Evolutionary Provocateur

The Mayan Calendar and the Evolution of Company Culture

November 23rd, 2006 was the start of the Fifth Day in the Galactic Heaven according to the Mayan Calendar. Today experts on the mayan calendar held a web-conference call where they explained the what the calendar says and does not say about the fate of humanity. What the mayan calendar maps out, according to Dr. Carl Calleman, is the process of the evolution of human consciousness.

Shifts can be seen in the nature of domination and control over others, typically expressed through war. He explained that wars can no longer be won. They can be fought, but not won. Previously when the world was driven by duality, for example, clear lines of right and wrong; weak and strong, the force of domination created a clear outcome. No longer is that the case. Iraq is an example.

Andie Mac, hostess, also explained why time feels like it is accelerating. She mapped out the mayan calendar timeline which began 16.4 billion years ago.  The length of time that each level of evolution takes to complete is 20X shorter than the previous. We are currently in the Galactic period where each cycle is 360 days in length.

What does this have to do with business? Whether you believe it or not, and the first filter used is always belief often disguised as skepticism, consider the possibility that there is a connection between the desire for employees to grow  personally and professionally and the compelling push that is articulated by the mayan calendar. If marketers paid any attention at all to the research outlined in Cultural Creatives published in 2000, then the power of 50 million or so people in the US alone who are engaging in their growth can not be overlooked.

While employees search for fulfillment and meaningful contribution by leaving, or repressing their talent (creating all sorts of chronic and stress related illness), companies have a huge opportunity to recalibrate their culture to match with the times and the desire of their employees to evolve. Dictorial styles of management are outmoded in this evolution.  Self-leadership plays an important role as the global networks of relationships become high value. Internal conflict is no longer about win-win or win-lose. It is about taking a higher view point so the value of the conflict can be utlized in a creative solution.

Curious? I hope so. If you want to find out more about the Mayan Calendar then go to: The Mayan Calendar: The Evolution of Human Consciousness by Dr.Carl Calleman or head for the portal site: www.maya-portal.net.

Wisdom of Crowds

Recently, my colleague Al Blixt from Dannemiller Tyson and Whole Scale Change took extra time from his day to catch me on a recent learning community session event, which I missed, where the group discussed The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. At a slice in time when we must move from individual intelligence to operating from a collective intelligence, this is timely. The entire notion of wisdom of the crowds reminds me of the day of conducting public consultation on policy issues. The bureaucrats insisted that only the experts knew anything of value. the public were ignorant and incapable of offereing any intelligence on economic policy. The assumption was you had to be an economist or hold expertise to offer credible input. 

The concept of Wisdom of Crowds for those of you who have not read it, is sourced from British scientist Frances Galton who, in 1906 at the age of 87, had developed a reasonable amount of contempt for the intelligence of the average person. With that belief firmly entrenched it was easy to maintain that power must be centered in the elite and selected few. He came across a competition to estimate the weight of a fat ox after it had been slaughtered and dressed. Eight hundred placed their estimates. 'Many non-experts' competed' as he would later write. Having readily made the comparison to voters who have no idea what they are voting on he set out to demonstrate the incapability of average thinkers when thinking en masse. As a statistician in the field of heredity he initiated the math to prove  his point. 'the crowd guessed that the ox, after it had been slaughtered and dressed, would weigh 1197 pounds. After it had been slaughtered and dressed, it weighed 1198 pounds.  The book then explores the kinds of problems we face, the characteristics that make crowd wisdom effective, the applications amongst other things. What the book also does, for me at least, is indicate the power of the collective mind when it is applied to questions that do not have a read answer; questions whree the collective knowledge of the group becomes the answer. I am referring to addressing major global issues through collective intelligence.

Surowiecki provides three types of problems:  1) Cognition problems: Problems that have a definitive answer. 2) Coordination problems: Require members of a group to figure out how to coordinate their behaviour in each other knowing that everyone else is trrying to do the same. 3) Cooperation problems: Involve the challenge of getting self-interested, distrustful people to work together, even when the forces of self-interest would predictably pull them apart. The book will touch many things in readers, but it does make it clear that groups can and do hold greater intelligence than the smartest one among the group. That in itself is a power reason to harness the collective intelligence of all working in a corporation to create a future that works for humanity and the planet.  My thanks to Al. www.dannemillartyson.com

Memorial Day/Veterans Day and Workplace Conflict – Making the Connection

November 11th in Canada is Remembrance Day; November 12th in the U.S. is Memorial Day. The headline in the Vancouver Sun read: "Since World War I more than 100 wars and civil conflicts have been fought. 160, 000, 000 have died." That is a lot of people. Mankind has fought over women and property, differing religious beliefs, desire to control and utilize power over others for gain, fear that someone might attack first (with dogs they call it fear and territorial aggression) and the list goes on.

When facilitating leadership training with my colleague and good friend Dennis Cherenko, he used an animated film called 'The Big Snit' to dissect the escalation of conflict in a domestic situation. The story told in the Big Snit could have taken place in any setting. The discussions amongst managers and supervisors always gave insight into the biases, the assumptions, the misunderstandings that are at the genesis of the majority of conflicts.

Information posted on http://www.workplace-violence-hq.com notes "workplace homicide as the fastest growing category of murder in the U.S. And homicide is now the leading cause of on-the-job death for women (and second leading cause for men). However, the real danger (and staggering cost in both human and financial terms) is the mountain of physical and verbal violence, of which murder is just the peak (representing only 0.05% of the 2 million victims of physical workplace violence / year). [Source: U.S. Department of Justice, BJS, 7/28/98]".

There is far more than a lack of conflict resolution skills going on. A certain amount of violence can be attributed to deeply held fear but we also know that many corporate cultures have not made the shift to an enlightened state where the leadership comes from all levels. Many authoritarian figures rely on their ability to control as a management style which in turn suppresses the creative contribution of their employees. Whenever expression is suppressed one of two things happens. Either the anger is turned inward to form depression or the pressure builds up until it is released as aggression or violence. It does not help that employees go home and watch how many ways there are of murdering people, nor does it help to watch shows which show how manipulating and controlling others will get you the top spot.

Until we understand how to recognize aggression and violence as a signal and an opportunity to see and relate to each other differently we will continue to see those statistics in the workplace rise. Now is the time to use a wider angle lens to see what is really going on and what can happen when conflict is used to create rather than destroy.

Walking-Talking Meetings

Whether you are a single parent running your own business or just running your own business, time is short and multi-tasking is necessary. Walk the dog, get exercise, and meet using the same amount of time to achieve three things. It just doesn’t get better. If you don’t have a dog, then two out of three is still good.

Things to make walking and talking work better: 

1. When I walk the dog it tends to be on serious trails. Not everyone is ready for that. Someone not used to rugged terrain spends more energy trying to navigate it than concentrating on what they are saying. This applies to fitness level. It helps to know whether sweating is a welcome thing on a walking meeting. If not, pick a flatter trail.
2. The funny thing about focus is that you miss most of what is going on around you. If you are both intensely focused on what the ideas you are trading then make sure one of you knows the trail inside out or you are both paying attention to where you are going. Otherwise your focus will shift to finding the trail that leads back to the car or where you will set up camp for the night. If you are using urban trails, the same holds true but for different reasons. Keeping one eye on the horizon and one eye on the steering wheel is another way of saying notice what is going on around you while staying present in the conversation.
3. Remain watchful, present and focused. All important leadership skills that walk-talk meeting demand you to practice.
4. Many walk-talk meetings are great opportunities for catching up, trading stories and then determining how to support each person’s work. It is up to both parties to ensure that both bases have been covered unless you agree to do otherwise. Remaining mindful of fair air time is important.
5. When we finish an indoor meeting we typically check on points of agreement and then cover next steps. Similarly, when you finish your walk, make sure you cover what happens next as a next step.

Many people assume the only serious conversations must take place within the confines of four walls. In reality, the most creative moments take place outside of it especially in the abundant domain of nature. Remember Einstein observed the concept of relativity on a subway. Other thought leaders have taken their guidance from dreams.

Becoming more present with the world at large and with me takes place when I walk alone. If I am able to carry out a walk and not think (most of the time), then I have opened myself to receiving greater guidance far more accurate than what I could cook up with my mind. This is when the walks becoming walking meditations or a walking meeting with yourself. Leave your mind in the parking lot. 

My thanks to Barbara Densmore at www.workingsmarter.ca for instigating this blogspot.