Have you ever worked in a business or organisation that seemed to have bad luck, or had an ongoing pattern of intractable issues which you could not quite put your finger on. In some businesses it almost seems like a curse exists as staff always get sick or misfortune happens across the leader.
There is evidence that a subtle form of unconscious patterning may exist within the organisation in its existence as an entity. This set of hidden dynamics are not well understood in business coaching or organisational theory and psychology.
It is a phenomena I have been approached about several times and I have used Organisational Constellation processes to firstly diagnose the hidden issues, and then process them to “untangle” them from organisational dynamics. It is a very subtle type of work that requires a strong understanding in a range of disciplines to fully appreciate and facilitate the dynamics involved.
Organisations have traditionally viewed themselves in terms of their own concrete reality where very formal boundaries can be drawn, and all external inputs and outputs seen in their total view. Likewise the processes and rules that establish the basis for interchange and relationship between the organization and its external entities are often then able to be quantified and documented.
This approach expresses but one layer of the reality that an organization expresses itself in. This view is Newtonian in its outlook and while valid it is not the complete picture. There is an underlying quantum view that needs to be understood and addressed for an organization to have complete business consciousness about itself.
The quantum view exists across all objects in any system but the real issue is for organizations to consider the human dimension of organizations where quantum effects are more pronounced and influential. The key reason the human aspect of organizations commands attention over other resources of an organization, is that humans have consciousness.
In quantum terms the presence of consciousness in a system or “field” immediately creates potential changes into the “seen” reality of the organization. The law of Physics describes this principle as “The Observer Effect” and which has been an accepted principle of the laws of quantum reality since the 1950’s.
Basically the basis for this law is that energy exists in two potential states at any given point in time and space. Energy is either wave-like or it is in particle form.
The flip-flop between the two states is triggered by the consciousness of the person observing that point in time and space and influences the final particle state outcome by the presence of having their unconscious or conscious awareness being present.
In this way we create the reality around us and this is true within organizations as human consciousness is a constant element in organizational makeup. Inanimate objects and resources do not possess such levels of consciousness and so are not the focus of this discussion for this reason.
Another key consideration is the subtle and hidden ordering principles that pervade energy in all its forms, and which is expressed at all levels of reality. Physicists such as Arthur Koestler and Nobel Prize winner Herbert Simon observe that complex systems will evolve from simple systems much more rapidly if there are stable intermediate forms than if there are not.
Their second observation is that while it is easy to identify sub-wholes or intermediate stable forms in living organisms and social structures, these parts do not actually exist in an absolute sense anywhere.
This led to the creation of the term Holon to describe the hybrid nature of sub-wholes/parts in real life and social structure. The Holon simultaneously are self contained wholes to their subordinated parts, and dependent parts when seen from an inverse direction.
The behaviour of the Holon is such that the sub-wholes/holons are autonomous self-reliant units, which have a degree of independence, and handle contingencies without asking a higher structure or authority for instructions.
Simultaneously Holons are subject to control from multiple higher authorities or structures. The first property ensures that Holons are stable forms which can cope with and adapt to disturbances. The second property signifies that they are interdependent intermediate forms, which provide the proper functionality for the bigger whole.
In effect as Physicist Ken Wilbur points out, the whole is reflected in the sum of its parts but also in each of the parts. The ordering principle in human and social systems such as organizations is that they are comprised of some levels of “Holons within Holons within Holons within Holons”.
Holons exist across the scope of reality from the sub-atomic energy level up to macro structures such as societies and even mankind. In an organization this Holon reality can be easily observed and its effects noticed.
Conscious Business considers the reality of the individual, then the family, then the organisational culture then society as the “Holon within Holon within Holon within the Holon”. This is one context and just one subset view of reality that exists for consideration but in reality everything is interconnected, one, and empty of all artificial types of described reality.
There are certain laws which exist at both a gross and measurable level, and then those laws whose effects are hidden or very subtle, but which nevertheless are found to be existent in any systems. In the example of the 4 Holon systems we are considering we are looking at the laws and effects of the energy of consciousness/subconsciousness.
Any system obeys laws. As consciousness is energy it also operates to laws and principles, and contains subtle or hidden information as information is in the very nature of consciousness energy.
The laws outlined here have been uncovered and observed to operate in all cultures and across past and present times. The observers and recorders of these laws and hidden dynamics have been sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, physicists, biologists, and other scientific disciplines.
Each Holon may contain its own unique laws and hidden dynamics that as a stable intermediate whole, it possesses without needing to obtain permission or authority from the Holons that it is subordinate to. The laws that Conscious Business Australia engage with are those which permeate and are relevant to individuals, families, organisational culture, society and planet.
We look at the subtle and unconscious field effects that influence organisational life. These may be historical and have symptoms and origins. They tend to create systemic entanglements which can be reversed or overcome via an intervention via a trained organisational constellation facilitator.
Conscious Business Australia works at this subtle energetic level of organisational and personal level as appropriate in our consulting and coaching engagements.
Refer to our article “The Hidden Dimensions in Organisations” for more information.