Integral Should Be More Like Apple

11.29.2011 By
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...]

Filed Under: Featured, Integral Movement, Integral Theory and Methodology, Leadership, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Two Minute Introduction to Integral Leadership

09.23.2011 By
Three-leadership-questions1

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...]

Filed Under: Integral Theory and Methodology, Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

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: , , , ,

What is Integral Practice?

03.26.2011 By
integral practice collage 150px

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...]

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What Is Integral Education?

03.03.2011 By
integral-education-quadrants

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...]

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Evolution of Civilization

11.01.2010 By
futuristic city metropolis

The American archeologist Howard Winters defined civilization as “the process in which one gradually increases the number of people included in the term ‘we’ or ‘us’ and at the same time decreases those labeled ‘you’ or ‘them’ until that category has no one left in it.” Civilization today includes a rainbow of perspectives along this spectrum.  Each step along civilization’s spiraling evolution involves deeper and wider perspectives – from egocentric (“I matter”) to ethnocentric (“My group matters”) to worldcentric (“All humans matter”). To glimpse the civilization of tomorrow, one need not look further than the most comprehensive and inclusive perspectives of today.  The integral frameworks created by worldcentric pioneers foreshadow a new civilization that works for everyone, where all perspectives—though far from equal—have a right to exist. Integral mapmakers aim to find a place for the horizontal and vertical diversity that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Development, Integral Practice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

On the Use of the Term Integral

08.08.2010 By
use of integral thumb

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...]

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