the surface of tolerance intolerance resides restlessly, anxious to…

I am touched by an entry on my friend Fredric Laurentine

I am touched by an entry on my friend Fredric Laurentine's blog. He describes the situation of a highly trained chef who, stuck in a diner, is unable to express his talents. Tohis customers, he is just another short-order cook; he feels trapped,…

I am Amebocyte and Slug

I had a flash of insight the other day, one that may seem a bit strange, but here it is: I am both Amebocyte and Slug, and so are you. This illumination struck me as a fundamental truth about our human condition. I have often been disturbed by how…

I am a very introverted person

I am a very introverted person. When I walk down the street, if I hear people behind me talking, I pull over to let them pass. Same with the sound of shoes clacking behind me; I pull over to let them pass. The other day Karen and I were watching the…

How We Kill

When the driver looked at those people jockeying for position around his truck, hoping to find work, what did he see before detonating the bomb that killed 56 of them and maimed others? When Dylann Roof studied the worshipers at the Emanuel AME…

How to Deal with Terrorists

How to deal with terrorists? A lesson from the Power Lab: In all groups whose members feel marginalized and low power within the dominant culture, there is ALWAYS tension within the marginalized group, taking some form of the "Hards" versus the…

How Many People Are You?

I've been working on a puzzle: How is it that we can be so certain-and righteous-about matters for which there is no certainty. The point for this entry is that that question led me to think about each of us as a complex multi-part mental/emotional…

Hilary Clinton

Hilary Clinton–Lesbian? You all know the one about the psychiatrist who is administering the Rorschach (ink blot) test to one of his patients. Showing the first card, he asks, "What do you see?" "A woman's vagina," answers the patient. Then comes…

Here is what we are to believe

1. Two months before the American invasion, a CIA group chief told her division chief that she couldn’t believe that Colin Powell's speech to the UN was relying on Curveball's evidence. Curveball-the prime source of evidence of weapons of mass…

Hal and Me

Morley Segal called today. He's preparing a tribute to my old partner, Hal Kellner, as part of an American University/NTL Institute 25th anniversary celebration. Did I have any anecdotes from our relationship? I gave him one: the time Hal and I were…

George Kennan 1948

American foreign policy from the end of World War II to the present confronts us with a conundrum. On the one hand, we Americans see ourselves and are told by our government that we are a generous people, liberators of the oppressed, and supporters…

George Bush

George Bush, We’re looking forward. An item in yesterday's news brought back an event that happened over thirty years ago in one of our Power Labs. A group of disgruntled Bottoms, tired of being put off again and again by the Tops, broke into the…

Gender and Soccer

To talk about gender issues is to enter a potential minefield. For good reason. Historically, gender and racial differences have been used to stereotype women and blacks and limit them to societal roles that ultimately serve to preserve the dominant…

For Those of Us Unschooled in the History of Our U.S. Constitution

Facing Uncertainty

Here is how it has gone with deadly regularity throughout human history. 1. We humans exist in uncertainty, facing questions for which there are no clear-cut, obviously correct answers. 2. We humans do not take well to mystery, so we quickly…

Egypt Arab Spring

One outcome of the Power Lab is the tendency to see the systemic patterns in everyday life. "I never read a news story again the same way,” Michael Sales said of his Power Lab experience. Seeing patterns is power. The difference between master chess…

East-West Divan Orchestra

Connect in Voluntary, Ongoing, and Meaningful Ways Last night (July 4, 2020), on television there was a performance of the West-Eastern Divan Chamber Orchestra. This is a powerful example of a project that brings together, in a voluntary, ongoing…

Chanukah’s Message

It is disappointing that the winner of this year's prestigious Mann Booker Prize joins the seasonal chorus-made up mostly of Jewish smarty pants-who trivialize Chanukah as a weak imitator of Christmas (New York Times). Which is unfortunate since the…

Changing Worldviews–Mine and Ours

The latest victory for our current version of morality came when certain PBS stations decided not to distribute an episode from “Postcards from Buster” to 350 PBS stations because the episode included lesbian mothers. Morality is the hot item, an…

Challenge the Oppressor

Challenge the Oppressor, Integrate with the "Other." (From Part VII of World views: The Oppressions They Create and Perpetuate) When I wrote Encounters with the “Other,” I sent it off to friends and associates, including one whose work and…

Catch 22 Agenda

Catch 22–that most elegant no-win conundrum-entered our language in Joseph Heller’s World War II novel of the same name. The essence of catch 22 was this: In order for a pilot to be grounded he needed to be crazy. However, if he asked to be grounded…

Can the Dominant Culture Truly See the Other?

My original title for this piece was: Can We Truly See the Other? Recently, it struck me that I needed to be clear about who the WE is that I’m addressing. This is not a message primarily aimed at people of color, although there is likely to be much…

Bummed Out Middles

Last night I heard it on the radio-the “latest” news. [1] A recent Gallup poll shows that only 1 in 3 workers are engaged in their work, and the most “bummed out” of all are the poor Middle Managers, from front line supervisors all the way up. One…

Born Into Brothels

"Born Into Brothels" is the academy award winning documentary written and directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman. It chronicles their time in Sonagchi, Calcutta, and deals with the relationships they developed with the children of prostitutes who…

Blacks are Friendlier Than Whites...or are they?

Blacks are Friendlier Than Whites...or are they? Luis is African American. His first career was in the Navy; now retired, he works in the Washington, D.C. government. While in the Navy, Luis came to believe that Blacks are basically friendlier…

Birds on a Wire

They were standing there-a father and his two daughters-staring up at birds on a wire. Dozens clustered together, and a single bird off by itself. The three families had been spending a week's vacation together. From time to time there had been…

Bankruptcy and Bottomness

In our organization work, we describe the "Bottom Space" as a space of vulnerability, a condition in which one is regularly on the receiving end of other people's actions; there is always some distant THEM who make decisions affecting your life in…

At the end of World War II

Ask me How I feel About Unions

I feel like it's an unfinished play about the powerful and the powerless. Act I: The powerful-French kings, Russian tsars, owners of garment factories, greedy mine owners, fascist governments-oppress the powerless with impunity. Act II: The…

Amoebocytes and Slugs and Politics

My intention is to take a systemic look at the current conflict over Social Security using the amebocyte/slug metaphor. (Refer to my March 15 entry, "Amebocytes and Slugs: The Key to Just About Everything." All systems-from your family to your…

Amebocytes and slugs

"Amebocytes and slugs" is a metaphor I will be using regularly in this blog. The metaphor will shed light on an amazing range of phenomena including: the Cold War, gender issues, social security, and entrepreneurism. The metaphor is based on…

Tear the Whole System Down

Advice to Young People Seeking a Life of Crime

A New Cleansing

A Commitment to Life

Here is the story that might have been, but wasn't. New York Times, March 22, 2003. In referring to the possibility of war with Iraq, the President issued the following statement: "This is a complex case with serious issues, but in extraordinary…

Barry Oshry Transforming System-blindness into System-sight

Tear the Whole System Down

Advice to Young People Seeking a Life of Crime

A New Cleansing

Zinn and Dissent

Yesterday

Who can predict where distraction can lead you?

White Privilege

Where Does Responsibility Lie?

When World Views are Challenged

When We Really Don't Know Anything

What a Difference a Heart Beat Makes

Well, why wouldn’t Wall Street be delighted?

WE/THEM Bottomness

Two Books

To See the Other as the Other Really Is

This is How the Story Goes

The Skill to Deceive and the Will to Believe

The Prospects of Presidential Impeachment (GW Bush)

The Iraq War as a System Power Move

The Impeachment of George W. Bush

Ted Cadwallader is the British Columbia Provincial Coordinator for Aboriginal Education

Tear the Whole System Down

Stars vs. Developers

Snowflakes, Uncertainty, and Choice

Skeptcism is Not a Disease

Should Terri Schiavo be taken off life support?

Reb Hillel

Radical Fringe

Power is...

Politics of Power and Love

Philosopher...or Plumber Needed

Person as Many

Peace Play

Originalist and Nihilists

My White Identity

Marginality

Living in an Outdated Paradigm

Katami in the Middle

It Was Proust Who Said

In and Out of the Club

I Don’t Care Who the Boss Is

I do not want to be tolerated

I am touched by an entry on my friend Fredric Laurentine

I am Amebocyte and Slug

I am a very introverted person

How We Kill

How to Deal with Terrorists

How Many People Are You?

Hilary Clinton

Here is what we are to believe

Hal and Me

George Kennan 1948

George Bush

Gender and Soccer

For Those of Us Unschooled in the History of Our U.S. Constitution

Facing Uncertainty

Egypt Arab Spring

East-West Divan Orchestra

Chanukah’s Message

Changing Worldviews–Mine and Ours

Challenge the Oppressor

Catch 22 Agenda

Can the Dominant Culture Truly See the Other?

Bummed Out Middles

Born Into Brothels

Blacks are Friendlier Than Whites...or are they?

Birds on a Wire

Bankruptcy and Bottomness

At the end of World War II

Ask me How I feel About Unions

Amoebocytes and Slugs and Politics

Amebocytes and slugs

Tear the Whole System Down

Advice to Young People Seeking a Life of Crime

A New Cleansing

A Commitment to Life

Barry Oshry
Transforming System-blindness into System-sight