This article provides a handy overview of the elements of the Integral framework applied to leadership. Organizational leadership is a dynamic process involving a number of separate yet interconnected activities such as evaluating a situation or state-of-affairs, envisioning a desired future state and objectives to work toward, creating some kind of plan and/or strategy to achieve those objectives, coordinating efforts of various people and processes, evaluating progress and current conditions, and continually adjusting the strategies and tactics until the desired objective (or change) has been accomplished. Clearly, hundreds of books have been written on various aspects of management and leadership theory that address the nuance of these activities. Like all things integral, there are many legitimate and valid ways to render an idea. A number of models of Integral Leadership have been proposed, and in the years to come, many new models will emerge. There can be a lot of merit in … [Read more...]
New and Improved Worldview Lenses
Worldviews can be thought of as lenses through which we perceive and interpret our subjective experience. This "worldview contact lens" advertisement spoof highlights how worldviews color our interpretation of reality. For readers less familiar with the concept of worldviews... a handy worldview primer is offered below that correlates them with the style of leadership each prefers. This is a central aspect of Integral Leadership. These crucial lenses are a primary way human beings filter subjective experience (of objective reality) and interpret those experiences in terms of: how things appear to be; how things should be; what's right and wrong with how things are, and what, if anything, should be done about it. Clearly then, this is of paramount importance if we are interested in understanding how people make sense of the world we share, and especially as leaders, how we can better understand what people care about, their priorities, their motivations, and … [Read more...]
Technology Funding: Who is Making It Too Risky?
Beginning a bold conversation on technology is a lot like jumping into an empty swimming pool. It’s easier to imagine the previously warm blue waters of the great age of technological advance, than face the likelihood of where the facts are now likely to land you. That’s because today’s technology dialogues are often taxing and pessimistic as it relates to the possibilities for capitalization or marketplace realization. That is, unless you belong to the idealistic or struck-by-luck camp that haven’t walked the hard streets of New York these days looking for money in vain. For those of you who have seen the pond cement quickly approaching on your new technology venture, or have hit the bottom and already cracked your heads, I’d like to start offering some ideas about how the high dive can still be exciting and fulfilling. Just expect to spend more time in the air wondering about the landing, as our economic system continues to traverse incredibly destabilizing … [Read more...]
The Problem With Polarizing Communication
Tony Bradley’s article in PC World about the “net neutrality” debate is a good illustration of a more integral perspective on a polarizing issue. I was struck that his statements about open, authentic communication vs. polarizing name calling is relevant to both integral leadership (in organizations) and integral politics. In this case, the topic is the highly political debate (and difficult issue) about how much government should be involved in policing the Internet. Tony explains that recently the FCC called off attempts to negotiate a compromise with major Internet industry players after reports that Google and Verizon were conducting secret meetings on the side. He advocates that the FCC should execute its duties to oversee the industry without apologizing or asking permission. “Negotiation and compromise are cornerstones of the political process, but they should be conducted openly and involve all parties. The problem with the FCC efforts was that the closed-door … [Read more...]