Integral Reflection on Occupy Wall Street Protests

10.22.2011 By
OWS-530px

As I sit typing on my iPhone from my seventh floor apartment overlooking the Amstel river, embedded in one of the most sustainable and beautiful cities in the world, with the sun gently caressing my face and a full tummy from my delicious gourmet musleix, the souls of 3,000 people are readying themselves to be released from their bodies today due to malaria ravaging their body, two billion people will scramble to earn their average one to two dollars in earnings today, another long-term unemployed person will just turn over in bed using sleep as an escape from their brutal reality, a trillion dollars in US student debt will remind its owners of its presence, and many millions of people will physically or emotionally suffer from the reactions of a contracted, under-resourced individual in their lives who is struggling just to live a dignified life. How do I respond? I see the foundations of our economic and political systems crumbling. The faint signals that portend significant … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events, Home, Worldviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Reaction to Gay Marriage = Litmus Test for Worldview

06.25.2011 By
Marriage-Now-530

In what Mayor Michael Bloomberg called "a historic triumph for equality and freedom," New York joined the growing number of states that have legalized gay marriage, including: Massachusetts (2004), Connecticut (2008), Iowa (2009), Vermont (2009), New Hampshire (2010), and Washington, D.C. (2010). Modern, postmodern and integral thinkers nationwide celebrate New York's decision to take its place on the "right side of history." Traditional thinkers obviously don't agree with this view—which I will elaborate on below. Bloomberg also offered support to the Republicans who voted for the measure, stating that he believetheir actions were consistent with GOP ideals of liberty and freedom, "The Republicans who stood up today for those principles I think will long be remembered for their courage, foresight and wisdom" He added, "Ten, 20, 30 years from now, I believe they will look back on this vote as one of the finest and most proud moments in their life." Indeed. The Human … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Culture and Society, Current Events, Home, Integral Theory and Methodology, Leadership, Morality, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Worldviews

Ph.D. Dissertation on Conscious Leadership in Action

04.04.2011 By
Unmergent by Todd Guess

"Barrett Brown has given us a timely, important, significant, and very telling empirical study of some of the highest stages of human development. Combined with his terrific commentary and superb analysis, this is must reading for all those interested in leadership, development, spirituality, or integral studies."  – Ken Wilber, The Integral Vision What does conscious leadership look like in action? I've spent the last two years researching this question, specifically exploring how change agents with complex worldviews design and lead complex change initiatives. The bottom line is that these individuals represent less than 5% of the population, and in some cases, less than 1%. They are true outliers in how they see and understand not only the world around them, but also their own inner experience. The leaders I researched for my Ph.D. dissertation have achieved a level of development that represents the farthest reaches of what science can currently measure. I was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ecology, Home, Integral Theory and Methodology, Leadership, Psychology, Sustainability Tagged With: , , , ,

Four Quadrants of Sustainability

04.04.2011 By
four-quadrants-of-sustainability

Integral frameworks are being used to guide sustainable development communication strategies worldwide. The framework has been applied to Appropriate Communication with a focus on sustainability. Integral approaches have been applied by senior leaders in UNICEF and in the HIV/AIDS group at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Civil society organizations (CSOs) and business consultants on six continents apply it to support organizational and societal transformation toward sustainability. In essence, the Integral framework seeks to weave together the many threads of human knowledge in an inclusive way. It attends to objective and subjective, and individual and collective, ways of knowing. At the same time, it is sensitive to the development of people and cultures over time and the impact this has on the way individuals and groups perceive the world. This comprehensive, developmentally-aware approach can aid communication by ensuring that messages do not marginalize … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home, Integral Theory and Methodology, Sustainability Tagged With:

Technology Funding: Who is Making It Too Risky?

02.07.2011 By
Empty-Swimming-pool-thumb

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...]

Filed Under: Business, Healthcare, Home, Innovation, Technology