What’s unique about Communitas events ?
After decades of experience in our field we simply know of nothing quite like Communitas across the globe (if we have overlooked something, please do let us know !).
We have crafted this project by bringing together the best from a wide spectrum of approaches, some of them as yet unheard of in the mainstream of leadership and management. We are passionate about injecting a much-needed psychological edge to all kinds of organisations and are excited to be bringing to fruition such a ground-breaking project. Why do we feel justified in calling our work ‘unique’?
Which comparable training and development courses are available ?
Surveying what is available to you in terms of leadership and organisational development, which other opportunities may be comparable ?
Coaching and leadership development courses are widely available. Some of these share aspects of our emphasis on leading-edge psychological approaches, some provide input on integral models or philosophies, some teach the application of complexity theory or parallel process. Many focus on just one or two specialised tools or methods (e.g. Open Space technology, or NLP).
One exciting and innovative project aimed at leadership skills, based on Process-oriented Psychology is organised by CFOR. One other organisation (Tavistock Leicester Conference) offers an unstructured large group experience.
But none of these training and development courses compare with the Communitas Project in bringing together
- as wide a range of approaches
- in as innovative a fashion
- in self-organising learning communities
- with as broad a spectrum of models and tools
- within an overall integral, systemic perspective
So here are, in summary, the features that distinguish Communitas events from other courses, trainings or leadership development events.
So what makes Communitas events unique ?
As this is a condensed summary and we are deliberately seeking through our work to introduce new models and approaches, it is inevitable that some of the jargon terms may be unfamiliar to you. Many of the terms are mentioned and explained in other blog entries on 'Communitas philosophy'. Or you are welcome to post queries, requests for clarification and comments on our Forum, and we'll be happy to expand on what's currently available on this site.
We have distinguished four categories of features which combine to make our events unique:
- 1. the large group and learning community format
- 2. the tutors' expertise and input
- 3. the overall philosophy that will permeate these events
- 4. the parallel process perspective
In what follows, you will find bullet-point summaries of the key features in these four categories.
1. the large group and learning community format
self-organising learning communities: you are co-responsible for and in the 'participative universe' of the large group = engaging with the real-life diversity and complexity of an organisation as it evolves
practical, experiential, holistic learning process = learning leadership and group dynamics experientially in real-time, through your 'here and now' experience as a 'reflective practitioner' (there will be opportunities to lead sub-groups and reflect on your leadership experience)
effective and precise self-directed learning: being involved in tailoring the events to your specific learning needs and objectives, you work at your developmental edge, selecting material that is relevant to you
relational, multi-modal learning based on multiple intelligences and a modern neuroscientific view of the brain
the large group constitutes a 'social laboratory' - a 'mini-society' - that reflects a contemporary organisation's diversity of stakeholders in the global village
2. the tutors' expertise and input
21st-century psychology constitutes a paradigm shift beyond currently established psychological principles: it builds on the insights of modern neuroscience into multiple intelligences and the brain as a 're-entrant system' as well as a developmental neuro-bio-psycho-social model of human experience and behaviour - in effect, it helps you to understand yourself and others more deeply by attending to conscious and unconscious processes;
relational: understanding individual, group and organisational dynamics from within (enhancing key relationships and an organisation's 'relationship economy')
bringing together in a new way inner and outer experience (integrating the depth and wealth of inner, subjective experience with a focus on the breadth and fluidity of interpersonal interaction)
integrative in several other respects:
in terms of group work: bringing together a uniquely wide spectrum of techniques, theories and group work approaches (including an integration between humanistic and psychodynamic perspectives);
in terms of social and cultural splits and polarisations: bringing together - within an interdisciplinary and undogmatic perspective - subjective and objective sciences, individual and social dynamics;
in summary: 21st century psychology provides a bodymind way of making relationships work, and work deeply, at every level of an organisation, by transforming habitual blocks and patterns as well as accessing the untapped forces in our own psyche and that of others and the collective
As the tutors, we expect ourselves to model this new way of being and working psychologically in such a way that it will affect the group both on an individual and collective level, in small groups and plenary, in structured and unstructured sessions and learning situations.
3. the overall philosophy that will permeate these events
embodied, authentic and engaged leadership through emotional intelligence
Gestalt and field theory as applied to organisations and social systems
systems and complexity theory: the organisation as a system with naturally inherent self-organisingtendencies towards evolving more highly integrated complex structures; unpredictability, bottom-up as well as top-down;
evolutionary and transformational (Ken Wilber's integral philosophy, Spiral Dynamics):organisations as evolving entities ('learning organisations') of multi-dimensional consciousness, involving 21st century leadership in 'managing' an organisation's ongoing consciousness evolution
flexibility of leadership styles made possible through self-awareness (in-depth understanding of leader's own life history as relevant to their leadership capacities here and now)
integrating our impulses for individual creativity/excellence with communal belonging and embeddedness
4. the parallel process perspective
parallel process as the essential key concept in understanding the self-replicating mechanisms which keep group dynamics and organisational cultures stuck and unproductive, thus providing an avenue into transformation: parallels between sub-systems and the whole system, between inner and outer experience (of individuals, teams or whole organisations); between different levels of organisation, between the organisational and the wider culture
an extended notion of parallel process: the above established notion of parallel process can be extended to include an understanding of transference and countertransference as well as bodymind processes, reaching across individual, group and organisational dynamics, thus providing a new neuro-bio-psycho-social meta-theory relevant to leadership in all kinds of social organisms