INSIGHT – The Newsletter of Conscious Business Australia (CBAU)
Welcome to the inaugural edition of “INSIGHT” which is the newsletter version of our writings on Conscious Business theory, news, research and practice. Our aim is to raise the consciousness of the general and business sector with this newsletter and make our contribution of ushering in The New Economy which is founded on a deep set of values in practice, on sustainability and community contribution for core reasons of businesses existing in their community.
This monthly newsletter will provide insights and leading edge information on the key aspects of Conscious Business and its related themes. The Conscious Business model is encapsulated within our company logo as the symbology is directly related to our Conscious Business Methodology.
Over time we will explain and explore each of the quadrants and the key themes within each of these quadrants in our writings. For now it is useful to know that the methodology as expressed through the symbology is quite powerful and has its origins in Ken Wilbur’s Integral Model of consciousness and psychology.
Our model is an adaptation and reorganisation of that Integral model into a system and symbology that better expresses for us the key aspects of Conscious Business and human consciousness in its Conscious Business context.
We fully support the Ken Wilbur model but found it necessary for our work to position our model in its above format for key and sound reasons that will illuminate many interesting and insightful aspects of personal and transpersonal aspects of business and consciousness.
This model will also illuminate some hidden dimensions of other key systems and models which up to now lay implicit within those systems but which now we will be able to make explicit through our Conscious Business Methodology (CBM) and this graphical model. Stay tuned and watch this unfold over time through our writings and online digital content that will be launched in the coming months.
The Rise of Digital Stress and its Role in Conflict Information in the Workplace
As businesses move forward towards the New Economy they are finding reason to increase the use of digital communication with their increasingly mobile and decentralised staff. The conclusions of social neuroscience regarding the potential conflict that arises in office environments where technology is dominating human interactions is insightful. Basically the conclusion is there is in all of us a tendency to interpret digital communication through perceptual filters which give distorted outcomes.
What is going here relates to a key neuroscience principle that in face to face contact any two persons employ a sophisticated set of parallel processes in the brain to read the body language, eyes, facial muscles and postural changes of others to understand if that other person is a friend or a foe.
The amygdala has always been that part of the brain associated with our emotional limbic brain “fight or flight” responses. New research confirms that it is also that part of our brain which co-ordinates processing others movements, gestures, inflections and micro-movements of facial and other expressive muscles.
This happens in a way which allows us to firstly mirror others internally in order to understand and interpret them, and then activate a move toward or a move away from response, in relation to that person. Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio’s somatic marker theory explains how the brain of an observer constructs social knowledge, at least in part, by simulating the emotional state of an observed person. In a sense we know how other people feel because we mirror internally their feelings.
The myriad of striated muscles in our face have a connection to our heart and the emotions we generate from the heart are then mirrored through our facial gestures. This key information is received and processed by others but yet is missing in digital communication.
The absence of this critical information means that the same receiver neural processes have limited information upon which to process what it takes in as information, and so will tend to draw conclusions that are based on less sensory data, and are less objective.
This highly complex but largely subconscious part of our social interaction processes with others are a critical safety mechanism and social guidance part of our reality. When we start to rely on electronic communication to “socialise” we are stripped of our primary safety and social guidance mechanisms. In terms of our emotional brain centres we are now travelling blind.
The attempt by our largely social brain to process digital communication from a place of restricted sensory input leaves a person reliant to largely processing social media, emails, and written and electronic media communication through our left brain centres. These are brain areas or cortexes which are analytical but defensive in orientation.
The net effect is that we as humans are more prone to misinterpret and misread electronic communication with a negative bias. The brain still uses safety seeking and meaning making processes when faced with digital information, but with limited information and context, it is likely to assume foe more so than friend as a default stance.
Digital stress caused by information processing overloads and volumes of outstanding emails can increase this risk of reactive processing of digital traffic by staff. Digital stress is now linked to a rise in illness in the workplace due to staff ending up in “fight or flight” as the brain becomes defensive and hyper-aroused by digital stimulus.
Organisations which have higher face to face interaction appear to show resiliency to the increasing trend of conflict and bullying claims being made by staff in workplaces where digital communication is dominant. The use of digital technology is critical to workplace productivity and cohesion but it is important that businesses do not lose sight of what impact digital communication can have on human consciousness and its potential for mis-interpretation, and therefore conflict.
For the full technical version of this article follow this link Digital Communication and its Effect on Perception and the Formation of Conflict
Upcoming Events at CBAU
Please email us if you have qny queires or wish to register your interest in any of our events.
- We will be hosting another one of our 1 day workshops titled Creating the Conscious Business on Saturday March 9 from 9am to 4pm. The course reveals why those who fail to adapt their mindsets and operations towards the new way of being and doing may decline and may even fail over time.
- Also we will be running the Entrepreneurs New Economy Master Class for 8 days from March 22 to April 28. This 8 day Entrepreneurs Program run over 6 weeks will position any budding entrepreneur in how to survive and thrive in the New Economy of innovation, imitation and the total user experience.
In late February CBAU will publish our first E-Book on Conscious Business related concepts. The book is titled “APPLE VS SAMSUNG – New Economy Titans in Battle”. This informative dissertation explains how and why Apple and Samsung are battling for domination in the New Economy and are shaping the New Economy landscape by their strategies, products, services and experiences.
These two global leaders are actively using key Conscious Business principles and are a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs as well as traditional businesses about how to approach the face-to- face and digital experiences in building new business value and market share moving forward.
Conscious Business Australia is uniquely positioned to assist you in your business journey towards the new economy. We transcend traditional old economy business and leadership coaching and consulting models by bringing to bear our innovative and leading edge Conscious Business Methodology.
Our unique combination of skills, insight, experience and methodologies enable us to stand apart from the tired old coaching and consulting “experiences” that still dominate the business world using old economy constructs and principles.
Come across and try the Conscious Business Australia “experience” which is built on the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, design, project management, marketing, channel design, and digital and physical product design/innovation/imitation philosophies. Have a look at our website www.cbau.com.au for more information, for a much more detailed version of newsletter articles, and for further articles and notifications of other courses and events that we run on a regular basis.
See you all next month and be mindful and consciously aware in all that you do.
Kind Regards,
Richard Boyd
Director, Conscious Business Australia