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Barry Oshry
Transforming System-blindness into System-sight

Barry Oshry

Barry Oshry is a pioneer in the field of human systems thinking. His life’s work has been to empower individuals and organizations by transforming system-blindness into system-sight. The educational programs he has developed include The Power Lab,…

Spotlight

New Law or Power

What this Country Needs Is a Powerful Republican Congress. Huh? You come home; you find a thief in your bedroom tossing whatever valuables he can find into an already stuffed laundry bag. You are shocked; not only are you being robbed, but it’s…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…