Collective Wisdom

A topic as rich as Collective Wisdom (CW) needs days to gather, ponder, dialogue with each other to troll the depth and breadth of the field. Much gratitude to Alan Briskin for giving us a substantial drink from a deep pool.

CW is not group think, but in fact, requires the individual to show up with a generosity of spirit and the presence of knowing each voice matters to create wholeness in a conversation or dialogue. A field of resonance and coherence is called into play that generates new capacities. We begin to understand that we exist because we belong to others, other beings, our surroundings, the planet, the universe. We exist because we belong to others....

Alan also spoke to Collective Stupidity, which applies to many situations, including our dated concepts of leadership/followership.

Groups are inclined toward stupidity the more they believe an answer lies outside themselves, including a belief that an answer lies with the leader. This form of ìprojectionî carries penalties whether the projection is positive or negative. We defer our own wisdom at great cost, becoming dependent on an outside figure for answers and increasingly divided in our opposition or loyalty.

The power of CW as Alan describes it is that we form a necklace of ideas that creates intention, coherence, and authentic engagement. What emerges is a capacity for foresight of what may be coming and insight of action to be taken, but from a place of wholeness that takes many perspectives and intelligences into account. Leadership becomes a quality that each is called to, as needed.

How might the wisdom, deep within each of us, be brought forward collectively to heal the planet? First by being aware that we belong to one another. When we come into alignment with this field, there is a deeper understanding of our connection with others, with life, and with a source of collective wisdom. This resonance creates an intelligence of presence and body awareness that calls into play our intuition and heart wisdom.

Next we can call this out in others. One of the call participants gave an example of holding someone in his thoughts, holding the person to her highest level of presence. He experienced that on some level that he didn't understand, she felt this and responded, even though no words had been exchanged. We've all had an experience like this. It's not manipulation; it's coherence.

The key messages of CW:
“We Are All Connected And Interdependent” Collective wisdom is a mindset and orientation, a turning toward the reality of interdependence, intricacy, and connectivity that is fundamental to living systems.

“Together We Can Know More” Collective wisdom takes us a step further from the “wisdom of crowds,” suggesting a latent wisdom exists in groups when authenticity, respect, and genuine engagement are promoted.

“Collective Wisdom Involves A Different Way Of Knowing” Collective wisdom involves intuition, sensation, and spirit. One of the foundational concepts of collective wisdom is that along with literal, linear, and rational ways of understanding, wisdom arises from a different kind of awareness. From this alternative awareness we are far more capable as individuals and in groups to recognize patterns, cultivate positive emotions, and perceive “pinch points” that might disrupt the movement toward new insights and creative resolution of conflicts.

“Safety for Reflection, Inquiry, and Deep Listening Are Essential For Developing Collective Wisdom” Central to collective wisdom is the ability for individuals and groups to hold in mind apparently opposing ideas, to resolve deep seated conflicts, and to arrive at new ideas that are nourished from within each individual and arise from the group itself. Safety for reflection, inquiry, and deep listening are examples of key conditions that foster the possibility for collective wisdom to arise.

“Digression To Stupidity” We cannot talk long about collective wisdom without acknowledging the long and painful history of aggression, war, and oppressive behavior in groups. Collective stupidity can be a result of individuals giving up or deferring their own internal sensing of what is right, true, and of lasting value. We do this for many reasons including fear of not really knowing our own thoughts and fear of others, especially those who have power over us. Inversely, collective wisdom is the power of generating answers from within, allowing individuals the space to make best use of their own reflections and the groupís capacity to make best use of its members.

“Changing How We Think About Leading and Following” Groups are inclined toward stupidity the more they believe an answer lies outside themselves, including a belief that an answer lies with the leader. This form of ìprojectionî carries penalties whether the projection is positive or negative. We defer our own wisdom at great cost, becoming dependent on an outside figure for answers and increasingly divided in our opposition or loyalty.

Inversely, when a leader brings attention to the challenges and complexity that are inherent to the circumstances a group faces together, group members can begin to bring their own unique talents and special qualities. The group as a whole can become more sophisticated as the reflective capacity deepens and new possibilities are surfaced. We return to the world with insights grounded in spirit and aided by perceiving a larger whole.

Comments

[Alan Briskin]

Much gratitude to Patricia for her facilitation on the call and her notes afterward. I am always delighted by social technologies that work. Though time was limited, it seemed the structure of the call allowed for rich content and a "sensing" of what was moving within the interior of the group - by virtue of individual comments, questions, and observations.

Also worth noting was the particular insights and suggestions from the group that began to emerge. I felt we were moving beyond simple expressions of personal insight and moving toward a "sensing" into the content of the material itself. On a practical level, Tarra and I have agreed to follow up on the suggestion of creating a literature/bibliography for collective wisdom. We shall see what emerges. My thanks to you all who participated in voice and presence.

[patricia]

We've gotten the highest reviews ever for this call. How did Alan's comments stimulate your thoughts/actions: "they sparked the insight i shared with the people on the call...more lessons for me that Truth needn't be explainable. also appreciated the conversation about collective wisdom, a subject I find fascinating and see as essential for major social change.

many thanks to Alan! -Patricia

[Amy Lenzo]

What I loved most about this interview with Alan was the call to our senses, literally. To be in our bodies and listen to what they are telling us.

The direction of Alan's thought seemed to intimate a collective body as an essential part of collective wisdom.

The idea of a united body/mind in this sphere really excited me because I realized I'd been imagining collective wisdom as something generated and accessed through the mental realm. Listening to Alan speak helped me transform that limiting structure into something that feels much more 'true'.

In my own work with what I call 'transcendent technology' (by which I mean consciously using technology to, among other things, connect with each other on a collective level), I have seen that evoking the body through the senses is a key to grounding technology in the natural world. Now I can see it is a key to connecting with each other as well.

[Tarra Christoff]

Thank you for a most inspiring call - figuratively and literally. I deeply resonated with your journey, and your words continue to reverberate in mind as I collect voices of wisdom for my dissertation. My ultimate insight from the call was that the evolutionary journey towards collective wisdom profoundly involves the engagement of our soul's differences and that mining the gold of our uniqueness is the alchemical pathway towards wholeness and liberation for individuals and the collective. I applaud you for this pioneering and beatiful book-in-progress and welcome resources that will support a comprehensive literature review in this emerging field of collective wisdom (and it feels like a healing salve in a world that needs innovative and holistic approaches to cultural transformation). The image comes of our world as a Soul (animus mundi) and that each of us is an indispensible contributor to a collective Soul resonance. Thank you for such an inspiring call to action!