Transforming Organisations with Dialogue Leveraging the Collective Intelligence

It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces society, and indeed the whole of human nature and consciousness today. Moreover, it may turn out that such a form of free exchange of ideas and information is of fundamental relevance for transforming culture and freeing it of destructive misinformation so that creativity can be liberated. - David Bohm

Who should read this?

If you are working for or helping an organisation with their transformation journey. The transformation can be of any stage, from conceptual to the final stages of implementation. It can be for digital or non-digital related. Facing difficulties like change resistance and complexity. Not happy with the outcome of the transformation.

What to expect?

If you are looking for quick fixes, you will not find it here. What I am about to share is a long-term practice that surfaces the underlining problems that different organisations are facing in different stages of their transformation journeys. It is so fundamental and versatile that it works on individuals and organisations of global scale. It increases employee happiness, fulfilment and decreases employee turnover. Unlocking their potentialities. Not limiting to leadership skills, creativity and active collaboration for change. 

About the Author

This is to give a brief background of who am I and how I ended up sharing this topic. Hi, my name is Rendy. Currently working at P&G, helping with one of their digital transformation projects. Focusing on business process transformation and adoption of their new product-artwork system. I picked up the Theory of Constraints (TOC) with applying Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) during my time here. I have also started a group, Theory U Collective Circle that meets regularly since Nov'18 with the objective to consciously change the way we operate individually and collectively. Improving ourselves and our relationship with others in the process through Bohm’s Dialogue. We do this by taking the lead from our highest future possibility, not our past. It is a safe space where we can be brave to talk about anything under the sun. Heal us and create greater capacity to empower others in the process. 

My education is in information technology, business and yoga. I am married with 1 kid. Learned a lot from life's transition as a Husband, Dad and Son. Grateful to my family for all their support. My wife and I did not take the traditional pre-school route and enrolled my kid to a Waldorf Kindergarten. One that helps to develop our child's consciousness. Around 6, we sent my kid to Tambalog Kindergarten, an environment that helps his transition to more academics at his own pace. That's how we prep him for primary school. My wife and I studied the different development phases of a child. We sensed that he needs something more competitive, so we put him in an environment that better suits him. Parenting is a huge topic by itself, which I will not cover here.

I have worked in organisations of different cultures from startups to the statutory board to MNC. I once run a company for close to 2 years. I learned that listening, communication, relationship and leadership skills are very important. In 2011, because of my role as an IT project manager, I picked up agile methodologies like Scrum, Kanban and was an active member of Agile Singapore. Fascinated with Eric Ries' Lean Startup, I joined the Lean Startup Machine Bootcamp in 2013. I am involved in a few different networks over the years. Ranging from technology to business to design to nature walks to societal transformation. Meeting and communicating with people of different mental models and agendas in different activities. I have also started groups and meetups in the past for aspiring entrepreneurs to inspire them to find their purpose and live their dream. I am also part of a self-realisation Yoga society, Ananda Marga (Path of Bliss) for more than 10 years holding different positions from committee member to Vice President. Transition, adapting to different cultures and environments, communicating with different types of people is part and parcel of my life. And this has been my main focus for the last 2 years after learning about Theory U from MIT and Bohm's Dialogue.

Why Bohm's Dialogue?

A lot of times when individuals and organisations go through a transformation. We cannot wait for it to be over. But the truth is transformation is not a process that will eventually end. Transformation is a continuous improvement process. Individuals and organisations constantly need to adapt. So how can we shift our attitude and build the behaviour to actively embrace change? Many will focus on the process of the transformation. However, it is equally or more important to attend to the questions that arise from the transformation. This is made possible by taking all opinions into account to create a more complete understanding of the subject. Create space in our thoughts by suspending judgement, cynicism and fear, allowing possibilities to emerge. Like the birth of a Phoenix from ashes. More will be shared on how this can be possible.

I have started a group that meets regularly since Nov'18 with the objective to consciously change the way we operate individually and collectively. Improving ourselves and our relationship with others in the process. We do this by taking the lead from our highest future possibility, not our past. The article is based on the learnings from Theory U Collective Circle. What I have observed from myself and participants who attend regularly. Before we go to that we need to see the truth of ourselves and society as it is.

Blind spots of self and society

In our society, most social systems collectively produce results that no one wants. Creating destructions in environmental, social, and cultural. The ecological divide (disconnects self from nature), the social divide (disconnects self from others), and the spiritual divide (disconnects self from Self) shaped the larger context in every organisation's transformation today. And these divides are driven by the awareness of the system.

In The Essentials of Theory U, Otto Scharmer shared the 4 Fields, the Structure of Attention. The different awareness of how we operate socially. Moving from social 1.0 to 4.0 to meet the transformation demands of the fast-moving industry 4.0. Moving from 1.0 to 2.0 we need to suspend our judgements to have an open mind. Moving from 2.0 to 3.0 we need to redirect from being cynical to empathic to have an open heart. Moving from 3.0 to 4.0 we need to let go of your individuality and merge with the collective to be open presence. Good organisations operate at 3.0. Great organisations are in transition from 3.0 to 4.0. It is this transition from 3.0 to 4.0 and eventually maintaining at 4.0, which will make organisation transformation almost effortless. This is the desired outcome of long-term Bohm's Dialogue Practice.

From 3.0 to 4.0, the shift of awareness through deep introspective of ourselves as part of the system is the only way to see the truth and the wholeness of the underlining problems. Bring all to the point of understanding that transformation is inevitable.

The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change - Heraclitus

It is time to let it go. Only when we let go of the need to influence change. That is when we can truly see change itself.

If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do. - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

If we do not practice, it will never stick.

What is common sense isn't common practice. - Stephen Covey

Many do not see the importance of the practice, due to the lack of capacity; the lack of open mind, open heart and open will.

The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor. - Bill O'Brien

So how to bring these people to a place of knowing, the importance of the practice? A collective practice that needs to be in place to break away from the patterns that are no longer essential. So that one can jumpstart the connection with the future of the most potential. The methodology is called Theory U.

Theory U

Theory U is a change management method from the Presencing Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Highly sought after by companies like Alibaba and Google. The following authors contributed to its creation; Otto Scharmer, Peter Senge, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers.

At the core of Theory U is Presencing: presence + sensing, at the bottom of the U. To get to the bottom of the U. process of letting-go (of our old ego and self) and letting-come (our highest future possibility: our Self) establishes a subtle connection to a deeper source of knowing. The essence of Presencing is that these two selves - our current self and our best future Self - meet at the bottom of the U and begin to listen and resonate with each other. Asking deep questions that help us realise the true purpose of our existence.

• Who is the Self?
• What is my Work?

It is a methodology that brings deep awareness and concentration in what we are doing. Shifting from doing to being. A process that we will eventually embody. Once an organisation crosses this threshold, nothing remains the same. The employees and the organisation as a whole begin to operate with a heightened level of energy and sense of future possibility. Often they then begin to function as an intentional vehicle for an emerging future.

Bohm's Dialogue

In Ananda Marga meditation, I experienced that if we spend more time on the withdrawal of the mind and do it really well, the mediation will be good. For Theory U, that one thing will be dialogue and not any dialogue. It has to be Bohm's Dialogue. And it is not just a mere process. It is a practice similar to meditation, but so diverse that it can scale from an individual to millions of people at the global scale. So what's so special about Bohm's Dialogue? We will have to start with Bohm's Implicate Order and Explicate Order. David Bohm developed these concepts to explain the bizarre behaviour of subatomic particles which quantum physics struggles to explain. In David Bohm's Wholeness and the Implicate Order, he wrote,

In the enfolded [or implicate] order, space and time are no longer the dominant factors determining the relationships of dependence or independence of different elements. Rather, an entirely different sort of basic connection of elements is possible, from which our ordinary notions of space and time, along with those of separately existent material particles, are abstracted as forms derived from the deeper order. These ordinary notions, in fact, appear in what is called the "explicate" or "unfolded" order, which is a special and distinguished form contained within the general totality of all the implicate orders. - Bohm 1980, p. xv

Bohm's Implicate Order and Explicate Order can be demonstrated through an experiment called Reversible Fluid Mixing. And this is taken from Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demonstrations.

Ink is squirted into a fluid and mixed in until it disappears. By precisely undoing the motions in the reverse direction, the ink becomes unmixed! The demonstration seems to defy thermodynamics in that it appears that entropy decreases, but in actuality, the reversible mixing is made possible by ensuring that the mixing/unmixing is done without turbulence. - Harvard University

When you mix the Ink, its particles enfold. When you undo the motions in the reverse direction, the ink becomes unmixed! Its particles unfold! If you look at the Theory U methodology, the left side of the U enfolds like the ink being mixed, losing its individuality. We call this a shift of reality toward the collective whole, connecting to the source at the bottom of the U. The right side of the U unfolds like the ink starts to unmix, giving birth to something new of the highest future possibility.

Chance favors the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur

John Kounios, a cognitive neuroscientist and Professor of Psychology at Drexel University who studies the neural basis of creative insight. His brain scan research shows that when epiphany happens, the mind turns inwards and disengages from the world. It empowers a person to think of different ways to form reality, creatively into something better. This different way of thinking does not exist in our past experience. So how can it come to be? These creative insights have to come from somewhere. Bohm's Implicate Order and Explicate Order come into play here. Enabling us to access the source for creative insights.

Dandapani, a Hindu priest, speaker on self-development and an entrepreneur. He mentioned that if we want to attract something into our lives. We need to know what the frequency is and change the energy in our bodies to match that frequency and we attract that. It can be done by a concise choice of positive words, clear visualization and corresponding feeling. And the feeling is the most important. The feeling is emotion, emotion is energy, energy is magnetic. Everything is made up of energy and energy is vibrating at a certain frequency.

If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. - Nikola Tesla

What we have to do is harmonise to match that frequency with what you want. It is the same for individuals or organisations, the alignment has to happen. It is like a flock of birds fly in harmony. And like tuning a frequency radio to the right frequency or you get static noise, not music.

He also emphasises on awareness and concentration that makes this shift. Concentration is a science and an art. Science because there are clear steps you need to take towards the goal. Art because it requires repetition and practice. Concentration is the ability to put our awareness on something at an extended period of time until we make a conscious choice of shifting to something else. Distractions make us lose our awareness and concentration. Do not give in to distractions. It does not have power over us if we do not allow it.

The non-turbulence condition shared in the Reversible Fluid Mixing demonstration. Can be achieved by harmonising the different individual frequencies to the desired frequency of the desired outcome. All individuals and organisations have to do are harnessing the power of the mind and direct it on a single point of focus long enough. To be stable long enough to create solutions to solve the problems of the world.

Bohm's Dialogue is such a practice of this awareness and concentrate. The mindfulness and awareness preparation before the dialogue commences and making it a long-term practice is the key. It takes time to build up this space for change. As part of the preparation of Bohm's Dialogue, I wrote a Dialogue Manifesto to be read at the beginning of every meeting to prime the participants and it goes like this.

Dialogue Manifesto

We believe that deep conversations shape our relationship with others. We will respect each other's views by suspending ours to welcome the possibilities that emerge. While we listen to the wholeness of this conversation, we allow others to speak their truth as we uncover important questions rather than the importance of answers. - Rendy Tan

Call to Action

If you are still reading this. That means you are interested to know more about how this practice can benefit yourself and your organisation. I urge organisations at different stages of their transformation journey to install Bohm's Dialogue practice for all members of the organisation. Start with the core team and swiftly roll out to the rest of the organisation. This can be independent of the other transition work that you are doing. For organisations in the planning phase, the Dialogue is a great way to start the journey. It allows you to start on the right foot. Your success will be much greater than those who have already started, by leveraging on Collective Intelligence that emerged from the Dialogue. For organisations that take good care of their employees. The transformation work and Dialogue should be included in their work plans.

Dialogue rooms that can cater to different numbers of participants should be set aside. Employees from different functions of the company should be trained as facilitators as a part of their craft. Only facilitators who are committed to a routine of regular practice can be qualified. There should be a good mix of open and limited Dialogue to achieve certain agendas and building a trusted ecosystem at the same time. The Collective Intelligence generated through Dialogue, goes beyond the 5 W’s & the H. Creating opportunities for shorter, more effective and permanent transformation for individuals and organisations minus the limiting factor, the Blind Spot.

For a better understanding of Bohm's Dialogue and how you can apply it, please make an appointment with me.