Tapping the Evolutionary Potential of Collaborative Conversation
the Self-Sense (also called the ego, the self image, the identity, the personality etc.) goes through as it experiences the view from the various levels of the Spiral. We named the following stages:
Autistic (roughly equivalent to Beige in Spiral Dynamics terms) where there is no self whatsoever and physical survival is the sole focus of energy. In ontogeny roughly 1 to 3 months, in phylogeny roughly pre 60,000 BCE, or before the advent of language.
Embedded (roughly equivalent to Purple in Spiral Dynamics terms) where there is no separate self, but where the self is embedded in (or completely at the affect of) the group, tribe or family. Today we might think of the embedded self as co-dependent, but that would only be partially true and would fail to understand the healthy significance of the embedded self as a spring board for any form of true human contact or community. In ontogeny roughly 3 to 9 or 12 months, in phylogeny roughly 60,000 BCE to 12,000 BCE or before the advent of horticulture.
Impulsive (roughly equivalent to Red in Spiral Dynamics terms) where the separate self sense emerges for the first time with a vengeance. While this stage often has destructive tendencies, in its healthy form it is the foundation for autonomy and self-expression. The individual (or at least some individuals) differentiates form the group and is driven to “have it their way, or else”. In ontogeny roughly 1 year to 3 years, in phylogeny roughly 8,000 BCE to 500 BCE or from the advent of agriculture and surplus foodstuffs to the emergence of higher levels of reflective thought during the Axial Age.
Conformist (roughly equivalent to Blue in Spiral Dynamics terms) where the impulsive, and often violent energy of the impulsive self is held in check by a sense of higher order, usually supported by external structures (governing elites, military units, tax collection, administrators) that rely on Impulsive/Red energy to impose the tranquility of Conformist/Blue order on a populace (at least in significant part) without sufficiently developed inner structures (i.e. super egos) to follow the Conformist rules on their own. At this stage some individuals (primarily the elite) are able to express their autonomy or self expressive sides and most individuals, either freely or under duress, express their participation in the wider community. (The tension between the energy of autonomy and the energy of community, known in contemporary psychology as the rapprochement crisis, does not yet exist within the individual psyche but in the external polity) In ontogeny roughly 4 years to 12 years, in phylogeny roughly 500 BCE to 1700 CE or from the Axial Age and higher levels of thinking in regard to the inner life to the Enlightenment and a greater focus of thought on the outer world (with openings in the Renaissance and the Reformation).
The self, at any level of development beyond Beige is always an explicitly compound self, or in other words.
One of the primary ways that we develop the self-sense that drives our behavior is through the significant interactions and conversations we have in life. The capacity to hold serious and skillful conversation can be a vital accelerator of growth along the spiral. For many of us today, in public and private life at work and at home, the quality of our conversation is lacking and our ability to learn from our interactions with others is less than we would like it to be. We may have a sense that we would like to do better, to be more effective and to feel more satisfaction or less frustration at the end of the day.
This professional training will provide a practical way to put the values espoused by the Collaboration into practice. In a friendly yet challenging environment we will understand the building blocks of collaborative conversation and hone the skills necessary to initiate better conversations in a wide variety of forums – with our children, colleagues, and spouses to name a few. Specifically we will understand and practice the following capacities in the light of the various stages described by the spiral:
Listening with all of our senses
Clarifying what others mean, not just what they say
Balancing non-judgmental awareness with discerning wisdom
Understanding defensive routines, including our own
Creating an atmosphere for inquiry
Experiencing the field of genuine Presence
Exploring the power of patience
Integrating silence with forward motion
Asking the next question
The course will provide a theoretical foundation to understand these skills. It will also provide a tangible experience to initiate the growth necessary for each of us to hold and practice these skills in all aspects of our life. Course sessions will be held through out the year, with practical assignments and telephone follow up between formal sessions. The aim of the course is for each of us to see a clear increase in our ability to understand those around us and in our capacity to facilitate learning and wisdom in the many conversations we participate in every day. The result is often a subtle but significant shift of our self sense to a more complex level of development.
