21st Century Leadership

Theory, Practice and Application of Worldview Intelligence in 2017

Kathy Jourdain Leave a comment

What is Worldview Intelligence? Where did it come from? Where is it being used?

We are asked these questions regularly and here is a bit of what we have been telling people about our work.

Theory, Philosophy and Practice Behind Worldview Intelligence

Leo Apostel (1925-95) was a Belgium philosopher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) who was concerned about the increasing fragmentation in the world and specifically within the various scientific disciplines. He wanted to find a way toward integration, which led to the creation of the Worldviews group where scholars in various disciplines came together to research and develop a philosophical framework to accomplish this. This group of scholars eventually developed the Apostel framework comprised of six dimensions that serve to deconstruct and consider how people come to see the world the way they do. While the Leo Apostel Centre was established in 1995, when Apostel died the passion for this work diminished.

Twenty-five years later, Jerry Nagel, PhD came across this framework while researching worldviews for his dissertation. He and his partner Kathy Jourdain, MBA began bringing the idea of worldview into their consulting and training programs, discovering there was an appetite for the exploration. Since 2011 they have been in the ongoing discovery and development of practical application of the framework – Worldview Intelligence – that provides an elegant structure for understanding and to build strengths from differences, individually, organizationally, community and system wide.

Application

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Jerry and Kathy have brought Worldview Intelligence to a wide variety of applications in Canada, the US, Australia and Europe. The framework offers the opportunity for exploration in many different contexts and is well received in each. Explorations are tailored to need, purpose and the audience.

Clients and Communities

Clients and community funders approach Jerry and Kathy to bring Worldview Intelligence to a variety of specific circumstances that require new or renewed understanding of different perspectives, finding ways of working across silos, supporting innovative initiatives with a worldview approach to shift culture and create sustainable systems and to enter into challenging situations and conversations with new shared language and approaches. The Worldview Intelligence framework becomes a tailored approach to exploring individual, professional, organizational, community and social system worldviews, identifying where and why clashes occur to find ways forward on issues that matter.

University, Community College, High School Students

Kathy and Jerry teach international under graduate and post graduate students each year at the IGR Business School at the University of Rennes in France. An introduction to Worldview Intelligence, using hosting practices, expands their thinking about leadership, their role and their thinking about what their future might entail. They are often surprised to discover more points of connection across countries (as many as 18 countries represented in a room) and more points of difference within countries.

The Worldview approach has also been used to help high school and community college students think about future employment and then discuss their ideas about the workplace with employers who are faced with increasing competition for workers and must create workplaces conducive to new styles of working.

Keynotes

Keynotes focus on giving people a glimpse into their own worldview, where it came from and how it influences communication and relationship, usually without us being aware of it. Keynotes can be offered in time frames from 20-60 minutes.

Filling in the Gaps with Blinders On: Discovering an Expanded View

 We interpret images and words in less time than it takes to blink and we fill in the gaps in stories with no awareness that we are doing it, yet it influences our interpretation of an event, a conversation and even another person or group. Our worldview contributes to blinders through which we filter in and filter out information. There are ways to discover an expanded view, story or perspective that can change the nature of the conversations we are in, especially when it comes to issues that matter to us.

How Your Worldview Influences What you See and Do

 Your worldview influences how you act, engage in conversations and make the choices you make. Cultural and learned worldviews affect the way you see, hear and speak. So, what is a worldview and how did you get yours? How does understanding brain and behavioural science help us make different choices about our actions and our interactions? How can we avoid collisions of worldviews and come together in ways that build understanding and respect and allow each of us to hold onto aspects of ourselves that are most important to us while expanding our worldview to engage in conversations about issues that matter?

Introductory Sessions

Welcome to “My Worldview” – An Introduction to Worldviews, Where They Come From and Why They Matter

This two hour introduction uses a number of experiential exercises to quickly introduce participants to aspects of their worldview and help them gain an understanding of where worldviews come from and how they shape what we see, do and experience. Participants are engaged in conversation and thoughtful reflection throughout the two hour exploration.

Building Strength from Difference: An Introduction to the Power of Worldview Intelligence to Transform Conversations from Challenging to Productive

This one day deep dive introduction to the power and possibility of Worldview Intelligence outlines what a worldview is, where it comes from, how it influences communication and relationship and offers participants a four step process to productive dialogue on stuck issues. The Worldview Intelligence framework is value neutral, helps to make hidden patterns and dynamics visible and provides a new way to organize your thoughts so you can change the actions and approach you might take in polarized or otherwise challenging situations.

Students and Employers Share Their Thoughts About the Workplace and Workforce of the Future in a Unique Conversation

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When high school and community college students are asked how they believe employers see their age group they are surprisingly aware and very frank. “They think we are lazy, entitled, inexperienced, less responsible than older employees, and that we are too dependent on technology.”

What do these students want employers to know about them? “Give us a chance. We do work hard and we need experience in order to learn. Just because we use technology does not mean we are tech savvy, we do need training. We are open-minded and open to change. But we are different and we view the world differently.”

On the morning of February 9, 2017 forty-five students from six different schools in Itasca and Cass Counties in NE Minnesota gathered at the Timberlake Lodge in Grand Rapids where they were invited to explore their thoughts with each other about whether they are thinking of staying in the region, what is influencing their thoughts about work, how they think employers see their age group, what they want employers to know about them and how they want to be treated at work.

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Bold questions were asked

Throughout the morning they had a chance to meet each other in a series of small group conversations to consider topics about their employment future many had not yet given much thought to. Their conversations grew longer and more thoughtful as the morning progressed and by lunch time they were ready to meet employers.

In the afternoon, thirty-five people from various employers in the region joined the conversation, bringing curiosity and keen interest in learning the thoughts and ideas of the students and willing to share about their work environments and some of the opportunities that exist. Students and employers shared with each other what they think the other group thinks of them, how they each want to be treated at work and how they can retain young people in the region, or attract them back.

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Employers and students in rich conversations with each other about the workplace and workforce of the future

Everyone was deeply and respectfully engaged in the conversations and they learned a lot – including, whether they are an employer or potential employee they do want very similar things but the how to them might be different. Some key learnings: respect is a two-way street, training is vital to the development of good employees and workplace environments, young people are open to challenges at work, dependability at work means everyone can do their job well, employers are not just sitting back and doing nothing. Students learned there is more opportunity in the area than they thought and both employers and students acknowledged it could be quite beneficial for young people to leave the area to learn and grow and then come back home with an expanded worldview.

They also talked about the importance of communication and of honesty while maintaining and positive attitude and make expectations clear. Both talked about failure – how it is a good learning opportunity.

This is a Worldview Intelligence project funded by the Blandin Foundation, supported by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and carried out by the Meadowlark Institute focused on workforce readiness and workplace changes in response to the growing need for workers in the region. This problem not unique to NE Minnesota but this is the first initiative of its kind focused on employers, future employees and the community has a whole.

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Clustering the post-it note harvest looking for themes and patterns

Schools that participated in this initiative are Deer River, Grand Rapids, ALC, Hill City School, Northern Lights Community School, Itasca Community College. At the end of the morning the students had an opportunity to speak about their experience in the conversations. Many indicated it was different than what they were expecting – believing they were coming to a job fair. While a few indicated it was at times boring, they were amazed at the opportunity to share their ideas on each of the topics and pleased to be able to reflect on questions that are looming for them about the workplace. A few also reflected some anxiety about interacting with others they did not know, but that quickly turned into curiosity and connection.

By the time the employers showed up, the students were warmed up and ready to engage confidently in conversations that treated them as equals – one of the things they are looking for in the workplace.

When We See It, It’s Obvious; Until Then, It’s a Hidden Dynamic

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When we see it, it’s obvious. Until then, it’s a hidden dynamic. Worldview Intelligence provides many different opportunities to reveal the obvious, making it possible to strategize relationships and communications in ways that move issues of common interest forward, often in new and previously un-thought-of ways.

Each of the Worldview Intelligence explorations – personal, professional, team, organizational, cultural, social systems – provides a window into seeing more of what exists, illuminating patterns, assumptions, belief and value systems in reflective, curious and generative ways. The best way to understand this is through stories. Here we share an example from a health care client we are working with in the United States. It operates in three States with 30,000 employees and is bringing innovation to many areas of its work. One such area is in bringing a team based approach to patient care in their clinics.

In the last year, there have been six clinics in a pilot project led by a team within the organization that is providing the clinics with resources, including evidence based research, leadership development and team cohesion assessments. We were invited to bring Worldview Intelligence to build connections within and across the teams as they were brought altogether for the first time. The impact was revealing and fascinating for all involved.

Shifting the Trust/Risk Dynamics

The co-ordinating team was curious to see if and how we could build enough trust within two days for the teams to become vulnerable enough to share with each other openly and honestly. At the end of Day 1, they weren’t sure they had the answer to that question but by break time the next morning it was clear that the teams were openly sharing successes and challenges and making requests of the co-ordinating team. There was also a demonstrable shift in how members of teams sought each other out to explore new questions at the break and during lunch.

Personal Exploration

How did this happen? The first day focused on the personal worldview exploration including strategies for hosting yourself when your worldview is challenged. While on the surface it didn’t look like much had shifted at the end of the day, it laid a solid foundation for the next day’s exploration related to the social systems of each of the six clinic teams and the co-ordinating team. The personal experience provides an opportunity for people to embody the Worldview Intelligence framework as they gain insight into why they see and experience the world the way they do. The reflection and curiosity that was brought to the personal exploration carried through to subsequent explorations, opening the space for expanded observations, understanding and insights.

Social Systems Mapping

The teams were asked to map their social system and then come back and share what they discovered with the whole group. Social systems mapping is not new, but looking at the mapped systems through the Worldview Intelligence framework is. It has mappers asking different questions to reveal the hidden dynamics and to strategize how to work within and across the system.

Example of a Social System Map
Example of a Social System Map
Example of a Social System Map

Examples of Social Systems Maps

As the team shared their discoveries, not only were they honest and open, there were surprising collective revelations as the entire group began to see the worldview experiences of each clinic and of the whole. By the time all the presentations were complete, the atmosphere in the room had shifted from a collection of teams to a sense of belonging to something bigger and the conversations and relationships had shifted as people sought each other out to learn more.

Worldview Revelations

What were some of the revelations? In short: the impact of the community as a social system on each clinic, unintended consequences and a question about the role of the co-ordinating team.

Impact of Community on Each Clinic

First of all, each clinic is located in a different community or social system. That social system impacts who comes to the clinic, the unique challenges each clinic must address and it influences how the clinic interacts with its community. Different clinics held assumptions about their environment and how it differed from the other clinics and not all those assumptions held true. A clinic located in a larger center assumed they experienced more diversity than clinics in smaller centers. When they said this in their presentation, the members of another clinic team all smiled or chuckled so we knew something was up. When that team did their presentation they talked about the large newcomer population in their area and how that brought 56 different languages into their work, presenting different challenges depending on access to translation services, understanding of cultural traditions and more. Other influences of the communities on the various clinics included availability of staff to fill positions and outreach.

Unintended Consequences

One of the clinics, located in a larger center, had an ongoing relationship with two other clinics in that area. They had spent over seven years working on building consistency across the three clinics so patients would have a similar experience no matter where they went. Only one clinic is in the pilot project and they shared that this was putting their relationships with the other two clinics at risk because they were now changing their approach to patient care and the other clinics did not have the same context.

Role and Relevance of the Co-ordinating Team

Another revelation of note is that for each of the clinics, as they mapped their system, the co-ordinating team was either not on the map or only there in a peripheral way, whereas for the co-ordinating team the clinics were a significant part of their map. This awareness has the members of the co-ordinating team questioning why this is so and becoming curious about their relevance and role and what they might need to shift to support the clinic teams differently.

Consistent and Responsive Systems and Processes

The exploration pointed to the need for an approach, systems and processes that provide consistency across the clinics while allowing for responsiveness to each of the communities and social systems the clinics are located within. It provided key learnings for the current pilot and for what needs to be taken into account when the next round of clinics is brought on for Phase 2.

It all seems completely obvious as it is revealed but it stays hidden until a process, framework and structure is offered to illuminate the patterns and dynamics in a healthy, constructive way that builds relationships and connections for stronger outcomes. Worldview Intelligence is that approach.

Why Asking Someone to Change How They Work May Not Be as Simple as You Think

Kathy Jourdain 3 Comments

It happens all the time in work environments. The organization wants or needs to change – the way it works, delivers service, makes its products, is organized. Often this point is missed: change is not just about the mechanics of what is to be changed, it is about the people. People make up and deliver our systems and processes. Most people say they don’t mind change, but they don’t like being changed. Even when it “makes sense”. Because “makes sense” depends on your perspective.

Anais Nin - We don't see things as they are

When we are looking for efficiencies at work, we are often asking someone – or several someones – to change the way they work. To take on new responsibilities or to give up part of your role. It seems to make sense in the grand scheme of things. It is integral to the change working. If we are leading the change or innovation, when we meet resistance we often don’t understand why. What we are asking often seems like a simple request.

conversation-one-on-oneThe challenge we meet is that many of us identify with our role. It forms part of our identity. We think we are simply asking people to change the way they work when we might actually be challenging the way they see themselves. We might be challenging their very sense of identity. And when we feel our identity is being challenged or threatened, psychological research tells us that we respond as if our very life is being threatened. Instead of being open to change, we dig in our heels and overtly or covertly resist being changed. We become more attached to our role or our identity.

Worldview Intelligence offers personal explorations that help us understand our own worldview, where it comes from, what influences it, what values and beliefs are fundamental to who we are. It illuminates typical responses, ingrained human patterns, of how we respond to challenges, how we filter information in and out, how our sense of identity shapes our responses, how we become entrenched in our point of view when we feel compelled to defend it. When we can bring curiosity to the exploration we become aware of what is important and why and then we can become conscious of the choices we are making. The very exploration opens up the possibility for each of us to expand our own worldview and be more open to possibility.

For those of us who are responsible for leading change or asking our people to change, understanding that simple requests might have deeper implications allows us to think about how we approach another person or whole department, their role, their work and what is needed to bring about the changes that we need or want rather than becoming frustrated or combative which only serves to make us less effective in our leadership.

Worldview Intelligence Offers an Elegant Structure to Support Powerful Dialogue

Kathy Jourdain 1 Comment

 “Those who say they are ‘dialogued out’ are actually tired of no real discourse.” Daniel Yankelovich

How do we have the conversations needed now in a way that honours differences while transforming them into progress on issues that are of fundamental importance in today’s world?

“I’m Right and You’re An Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse” is the riveting title of a book written by James Hoggan with many contributors. As I have been reading it, the contribution our work with Worldview Intelligence is making is becoming increasingly evident. Worldview Intelligence changes the nature of conversations and public discourse, even – or especially – when the stakes are high and views on issues have become polarized, and we are ready to do more of this work.

In Chapter 1: Like Ships in the Night, contributor Daniel Yankelovich talks about the differences between debate, dialogue and advocacy. He says advocacy is a dominant mode of communication in public discourse right now. It is about trying to sell something or persuade someone that your point of view, position or solution is the correct one, maybe even the only one. This can become an imposition of worldviews where the only one that really “counts” is the advocate’s.

An imposition of a worldview is an act of violence. At a minimum it dismisses or overrides another’s experiences and ideas and shuts down the space and opportunity for many contributions. In the worst case it forces another to live under the rules or worldview of the imposer.

The differences between debate and dialogue are illustrated in the following table. I particularly appreciate the statement that those who say they are ‘dialogued out’ are actually tired of no real discourse. Everyone is talking or even yelling and screaming at each other, but nobody is listening. In particular, it is often people who are part of a dominant worldview who are unable or unwilling to imagine there could exist a very different perspective or that someone else’s experience could be fundamentally different than their own. AND that the differing worldview has value and contributions to offer.

Debate

Dialogue
Assumes we have the right answer Assumes we all have a piece of the puzzle and can craft a solution together
Is combative Collaborative
Defends assumptions Reveals assumptions
Criticizes the views of others Re-examines all positions, including our own
About seeing weakness in other’s positions or views About searching for strength and value in others’ concerns
Advocates own views, dismisses views and experiences of others Willingness to listen, pay attention and suspend judgment
Wants others to come to their way of seeing things Looks for common ground, meets in that place

**Adapted from “Like Ships in the Night”, Chapter 1 with Daniel Yankelovich in I’m Right and You’re An Idiot

On the world stage, we are experiencing a time when differences are being stoked and amplified. It is becoming harder to find the points of connection to learn and imagine something fresh, new and constructive. Especially for deeply entrenched issues like climate change, racism, sexism, sexual orientation discrimination and deeply divided politics. Good dialogue is not only hard to find, it is becoming increasingly an imperative.

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International Exchange Students from over 15 countries at IGR University in Rennes in deep Worldview Explorations making fascinating discoveries

Debate is combative. It assumes we have the right answer and in arguing for it we become required to defend our position and our assumptions – even assumptions we may not have been aware we were holding. It is about seeing the weaknesses in other people’s perspectives and criticizing their views, which often becomes criticizing the person.

We come to dialogue from a very different internal posture than how we come to debate. We assume we all have a piece of the puzzle. It becomes important to bring curiosity, set aside judgment and really listen to what another person is trying to express, even beyond the words, to listen from a place of open heart and open spirit. It allows that all experiences and perspectives have validity – our own and others. It searches for the strength and value in all the perspectives, looking for the common ground or points of connection that create the opportunity to advance issues of collective concern. Inviting all the voices creates the possibility for generative space and new solutions.

Yankelovich says dialogue is not an arcane, esoteric or intellectual exercise but is practical and accessible and it is needed when values and frameworks are not shared. The challenge is that there are very few frameworks out there that can offer this exploration of differing perspectives that do not assume a position that one idea or one approach is better or more valid than another.

Worldview Intelligence changes all of that and we have seen it happen time and time again. The framework for exploration is value neutral. It makes no assumptions about the other person or group but takes them as they are. It provides a language and structure to understand where someone else is coming from. It is not built on a fancy, complicated system but rather is an elegantly simple way of entering the exploration. It is not a system that helps people do what they already do but better. It changes the way we enter the conversation, which changes the conversation.

It invites each individual or group to reflect on their own worldview, how it was shaped, how they have come to see and experience the world or a particular issue the way they do. Then it offers the opportunity to share what people are discovering or articulating, sometimes for the first time, in a way that honours each reflection and expands the collective worldview experience in the discussion.

The Worldview Intelligence framework is a structured approach to exploring individual and collective assumptions, beliefs and value systems and it is effective in many different kinds of explorations. The explorations generate new insights, innovative thinking, different conversations and new connections. A deeper understanding of worldview and how worldviews are developed leads to understanding them. Individuals and groups then have a language and a way of growing skill to work with different and multiple worldviews. this is essential to creating a fundamentally different environment for some of our most needed and challenging conversations. It is a 21st Century leadership skill and it could disarm the toxic state of public discourse.

Yearning for A Different Conversation, Yearning for a Turning Point

Kathy Jourdain 2 Comments

The conversation we are yearning for is a worldview conversation. Maybe the turning point can be discovered through the Worldview Intelligence explorations because the framework provides a structure and a language that offers a different starting point for stuck, entrenched or polarized issues.

Kathy Jourdain's avatarShapeShift

One of the teams I have the pleasure of being part of is an Art of Hosting team comprised of me, Jerry Nagel, Dave Ellis and Bob-e Simpson Epps. We most often have hosted open enrolment programs in the Twin Cities and we have worked together on a few other initiatives. One of the joys in working with this team is the rich and deep learning we are in with each other all the time. Our backgrounds are more varied than the colour of our skins as are our experiences.

When we check in together about hosting conversations, the topic often turns to difficult and challenging conversations, particularly around race, power and privilege, the need for which is growing more pressing every day. The essence of our many conversations is floating through my awareness as I read about the great unrest that is alive in the…

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A “Light-Bulb” Moment – I Am Not My Audience

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Christine Johnson describes the “lightbulb” moment she had during the Worldview Intelligence program when she realized she is not her audience and so she needs to understand the worldviews of her audiences to strategize communication differently. “We see health one way. Other people see it differently. They are the people I need to better understand. Worldview Intelligence has given me strategies to expand my practice and engage other perspectives.”

Christine also talks about how refreshing it is to not need everyone “on the same page” telling identical stories because we benefit from the diversity of stories.

 

Why the Personal Worldview Intelligence Exploration Matters

Kathy Jourdain 1 Comment

What is your worldview and how do you know? What information, beliefs, values, connections does your worldview filter in and filter out? How does it influence what you believe, what you value, what you care about, your relationships, your communication, your life style? Most people do not know the answers to these questions. Most people have never thought about them.

“We think with and through our worldviews but not about them.”

blindnessIf you haven’t thought about these questions, it is akin to being blindfolded and not able to see what is right in front of you, or having blinders on and not able to see or access what is in the periphery. Lots of irrelevant information gets filtered out and that is very helpful as there is far too much information available to possibly take it all in. The challenge is when relevant, helpful, important, sometimes life changing information is filtered out and you don’t even know it happened, you don’t even know the array of choices that could be in front of you because only one or possibly two present themselves.

blinders with handsWorldview Intelligence is a personal leadership practice and the exploration is foundational to the other categories of exploration available – professional, organization, community, social systems, to name a few. Each time we deliver Worldview Intelligence programming in open enrolment programs or for a client, we ask the question, “What is our starting point?” Unless it is for a keynote or short demo, we come back over and over again to the same answer. The starting point is with the personal exploration. For exactly this reason ~ that people have given little, if any, thought to what their worldviews are and what the impact of them is.

The six dimensions of the Worldview Intelligence framework that we have developed by building from the Apostel framework, provides an elegant structure for this exploration. This often illuminates things for people that seem obvious once they are made visible but otherwise are running in the background ~ 80% of our worldviews operate in our unawareness – impacting us in unconscious ways.

Understanding your own worldviews helps you understand where and how you differ with someone else. The points of difference are often hidden or disguised, looking like something else – a disagreement about facts or a difference in opinion. You can take offence without understanding what it is that has offended you or understanding how to bring curiosity and compassion to another individual, their point of view or a situation.

In a recent Worldview Intelligence program, one of the participants was surprised at how they arrived at compassion for someone with whom they differ. They might not ever agree with that person but imagine how approaching that relationship with compassion changes the whole context for the conversation.

The personal exploration is foundational to the other explorations and it becomes obvious as people begin to imagine how to create the space for multiple worldviews, stories and perspectives to exist in the same space to fuel generative conversations of discovery or new, more comprehensives solutions to issues of mutual concern or interest. To tease out your own worldviews, what you naturally gravitate towards, to understand what is usually dismissed, opens the opportunity to hold yourself in a position of not knowing, of curiosity, of willingness to hear something you disagree with without immediately dismissing it, debating it or trying to normalize it. It changes the conversation and expands the possibilities. And it is an exploration that you can hold open for as long as you need, even for a lifetime, as your own personal leadership practice.

Chaos, Order and Control are Worldviews at Play In Mergers and Acquisitions

Kathy Jourdain 2 Comments

(This post was inspired by generative conversations between Jerry Nagel and Kathy Jourdain as we think (often) about our Worldview work, our Art of Hosting back ground and our clients.)

Mergers and acquisitions are known to have a high failure rate – anywhere from 50% to 83% or even 90% depending on which report you read. A 2010 McKinsey and Co. report indicates more attention needs to be paid to culture and that better leadership is needed in the integration of cultures. A 2015 Europe Business Review article notes that trying to bring large groups of people together under one mission is hard enough. The complexity ramps up when there are multiple branch offices, especially when working across borders with different systems that are already in place in different locations. This is where the structured approach of Worldview Intelligence opens up the exploration of what could work best as those pre-existing cultures find new ways to work together.

One of our clients is a health care delivery enterprise of about 30,000 employees currently in two states in the US. They have grown significantly in the last decade through mergers and acquisitions. The original company was founded in one city and the mergers have resulted in three main campuses in two states and three large cities with very different local cultures. They are in the midst of standardizing systems across the enterprise and, not surprisingly, are bumping into a few challenges along the way.

We introduced their Academic Affairs team, with people from all the campuses, to Worldview Intelligence with individual, organizational and social systems explorations. The social systems exploration was particularly revealing for their communication and relationship across campuses.

They were asked to consider each of the cities they were located in as a social system. Participants from the lead campus comprised one discussion group and the other campuses created a second discussion group. Both groups were asked to use the Worldview Intelligence framework to think through their cities as a social system, the impact of that social system on their campus and vice versa, the impact of the campus on the social system. They already knew the cities had different cultures but had not previously thought so intentionally about how those cultures were formed, the influences on their histories, the realities they experience now, the futures they aspire to or the shared values. Nor had they thought about how the social system might influence interaction and relationship between the enterprise and the community.

One thing became clear: the worldviews of each city – its history and current reality in particular – have a strong influence on the individual campus. And that influence was not well understood or considered when standardizing the systems and processes across the enterprise because it operates invisibly in the background.

Reflecting on our work with this client, got us to thinking about this well known pattern from the Art of Hosting Conversations That Matter: the chaordic field – essentially about the relationship between and perception of chaos, order and control in merger and acquisition processes – essentially worldviews in play.

Chaordic Field

The mergers create chaos – between different ways of doing things, financial management systems, patient processing systems, internal communication systems, and the mishmash of cultures – which already exists to some extent within each campus let alone across campuses. It only makes sense that standardization of systems and processes across the enterprise is needed to bring consistency to reporting, to patient interaction and record keeping.

As the original campus – the leading worldview in this case – organizes to address the chaos, they want to bring order to the systems and processes. What they perceive to be order gets perceived as control by the newer or non-lead campuses in the system. And it is a natural tendency for people to resist being controlled – real or perceived.

Without having the language and framework of Worldview Intelligence, it is hard to name the issues that influence acceptance of standardization or even to pinpoint exactly what the challenges are. With the ability to look at many aspects of influence inside the campuses as well as the impact of the community or social system the campus is part of, it gives rise to new questions. What is the level of standardization that allows for consistency across the enterprise and responsiveness to the social system each campus resides in? And, what is the level of engagement across the enterprise that will bring an alignment of worldviews into a sense of order rather than to be perceived of as attempts at control? If individuals or departments in each campus are engaged differently in the process of standardization – where they feel they have more voice or influence – they are more likely to feel the original intent of bringing order rather than that the lead campus is trying to control everything in ways that do not make sense on the ground in a different social system.

 

Chaos-Order Worldview Exploration Field

To the right of chaos, in this framework, is where the worldview exploration leverages many perspectives and allows many views to co-exist across the enterprise – which is what gives vibrancy to each campus. The chaordic field offers the opportunity to make visible the worldviews at play, allowing an intentional exploration that leads the way to cross-campus alignment on higher order issues and allows for greater consistency and thus efficiencies across the entirety of the enterprise.

The Academic Affairs team is now actively using the dimensions of the Worldview Intelligence framework explicitly and implicitly as it strategizes its work, communication and relationship on a go-forward basis.

Different Conversations Within Existing Structures is Possible with Worldview Intelligence

Kathy Jourdain 2 Comments
Jaime Smith - cropped

Jaime Smith

“The worldview exploration – touches on who I am,” Jaime Smith told me in a recent conversation about her experience with Worldview Intelligence during and since her participation in a program in Halifax, Nova Scotia a year ago. “For me, it is a leadership development journey and it impacts my work in community.”

In the past couple of years, Jaime has stepped into a very different part of her life journey as she started her own consulting company. She is a planner and facilitator who worked as a Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners with organizations like the New Brunswick Department of Environment, the Halifax Regional Municipality, the New Brunswick Rural District Planning Commission and most recently for the Pictou County Health Authority as a community health planner.

She founded Marram Consulting in 2013 to bring her skills, talent and leadership to a variety of groups, organizations and businesses, to help them navigate challenging spaces with innovation and discovery.  She has a passion for healthy communities and embraces a population health approach to community development. She is a person who can activate in community and can bring a leadership perspective from a 30,000 foot view. She told me, “Worldview has been a powerful and uplifting experience in bringing these two things together.”

“The worldview training gave me an opportunity to think more deeply about what I do – for the first time really.” Jaime is a young mother and a volunteer in addition to running her own business. She has a very busy schedule. “I didn’t have the time to think about things – like, how did I become the person I am today and how does that influence how I am in the world and what I do now?”

Worldview is a lens through which we each look out at the world, usually without an awareness of how that lens influences and shapes what we see and how we act. Reflecting on her experience, Jaime said, “The worldview framework you offer gives me a different way of thinking about my experiences, how my experiences inform how I see myself and what I reflect out into the world. The program was powerful.”

Jaime describes a very typical scenario of a small business owner. “I’ve gone through challenges with my work, trying to navigate my own path while working with what’s emerging but still wanting control of my destiny. My background and education is in urban planning, environmental studies and design.” Jaime acknowledges that urban planning is about working with policies and regulations and it is not straight forward or black and white. She became a practitioner in the Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter which gave her a piece of the puzzle she was seeking and left her searching for more. That’s when she came across the Worldview Intelligence program.

“The six dimensions of worldview gave me an opportunity to look at myself and my work in a different way. It is a holistic approach that invites the different pieces of you to work together. My creative side can work with the side of me that is business and planning oriented and it doesn’t have to be either or. The framework provides a tangible process that is respectful of many different points of view. I was blown away – in a reflective way. It stuck with me. It is foundational and informs so many of the other pieces.”

In Jaime’s view and experience, the academic rigour behind the Worldview Intelligence framework is a key aspect of this work. The framework builds on the study and research of Leo Apostel, a Belgium philosopher, who brought together other philosophers and scientists three decades ago to create a mechanism to bring integration to what they saw as an increasingly fragmented world. Jaime identifies this research and background as essential to the success of Worldview Intelligence. “The world still works this way, still wants the background, the theory behind the patterns, practices and methods that grounds it and makes it both explainable and justifiable to clients in business, government and community.”

Jaime shared one of her stories about impact on her work with her clients. She described one particularly difficult engagement where there was a clear need to look at a variety of perspectives but participants were challenged in doing so. Her own knowledge of worldview and the value of having many different perspectives visible and shared enabled her to find ways to invite and bring all the perspectives together to find a different way into that discussion, without ever having to use the word or specific language of worldview.

She said, “Worldview offers something people can connect to more quickly than some other processes. It provides the leadership and space to have conversations differently while connecting with existing structures to do our best work together. It doesn’t amplify divides in a community. It provides a way to connect across differences.”

When I asked her why someone should take this program, she said, “Anyone who is working with community, with change, investigating their own leadership – this will strengthen and deepen their experience. Worldview can be married with other processes, like IAP2 or Art of Hosting and produce an even better experience.”

“If more of our community and business leaders and politicians would have an opportunity to look at their own views and deepen compassion, we could really make a difference for the people we work with and for. At the end of the day, organizations and society are made up of people. Worldview is a very humanistic and person centered approach. Community health and development tells us this is how we build more effective and resilient communities.”

Jaime is coming back for another round of Worldview Intelligence which now includes a social systems component – new since she took the program a year ago. She is excited to investigate the social systems piece. “It will help me develop new questions about creating meaningful impact.”

Jaime cares deeply about Nova Scotia and noted, “This province is in a time of great change. When stakes are high, we hold onto our views tighter. Worldview Intelligence offers a way to create the space to talk about what we value and to heal trust in communities.

If you are interested in learning more, take a look at the upcoming Worldview Intelligence Program in Halifax at the end of May. We would love to see you there.