Deepening Awareness

A change must deliver an ongoing improvement or movement that increases sustainability and fitness of the system, to fulfil its purpose and serve the greater good of the whole.

FOCUS ON RELATIONSHIPS

For example, in a living system, there is a process called metabolism, where the agents or individuals in the system reorganise and regenerate themselves to support their survival. The agents act autonomously, yet interact with their immediate neighbours to cooperate and support the viability of the whole system.

Healthy organisations establish networks and team relationships to build mutual trust to achieve a shared interest. They continuously repair, regenerate and reproduce the viability of the whole system to make it more resilient to disruption. Each cell in the body is replaced every 7 years or so. Notice how a flock of starlings stay close to protect the whole flock from predators.

This self-organising and self-renewing process cannot be externally managed, only nudged by changing the conditions. The biggest influence is the environment, as it ‘feeds’ the agents or destroys their capacity to self-organise.

The biggest impact would be to find actions that improve the pattern of relationships and improve the conditions for growth and learning when conditions require it.

Questions that can help to understand the impact of the change when we observe a birds flocking are:

What is the situation immediately before and after the change?
What is the direction of the change?
What is the speed of the change?
What is the force of energy driving the change?
What is the impact of that change?

Getting a change in the outcome from a self-organising system means establishing the initial rules the agents must implement in their interactions to move along the desired path and move in a coherent direction.

To assess the impact the questions become:

What relationships are at work and what are their relative strengths?
What is the expected path of change?
Where do we know, relative to the starting point, the endpoint achieved and the path travelled?
How far along the path are we at this point?
Are we moving towards our desired future?

DYNAMICAL CHANGE

When the forces are unknown and act unpredictably, they can produce surprising outcomes. They are entangled and interdependent. Tensions can accumulate and boundaries break down to create two new systems. But there are patterns to observe before they fall into chaos.

Think of all the events, factors and perspectives that emerge to influence all that happens in just one day.

Boundaries open up to generate multiple connections
There are many factors influencing events in a network of relationships
Causes become effects and effects are causes

Assessing impact means engaging in ongoing cycles of observing, understanding and influencing the conditions that generate new patterns. Glenda Eoyang identifies some key questions in the assessment process:

Distinguishing the same and different
Spotting patterns, (generalisations, exceptions, contradictions, surprises, puzzles)
Looking for similarities, differences and connections
Mark patterns as they emerge, considering all four paths of truth
Taking into account diverse patterns from near and far
Acknowledging the difference between my patterns, and yours
Exploring the risks and benefits of seeing as static, dynamic or dynamic change.

ADOPTING A CREATIVE PROCESS

There are limitations when one approach to assessment looks for consensus and certainty while the alternative is to embrace freedom and uncertainty. Assessments that map similarities and differences between different approaches need to identify the differences that will make a difference.

That difference has an impact when the relationship patterns in the system can be changed. The process must improve the performance capacity to increase levels of consciousness in human beings lies at the root of personal and cultural evolution. My life focus on teaching, leadership and coaching has been driven by a desire to enhance my consciousness. A process that I see as Life Leadership.

LEARNING TO BE MORE AWARE

With a more conscious state of mind, we are more aware of what we are seeing, doing and feeling. It enables us to make more distinctions, which aids our learning and the quality of our decision-making.

But a culture that uses mechanistic metaphors and processes conditions us into a default mindset. The focus on rigidity and control make it works against our need for freedom and a desire for independence and autonomy.

A mindset that adopts a living systems perspective accepts control and freedom as a natural way of being. This tension is needed for life to deal with the ubiquitous nature of life as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.

Only when we can balance our differences around shared concerns and a desired future, can we build the capacity for adaptive action.

BECOMING A MORE POWERFUL OBSERVER

To be more conscious, we need to open our minds and become more powerful observers of what is stopping us from noticing how we think and how to be our authentic selves and cooperate in a living system. We make sense of what we observe by describing what something is and then assessing what it means to us. We tend to notice what we are looking for.

Are the language we use, the moods and the body postures we adopt working for us? What impact are we having on our capacity to see alternatives and resolve life’s tensions and breakdowns?

HOW TO BE MORE CONSCIOUS

Carol Sanford reminds us that “to make a profound and lasting difference in our life, start with understanding regenerative change. It requires an indirect approach.”

Wake ourselves up to notice more of what our senses are telling us. This is because we only tend to “see” what we seek. How do we make ourselves aware of this limitation? When we listen, are we aware of what we are listening for, because that’s all we will hear.
Remain open and connected to the whole experience by using all our senses, intuition, and any insights. This is the “nestedness” of our reality that is multi-faceted and interconnected.
Climb up the levels of mind from just noticing things, to observing the patterns of interconnection and seeing the unique essence of the whole system.

The way to work on these three practices is to practice Carol Sanford’s Seven First Principles of Regeneration and Sydney Banks’s Three Principles. Both are ways of awakening and maintaining consciousness by stepping outside of our default, machine thinking paradigm to look at people and organisations as whole living systems, not fragmented parts of a machine.

FINDING THE ESSENCE

We build our capacity for consciousness every time we care about the people and environment around us, recognising the wholeness and potential – the essence within them. As an ontological coach, I would help my clients see a bigger wholeness in them as individuals and in teams.

It is perhaps helping them see themselves in a different or ideal situation, performing calmly, without fear or judgement from others when under pressure. In a space of psychological safety, these issues can be addressed to discover similarities and differences.

A CARING SPIRIT

Seeing ourselves and our team as a system within many other living systems creates a need to develop a bigger consciousness, an ecosystem with which everyone is coevolving selflessly and cooperatively for mutual benefit.

A caring spirit engenders, courtesy, dignity, mutual respect and self-belief. Who could you become if those around you wanted your success for you as much as you wanted it for yourself? This is the key ingredient of a caring culture.

Deepening Awareness

A change must deliver an ongoing improvement or movement that increases sustainability and fitness of the system, to fulfil its purpose and serve the greater good of the whole.

FOCUS ON RELATIONSHIPS

This self-organising and self-renewing process cannot be externally managed, only nudged by changing the conditions. The biggest influence is the environment, as it ‘feeds’ the agents or destroys their capacity to self-organise.

The biggest impact would be to find actions that improve the pattern of relationships and improve the conditions for growth and learning when conditions require it.

Questions that can help to understand the impact of the change when we observe a birds flocking are:

What is the situation immediately before and after the change?

What is the direction of the change?

What is the speed of the change?

What is the force of energy driving the change?

What is the impact of that change?

Getting a change in the outcome from a self-organising system means establishing the initial rules the agents must implement in their interactions to move along the desired path and move in a coherent direction.

To assess the impact the questions become:

What relationships are at work and what are their relative strengths?

What is the expected path of change?

Where do we know, relative to the starting point, the endpoint achieved and the path travelled?

How far along the path are we at this point?

Are we moving towards our desired future?

DYNAMICAL CHANGE

When the forces are unknown and act unpredictably, they can produce surprising outcomes. They are entangled and interdependent. Tensions can accumulate and boundaries break down to create two new systems. But there are patterns to observe before they fall into chaos.

Think of all the events, factors and perspectives that emerge to influence all that happens in just one day.

Boundaries open up to generate multiple connections

There are many factors influencing events in a network of relationships

Causes become effects and effects are causes

Assessing impact means engaging in ongoing cycles of observing, understanding and influencing the conditions that generate new patterns. Glenda Eoyang identifies some key questions in the assessment process:

Distinguishing the same and different

Spotting patterns, (generalisations, exceptions, contradictions, surprises, puzzles)

Looking for similarities, differences and connections

Mark patterns as they emerge, considering all four paths of truth

Taking into account diverse patterns from near and far

Acknowledging the difference between my patterns, and yours

Exploring the risks and benefits of seeing as static, dynamic or dynamic change.

ADOPTING A CREATIVE PROCESS

There are limitations when one approach to assessment looks for consensus and certainty while the alternative is to embrace freedom and uncertainty. Assessments that map similarities and differences between different approaches need to identify the differences that will make a difference.

LEARNING TO BE MORE AWARE

With a more conscious state of mind, we are more aware of what we are seeing, doing and feeling. It enables us to make more distinctions, which aids our learning and the quality of our decision-making.

But a culture that uses mechanistic metaphors and processes conditions us into a default mindset. The focus on rigidity and control make it works against our need for freedom and a desire for independence and autonomy.

A mindset that adopts a living systems perspective accepts control and freedom as a natural way of being. This tension is needed for life to deal with the ubiquitous nature of life as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.

Only when we can balance our differences around shared concerns and a desired future, can we build the capacity for adaptive action.

BECOMING A MORE POWERFUL OBSERVER

Are the language we use, the moods and the body postures we adopt working for us? What impact are we having on our capacity to see alternatives and resolve life’s tensions and breakdowns?

HOW TO BE MORE CONSCIOUS

Carol Sanford reminds us that “to make a profound and lasting difference in our life, start with understanding regenerative change. It requires an indirect approach.”

Wake ourselves up to notice more of what our senses are telling us. This is because we only tend to “see” what we seek. How do we make ourselves aware of this limitation? When we listen, are we aware of what we are listening for, because that’s all we will hear.

Remain open and connected to the whole experience by using all our senses, intuition, and any insights. This is the “nestedness” of our reality that is multi-faceted and interconnected.

Climb up the levels of mind from just noticing things, to observing the patterns of interconnection and seeing the unique essence of the whole system.

FINDING THE ESSENCE

We build our capacity for consciousness every time we care about the people and environment around us, recognising the wholeness and potential – the essence within them. As an ontological coach, I would help my clients see a bigger wholeness in them as individuals and in teams.

It is perhaps helping them see themselves in a different or ideal situation, performing calmly, without fear or judgement from others when under pressure. In a space of psychological safety, these issues can be addressed to discover similarities and differences.

A CARING SPIRIT

Seeing ourselves and our team as a system within many other living systems creates a need to develop a bigger consciousness, an ecosystem with which everyone is coevolving selflessly and cooperatively for mutual benefit.

A caring spirit engenders, courtesy, dignity, mutual respect and self-belief. Who could you become if those around you wanted your success for you as much as you wanted it for yourself? This is the key ingredient of a caring culture.