My Philosophy of Life Begins with “Awake-ness”

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What's my philosophy of life? Being awake, alive, and aware. This is a tricky topic to talk about in our contemporary world because the way we use language around philosophy, spirituality, and belief systems has become so confusing. Nevertheless, it is a good jumping off point for a conversation about some awfully important matters. Today I want to talk about awake-ness. For starters, the dictionary definition of "awake" implies a rousing from sleep which stirs us into action and cognizance. As a philosophy of life, it's clear I'm saying something more than that I get out of bed in the morning. I'm saying that all my life I have blessed or cursed with a desire to know things and to live according to what is true. As a precocious child raised Roman Catholic, I thought that life is a great school, God is the teacher, and we are all pupils who will be graded on how well we performed on life's test after we die. Not every philosophy of life values the intellect, and there are even … [Read more...]

Occupy Integral (Interview)

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In this two-part interview, Brett Thomas asks the authors of Occupy Integral to explain what’s really happening to our world from an integral perspective and how the Integral Movement can have a greater impact for positive change. [Occupy Integral! was originally published in the online magazine Beams & Struts by Terry Patten and Marco Morelli.] In Occupy Integral! Terry and Marco write : We post this manifesto in what feels like a moment of calm before the storm... it seems to be the quiescence or exhaustion following a complicated year. From revolutions in the Middle East to the Occupy protests in the US and globally, there is an upheaval brewing . . . and spilling over. We are four years into the global economic crisis, yet the fundamental issues relating to sustainability, debt, inequality, and so on have not been truly addressed, let alone resolved. Our political systems are in stalemate. Environmental signals are growing more distressing. Not only melting ice … [Read more...]

Integral Should Be More Like Apple

Integral should be more like Apple

Integralists that have been following the blogosphere are noticing a growing current of conversations on the theme, or question, of "Why isn't Integral more popular?"  There are many variations on the theme, including "Why isn't Integral more relevant?" and "What does Integral need to do to make more of a difference in the world?" Many of my friends and colleagues have weighed in on this important question in recent weeks. Jason Digges just published a thoughtful, nuanced article on this very question in Beams and Struts. He suggests, "In short we need to take personal responsibility for formulating integral philosophy in a way that exemplifies simplicity beyond complexity." I couldn't agree more. In fact, simplicity beyond complexity is a theme I wrote about in my recently published online Integral Leadership Manifesto. Robb Smith has suggested some possible reasons why Integral isn't more popular in the Facebook discussion group Integral Institute Global Design. Not entirely … [Read more...]

AQAL Elements Applied to Leadership

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...]

Two Minute Introduction to Integral Leadership

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The Integral Leadership Model can be expressed in several different ways representing increasing levels of complexity encompassing all of the elements of AQAL: quadrants, lines, levels, states and types. My colleagues and I have written and taught extensively on the details of this practice, but for purposes here, I am going to present the most basic expression of the model: Awareness, Approach, Action.* Experience has shown that if you survey a group of people with these three questions about the SAME situation, you will get wildly different answers. These answers will reflect what these individuals are aware of and not aware of, what they emphasize and focus on (biases) and what perspectives they valorize or deliberately ignore (privilege or under-privilege). The most obvious factor that influences how a leader (or person) answers these questions is his or her worldview. Integral leaders use a simple model of four worldviews: Modern, Postmodern, Traditional and Imperial. … [Read more...]

Reaction to Gay Marriage = Litmus Test for Worldview

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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...]

Ph.D. Dissertation on Conscious Leadership in Action

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"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...]

Four Quadrants of Sustainability

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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...]

Communicating Sustainability to Different Worldviews

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Why care for the environment? Ask this question of people from around the world and myriad responses will return. You might hear "Do it...." For your children For the technical challenge of achieving sustainability Because the Glorious Qur’an states that this is man’s obligation To save Gaia Because it is the ancestral way For the opportunity to make money To preserve the beauty of Nature So I don’t get cancer from pollutants Because it is honorable and is our responsibility to be stewards To stop the greedy industrialists by any means necessary Because pollution is a sin against Creation To sacredly express love for all of existence. What is your answer? Do any of these responses feel true to you and appeal to your deepest sensibilities? Which responses, if any, fail to strike a chord or feel uncomfortable to you? How and where does that discomfort show up in your body? Place your attention in those areas of your body and feel into how you … [Read more...]

What is Integral Practice?

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Practices have accompanied humans from our first steps up from Eden to the present. A practice entails some form of disciplined action, repeated custom, or regular exercise performed with intention. Spurred by the irresistible desire to improve oneself and the world, each generation of human beings have invented new practices for growth. Thanks to the globalization of knowledge, a person can access the world’s entire collection of growth techniques—across cultures and through time. The diversity of transformative practices is truly astounding, from the complex to the simple, the mainstream to the obscure, the scientific to the artistic, the traditional to the outrageous. All of these are available to us right now. An Integral understanding of practice honors all forms of health. On the one hand, an Integral view is an evolutionary perspective, one that implicitly values practices that transform capacity and spurs humans to progressively more complex stages of development. … [Read more...]

Egypt’s Stage of Development (Modern lens)

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Speaking about the need for a leader popularly elected in free and fair elections, former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski states, "Egypt is now at a stage of development in which it is reasonable and expected by the population.” The term "development" means many things to many people, and it is — as Ken Wilber has suggested — the "backbone" of integral theory. As I blogged about in a recent posts (Worldviews in Conflict and New-Breed Leader Uses Facebook to Start Egypian Revolution), there appears to be a clear shift occurring in Egypt in particular and in this region in general as development accelerates and the Modern worldview increasingly seeps in and displaces the longstanding Traditional and Imperial worldviews so common in this region. As I often discuss with my students of Integral Leadership, there is an opportunity here for us to notice how people with different worldviews (and preferred values dialects and leadership styles) frame these … [Read more...]

On the Use of the Term Integral

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The dictionary definition of "integral" is: possessing everything essential; indispensable; required; essential or necessary for completeness of the whole; entire; constituent." And that's exactly what we mean by integral. Integral perspectives (including those found on this site) are more comprehensive and more complete than conventional perspectives. Does that simply mean integral thinkers are smart or especially knowledgeable about their field? No, that is not what we mean by integral. While the dictionary definition is adequate, there is an additional meaning of the word integral. Many of our readers (although not all) know that all of the integral thinkers featured on this site have one thing in common. And no, that one thing is not that they are smart or knowledgeable about their field although most would agree they are.... the important thing they have in common is that they are scholar-practitioners of the field of "integral theory and methodology." So in this case, the … [Read more...]