New and Improved Worldview Lenses

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  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...]

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...]

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 (Part 2)

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"Occupy Integral!" was originally published in the online magazine Beams & Struts by my friends Terry Patten and Marco Morelli.  In Part 1 of the interview I asked them to describe what’s really happening to our world from an integral perspective.  Here in Part 2 of the interview, I ask them to elaborate on how the Integral Movement might have a greater impact for positive change during this time of significant transformation. Brett: Historically, the "integral movement" has been largely characterized by people interested in spiritual/philosophical/psychological theories, maps and models, along with a large focus on personal development. Your blog at IntegralRevolution.com suggests that integralists might play a significant role in the changes we are seeing on the planet. What mental or attitudinal shift, or what realization do you think integralists need to make in order to move from "watching from the sidelines" to getting "out onto the field" and into the … [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...]

Modern Sports and Premodern Worldviews

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Christ! Where was God when Tim Tebow and the Broncos lost so badly? Did Jesus take the night off or has he forsaken poor devoted Tebow! USA Today asks, "When Tebow loses, does God too?"  I'm so confused! For some, the answer to this question lies in the now-famous Saturday Night Live Skit featuring Tim Tebow and Jesus Christ.  If you haven't seen it, it is highly recommended. Perhaps my favorite is this recent national poll of over 1,000 registered U.S. voters that reveals that 43 percent of people polled think Tim Tebow’s success is due to divine intervention… including 54 percent of Republicans. We have written extensively here at Integral Thinkers, and in other publications, about the power of worldviews. There are four primary worldviews in the developed world: Modern, Postmodern, Traditional and Imperial. Tim Tebow's biblical worldview seems at odds with modern sports in a postmodern media environment. Why is it so fascinating?  The answer to that question is … [Read more...]

Integral Should Be More Like Apple

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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...]

Integral Reflection on Occupy Wall Street Protests

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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...]

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...]

A Conscious View of Bin Laden’s Death

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When some people hear  the word “consciousness” they think of the inconvenient time between naps. Is consciousness just the state of being awake, or is it more than that? There are many theories about what consciousness is and where it is located. It remains a mystery. But there is much to be gained from considering consciousness from multiple perspectives, and finding the partial truths in all of them. In this article I will consider consciousness in the context of personal experience and cultural transformation, as a sample of the many approaches to a complex issue. As a way to illustrate the personal dimension of consciousness, I recall my first experience with miracle fruit. I tried it a few years back while on vacation in Panama with my family. The miracle fruit is an amazing berry. It doesn’t claim to be a weight loss marvel or to increase antioxidants like some other wonder fruits. It’s more fun than that. It’s a miracle because for several hours after eating … [Read more...]

The End of the World May 21, 2011

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Judgment Day is May 21, 2011.  This is the day that Jesus will claim his true believers and everyone else will be cast into hell. Don't believe me? Well the Bible guarantees it. Quite a few news stories have shown up in several news outlets over the past week about, as the Associated Press says, "a movement of Christians loosely organized by radio broadcasts and websites, independent of churches and convinced by their reading of the Bible that the end of the world will begin May 21, 2011." End of Days in May (MSNBC) Apocalypse Soon: Christian Movement Says 5/21/11 (CBS News) Hundreds of Google News articles on End of World in May 2011 (Google News) I love the NPR.com article by Barbara Hagerty "Is The End Nigh? We'll Know Soon Enough." She interviews several true believers and reports on the mega-million-dollar Family Radio network, one of the many "news" outlets we have to thank for providing us such valuable interpretations of the 2,000-year-old text. "People need to … [Read more...]

Interview with Peter Merry on Sustainability Leadership

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Peter Merry and I met in The Hague this past summer for a deep discussion on sustainability leadership. Peter offers a powerful blend of insight, wit, and presence that has allowed him to serve the development of sustainability in some fascinating arenas. In this interview he discusses how he designs sustainability initiatives, and cites recent work with the State of the World Forum in Brazil. I think you'll find the interview fascinating. Peter Merry Interview on Sustainability Leadership_20100624         … [Read more...]

Heaven and Earth

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Oscar Wilde wrote, “In the wild struggle for existence, we want to have something that endures.” It’s a common aspect of the human journey, inside and outside of religion, that we seek things that endure. Within religion, the afterlife is often seen as the enduring hope. Grand Rapids pastor Rob Bell has caused a stir with his new book Love Wins. He begins the book by hinting that there is no hell and goes on to outline a Christian universalist perspective that everyone is saved by the sacrifice of Jesus and ends up in heaven, no matter what it turns out that heaven is. Of course it’s not a new theory, but it’s significant that a prominent evangelical pastor has gone on record and landed the lead story in this week’s Time magazine. Even though I came to this perspective many years ago, and have now gone much further than universalism, I am encouraged by the development. Kudos to Rob for helping to expose large numbers of people to a more expansive belief about God and … [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...]

Go Wash Clothes, This is Against Islam!

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A group of Egyptian men yelled, "Go wash clothes! This is against Islam!" while attacking a group of women this week who were part of a demonstration urging Egypt to give women a voice in building its future. Thus a traditional worldview delivers a stinging slap to the women of Egypt who are aspiring for a more modern way of being treated. The violent opposition these women faced suggests that Egyptian women may have to fight their own revolution to achieve equal rights. “We fought side by side with men during the revolution, and now we’re not represented,” said Passat Rabie, a young woman who came with friends, after men aggressively dispersed the protest. “I thought Egypt was improving, that it was becoming a better country. If it’s changing in a way that’s going to exclude women, then what’s the point? Where’s the democracy?” The demonstrators, who gathered in Tahrir Square—the epicenter of the revolution—had much to complain about: The military council … [Read more...]

Why Does Democracy and Freedom in Egypt Leave Out Women?

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Here we have a very clear situation where an integral understanding brings clarity into an otherwise utterly puzzling situation. The question we are solving for is this: Why Does Democracy and Freedom in Egypt Leave Out Women? As the world witnessed, throughout the protests in February, women were at the forefront. Their courage and sacrifice of the Egyptian women was equal to the Egyptian men. Yet, during the protests they not emphasize gender rights in a country where women have faced rampant discrimination and received little legal protection against widespread violence and sexual abuse. Egyptian women were careful not to display any intention of wanting to advance one groups rights over those of another. Why? "We did not speak of our gender rights during these protests because it was not the right time. We spoke for the political and social rights of all Egyptians. If we were to campaign for our rights as women in parallel with the revolutions national goal, that would … [Read more...]

Moving 10-Minute Video Collage of Egyptian Revolution

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What do you think about this video? Share your perspective (below). Or click here to read more Integral Thinkers articles about leadership, current events, or to read Google News articles about Protests in the Middle East. … [Read more...]

What Is Integral Education?

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An integral approach to education focuses on the continued growth of students and teachers throughout their life span. Integral education attempts to discover how the many partial truths of educational philosophies and methods inform and complement each other in a coherent way, while acknowledging that the whole truth is still evolving and can never be completely captured. Integral education includes approaches to education from biological, neurological, societal, cultural, psychological, and spiritual fields of study. It involves considering the individual and collective aspects of teachers and students, as well as the interior and exterior modes of experience and reality, termed the four quadrants (see graph below from: Integral Teacher, Integral Students, Integral Classroom: Applying Integral Theory to Education by Sean Esbjörn-Hargens p. 9). An integral approach also considers the developmental lines in a human … [Read more...]

The Law of Attraction – You Get What You Give

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The Eighteenth Century Jewish master, Tzemech Tzedek, was once asked to pray for a seriously ill child. He said to the family, “Tracht gut vet zain gut,” a Yiddish phrase which means “Think good, and it will be good.” The child recovered. The Rabbi asked the family when the child began to turn around. They told him it was the minute they began to think positive thoughts. Stories such as this appear in many spiritual traditions. Jesus described a similar situation with the phrase, “your faith has made you well.” What is the power of the mind? Is it the ability to bend spoons, a la Uri Geller, or is it the presence of mind to reframe thoughts and take a larger perspective? The mind is certainly powerful and I’m sure that we don’t even know the full extent of the mind’s untapped powers if you take into account our subconscious mind. Either way, the ability to frame your experiences and beliefs in a healthy perspective is potentially more powerful than any magic … [Read more...]

The Shirtless Dancing Guy Theory of Leadership

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Derek Sivers gave this brief presentation at the TED Conference to a standing ovation. It's brilliant in both its humor and simplicity. Watch the video first. Then, if you want, you can read the transcript below. Transcript of Derek Sivers video: If you've learned a lot about leadership and making a movement, then let's watch a movement happen, start to finish, in under 3 minutes, and dissect some lessons: A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he's doing is so simple, it's almost instructional. This is key. You must be easy to follow! Now comes the first follower with a crucial role: he publicly shows everyone how to follow. Notice the leader embraces him as an equal, so it's not about the leader anymore - it's about them, plural. Notice he's calling to his friends to join in. It takes guts to be a first follower! You stand out and brave ridicule, yourself. Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first … [Read more...]

Hundreds of Thousands Protest Across Arab the World

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A picture is worth a thousand words. Click photo to enlarge full screen. Iraqi riot police officers prevent anti-government protesters from entering the heavily guarded Green Zone during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Feb. 25, 2011. Thousands marched on government buildings and clashed with security forces in cities across Iraq on Friday, in the largest and most violent anti-government protests here since political unrest began spreading in the Arab world several weeks ago. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) See Associated Press article and gallery of stunning photos here. … [Read more...]