[Neurons] 2009 Meta Reflections #44

[L. Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Meta Reflections #44

Oct. 12, 2009

The Fifth Discipline and Self-Actualization #5

 

 

 

 

THINKING SYSTEMICALLY FOR

ACTUALIZING YOUR HIGHEST AND BEST

 

 

 

There's no more extensive theme in The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge than
thinking systemically.  For Senge, this is the secret for enabling ourselves
and our companies to overcome the learning disabilities of the cognitive
distortions.  Senge devotes Chapter 2 to "the learning disabilities" in
which he lists some key cognitive distortions to systems thinking.  To clean
up those distortions and disabilities, he presents in Chapters 3 and 4 about
how to use systems models for thinking and working systemically.

 

For Senge, to think systemically is to think structurally.  It is to ask,
"What is the structure?"  And while that's challenging enough with static
structures-blueprints for houses, planes, pipelines, etc., it is a
hundred-fold more challenging when we seek to understand and model dynamic
structures.  This refers to those structures that move, that involve
movement, life, growth, and change.  Senge defines systemic thinking as
seeing the whole, seeing the inter-relationships and connections, looking to
the consequences, thinking in circles or spirals, and mapping out how
multiple sets of variables influence each other over time.

 

Senge also stresses that oftentimes it is the system itself that creates
troubles and problems in organizations, and equally a system can also make
it easy to create solutions.  In a complex living system- "structure" is how
we form and structure our thinking, feeling, deciding, relating, which is
based on how we structure/ form our premises, understandings, beliefs- how
we construct the way we create meaning.

 

Regarding human systems like organizations and companies, there are many
subtle influences.  These hidden and subtle influences often arise from our
beliefs and premises about ourselves and human nature.  Then they are normed
into rules and policies- standard operational procedures that become a
"system" of control.  In Neuro-Semantics we call these premises and beliefs-
frames- frames that create limitations, instability, and sabotage.  And the
subtlety also arises from the fact that we are part of the system- we're
inside and often cannot see the system itself.

 

And of course, in Neuro-Semantics the most basic systems model that we use
for coaching, training, and modeling is The Matrix Model.  As a systems
model, the Matrix enables us to see the whole and the interconnectedness of
our process and content information.  It enables us to track our frames of
mind and how they set up the governing factors for our emotions and
responses.  In Meta-Coach training, one of the "conversations" we teach is
how to "follow the client's energy" through his or her system.  There are
several skills involved in that.  Central among them is learning to see and
hear "frames" and bring them to a client's awareness and to then invite the
person's self-reflexive mind to respond to it yet one more time.

 

When you can follow yours or another's frames, thinking in circles or
spirals, you can begin mapping out how the multiple sets of variables in the
back of someone's mind and how they influence each other.  This will enable
you to see how belief frames influence decision frames which influence
understanding frames, which influence permission, expectations, identity,
and so on.  And this kind of systemic thinking and working plays a central
role for anyone who wants to actualize his or her highest and best.  It is
essential for detecting our frames, getting leverage for change with those
frames, and developing more empowering frames for unleashing potentials.
All of this is very familiar for those who know the Meta-States and the
Matrix Models.

 

What surprised me afresh was that Peter Senge actually created a meta-state
like diagram, a diagram of meta-levels in The Fifth Discipline (p. 52). 

 

Levels of Focus 

 

 

             ______________ Systemic Structure ________________ Generative

            /
\

                   _______     Patterns of Behavior ____________
Responsive

                 /
\

                                               Events
Fixed; reactive

 

 

If you start at the bottom of the diagram with "events" then we have three
levels of focus and analysis.

1)  Event thinking.   This is thinking that is all about events- emotions,
actions, etc.   Here we make snapshots of things and create entities in our
mind.  Event thinking thingifies reality; that is, it creates things in our
mental mapping that are actually processes, activities, and dynamic patterns
of responses.  This creates a false-to-fact static world that is not
accurate, that is formulated by Either/Or thinking, and that creates a form
of elementalism which breaks reality, problems, solutions, etc. into parts
as if they are not a part of a system.

 

2) Behavioral thinking.   At the level of "patterns of behavior" we move up
to detect patterns.  Here we ask, "What are the patterns?"   Here we
recognize patterns of instability and amplification, of boom and bust, and
so on.

 

3) Structural thinking.  To move up to the level above patterns of behavior
thinking, we look for and distinguish the premises and presuppositions as
the spoke or unspoken explanations.  It is at this level we can now generate
new possibilities and speak to the operating policies.  And here we can
learn to see the whole of a system and the inter-connections that make it
live.  

 

And all of that can enable you to work with human mind-body-emotion systems
for actualizing potentials that emerge from the system as a whole. 

 

 

 

 

Unleashing Leadership Workshop

 

The latest book in the Self-Actualization Series and in the Meta-Coach
series is Unleashing Leadership: Self-Actualizing Leaders and Companies
(2009).   As a leadership development workshop, discover how to identify
your leadership potentials and unleash them --- whether for self-leadership
or leadership in an opportunity that awaits you.

 

 

Oct. 17-19, Pretoria South Africa 

            Sponsored by People South Africa --- Cheryl Lucas and Carey
Jooste

            cheryl at peoplesa.co.za      

 

Dec. 11-13, Imola, Italy

            Sponsored by Bless You --- Nicola Rivera and Lucia Giovannini

            Nicola at blessyou.it 

            Special gathering on Dec. 14 for Meta-Coaches and NS trainers at
the home of Nicola and Lucia.

 

 

 

 

 

L.  Michael Hall, Ph.D.

International Society of Neuro-Semantics

Meta-Coach Training System

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO.  81520 USA

1 970-523-7877

1 970-523-5790 fax

      <http://www.neurosemantics.com/> www.neurosemantics.com 

       <http://www.neuro-semantics-trainings.com/>
www.neuro-semantics-trainings.com 

       <http://www.self-actualizing.org/> www.self-actualizing.org

       <http://www.meta-coaching.org/> www.meta-coaching.org

       <http://www.ns-video.com/> www.ns-video.com 

 

To sign up for a free subscription to the egroup of Neuro-Semantics
(Neurons) go to  <http://www.neurosemantics.com/> www.neurosemantics.com ---
you can  subscribe and unsubscribe there.   Meta Reflection articles by Dr.
Hall are sent out every Monday and meta-Coach Reflections sent out every
Wednesdday to the Meta-Coaches egroup.

 

 

 

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