Frederic Laloux, the author of Reinventing Organisations, will be joining us via Skype during the Centers Gathering in May. The session called ‘Vision and Values – Integral Leadership’ will be a talk followed by Q&A. To prepare as a circle in advance, I reached out to Gathering Participants for their reflections on this opportunity, curious as to who else is familiar with, interested in or has experience of his work.
On the flight back from the Gathering in Quebec last year I had the insight that our circle reflects many of the more evolved qualities that Laloux describes in his book and I’m intrigued about how we can explore this more within our respective centers. Co-workers within the Findhorn Foundation, Esalen and Le Monastère des Augustines have all been exploring this approach in the last year and I feel it’s relevant to us both as individuals and as organisations – deepening our understanding of how consciousness evolves.
Last year Laloux joined Findhorn Foundation co-workers via skype and over 100 people gathered in the Universal Hall attentive to his every word. In an informal and relaxed way, Frederic explained that if we come from the higher level of consciousness an organisation would reflect three key characteristics…
1. Self-managing
Co-ordinating mechanisms with distributed authority; like natural systems the organisation is an organism. Rather than power over, or everyone equal, everyone is fully empowered. In each area there are those who lead and those who follow; fluid, natural hierarchies that are changing all the time.
2. Wholeness
Everyone brings their whole self to work, not just their professional self. Healthy masculine and the intuitive, spiritual self are regained. As we do the outer work of the organisation we discover more of ourselves and grow through the challenges. This is perhaps the area where most holistic centers excel and where mainstream organisations can learn from our demonstration.
3. Evolutionary Purpose
Listening to where the organisation wants to go, not projecting what people want onto it through planning etc. Instead, recognising that the living organism has its own journey. One of the three founding principles of the FF, Inner Listening, supports us in this way, however, it is a challenge to evolve within an organism that values everyone’s voice.
Applying these insights to Centers Gathering
On the flight back from the Gathering in Quebec last year I had the insight that our circle reflects these three qualities and this intrigued me. Co-ordinating the Gathering in Hawaii this year, I felt inspired to connect with Frederic and although his website says, ‘I don’t travel much at all, and only in the rarest of cases do I give a talk or advise organizations around the ideas of Reinventing Organizations’ he said yes to joining us via skype.
This feels a great gift to help us on a collective journey towards ‘more soulful and purposeful management’ that he has researched so fully. The book is quite lengthy and I recently purchased the illustrated version as well to make it easier for me to digest. I also include the link to his watch-listen-read page which includes a few 20 min video options.
Our session via skype is provisionally called ‘Vision and Values – Integral Leadership’ with Frederic offering a talk followed by a Q&A. By way of preparing for the Gathering as circle over the next few months, I’ve been exploring this theme of evolving consciousness in recent blog posts. To help make the most of this virtual opportunity, I reached out to the Gathering Participants for their reflections, curious as to who else is familiar with, interested in or has experience of this approach. I also included a brief overview of Spiral Dynamics and it’s relevance in the world today that I find particularly helpful.
Feedback from the Gathering Circle
I think it is vital to our centres and the network to be open to new ideas. There was a lot that I recognized in my own center as I read more about Spiral Dynamics. I think including Frederic would be a valuable addition to the Gathering.
Rachel Davey
Executive Director, The Haven
Thank you for this wonderful initiative! This is such great news! This is definitely the kind of presentation which is in alignment with our Centers philosophy! Hearing Laloux will be inspiring!!
Yes, I attended a seminar in Quebec based on Laloux’s research where I also met a founder of a company from the Netherlands who is mentioned in Laloux’s book. I also read the whole book!
Before his presentation, I suggest that the participants from the Gathering familiarize themselves with his work by watching a video with an overview. The session will also probably bring a lot of questions or discussions among us after the presentation.
Isabelle Duchesneau
Executive Director, Le Monastère des Augustines
Just got through reading this material and am quite impressed. I’ve always been a fan of Ken Wilbur as he and his wife lived in Lake Tahoe when I did and she was going through her cancer battle, hence the book GRACE AND GRIT. Here at Kalani we are in the midst of KALANI RENEW and I believe this presentation will be most valuable perhaps with a Q&A/discussion afterwards. Mahalo/Thanks so much for setting this up and reaching out to us about it.
Tiki Degenaro
Guest Services Manager, Kalani
This is wonderful. I’m very excited to explore Boomeritis and SDI more closely and the call in May. Book downloaded, and as with everything associated with the Gathering, these concepts are strong reminders for those of us who are managing a holistic center in these changing times. I cannot wait for the restorative healing camaraderie of the Gathering.
Leslie Hoffman
Director of Programs & Marketing, New York Open Center
I so appreciate you organizing this. I’ve had the opportunity to watch videos, and go through the materials. Adding a session with Frederic Laloux would be a rich addition to the week, and could plant the seeds for some great conversations to follow.
I’m in agreement with the others, and believe it could inspire us with new perspectives and renewed energy to take back to our Centers.
Carol Donahue
Program Director, Omega
Thank you for this thoughtful initiative, what a rich addition to content this represents for our annual Gathering. Here’s what seems true for me. What we’re doing here at Breitenbush over the past 40 years (and this is equally true of all our centers) is an experiment in conscious human evolution, using our work and our direct experience doing that work to create a living laboratory in which to conduct that experiment. Any time a group of people creates an organization that seeks explicitly to make meaning an integral part of ‘making a living’, amazing things are possible and therefore come to pass.
What Frederic Laloux appears to present to us is a premise and set of instructive models we may productively engage as we continue to perfect our centers and engage in this evolutionary work we’ve all chosen to do. I would welcome a session and Q&A with him about his research, followed by deeper inquiry amongst ourselves about what we’re all up to. This addition to our discussions will deepen our experience.
Business Director, Breitenbush Hot Springs
I think it’s always good to reflect on what our centers are about and how we all fit into the larger picture. So by all means let’s listen to this perspective. And if it stimulates conversation between us about the deep nature of our work, all the better!
Co-Founder, New York Open Center
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