<p><a style="display: inline;" href="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/6a0134809b7f05970c0133f59587a8970b.jpg"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a0134809b7f05970c0133f59587a8970b" title="Africa" src="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/6a0134809b7f05970c0133f59587a8970b-800wi.jpg" border="0" alt="Africa" /></a> <br /><br />In the late 70’s, I learned about the research of Nevitt Sanford.&nbsp; He was my professor and founder of the g

Photo by Alan Briskin " New capacity and intelligence emerges through connections: from cell to cell, dendrite to dendrite, human to human, group to group. As extraordinary and mysterious as the experience of profound connection—and of collective wisdom emerging—may feel in the moment, collective wisdom as a phenomenon is natural, even potentially ordinary. " ~ The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly

<blockquote> <blockquote><em>&quot;Rally Mohawks, bring out your axes!</em><br /><em>Tell King George, we&#39;ll pay no taxes...</em><br /><em>On his foreign tea!&quot;</em><br />~ Chant in the streets of Boston <br />on the night of the Boston tea party</blockquote> </blockquote> <p>Amid colorful signs and often in costume, the self identified tea baggers of today hold the celebratory energies of that revolutionary spirit.&#0160; At a rally in New York City, Lou Dobbs, amid

<p><a href="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/6a0134809b7f05970c0134882b412e970c.jpg" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Moon" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a0134809b7f05970c0134882b412e970c" src="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/6a0134809b7f05970c0134882b412e970c-800wi.jpg" style="border: 3px solid #cccccc;" title="Moon" /></a> <br /> <br />Recently, I became acquainted with the concept of hauntology – a philosophy of h

Part One of the Tea Party series is already catalyzing response - witness this exchange begun on FaceBook by Michael Harkins with a reflection about the imagery that accompanies my post: Michael said: "Alan, you put into words many of my same thoughts. I must say I too enjoy the satire of Colbert, but also worry about the fragmentation of America. I can't help but wonder about the image you displayed with your thoughts. It appears to be ...a threshold guardian. These images

" When we join together the terms collective and wisdom, we reach a whole new synthesis of insight and revelation. Like binocular vision, in which both eyes are used at once, joining collective with wisdom is a way of seeing with added dimension and depth. The collective eye can pick up patterns of order, variation, and connections; wisdom can detect meaning and human values that arise spontaneously from a particular situation. We achieve, to paraphrase the words of the psych

<p><a href="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/6a0134809b7f05970c0134882b2c2e970c.jpg" style="float: left;"><img alt="Temple-guard" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a0134809b7f05970c0134882b2c2e970c" src="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/6a0134809b7f05970c0134882b2c2e970c-800wi.jpg" style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; border: 3px solid #cccccc;" title="Temple-guard" /></a> One of the fundamental questions for those who believe

" Collective wisdom helps us transcend the duality of self and others because it is a reminder that we are part of a larger framework from which we act out our role. As Shakespeare recognized, alone we are merely players, each with our exits and entrances, but as members of something larger, we become something extraordinary. “Consider,” another wise poet said, “how the stars that shine more brightly manage to combine in constellations, get a name.” So too with collective wis

If you have to ask what a picture is worth, then you probably can't afford this column. In The Power of Collective Wisdom we wrote "seeking collective wisdom is a conscious attempt to elevate group life from its history of fighting tooth and claw to reach the top of the hierarchy or achieve dominance over others."  And we referred to the human capacity for empathy, compassion, and the role of mirror neurons in allowing for the permeability of emotional life. So check out thes

<p> <a href="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/6a0134809b7f05970c0133f3123624970b-800wi.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href,&#39;_blank&#39;,&#39;scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39;); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Zion b&amp;w 2" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a0134809b7f05970c0133f3123624970b " src="http://www.alanbriskin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/6a0134809b7f05

Recently my colleague Barbara Nussbaum, who lives in Franschhoek, South Africa, coauthored a book on uBuntu, an African based spiritual philosophy of life which recognizes that we are not independent beings so much as the co-creations of our relationships, especially those in which there is love and caring. She asked my thoughts on strategies for marketing the new book: "How do you create opportunities for visibility? What strategies work for you? With thanks, always. And th

The magazine Leadership Excellence dedicated its recent issue to wisdom and wise judgment. Review the entire magazine, including my article, Collective Wisdom: Where has all the wisdom gone in organizations? From my article: Peter Senge writes in the foreword of our book, The Power of Collective Wisdom: “Few words have a longer historical association with leadership than wisdom and few words have less credibility in that association today.” What has happened to account for

I did an interview with colleagues from the Life Science Foundation and the Center for Spirituality and Healing. They put on an amazing conference this year whose theme is “ Whole System Healing .”

This is a short video of Lauren Artress talking about the importance of collective wisdom. Lauren is the founder and creative director of Veriditas , a non profit organization dedicated to introducing people to the healing, meditative powers of the labyrinth.

On the grounds where Lewis Carroll once spoke aloud and then wrote Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, I had the honor of joining thought leaders from around the world in a dialogue addressing the "The Call of Our Times."  Co-hosted by the Brahma Kumaris and Peter Senge, I am almost without words (almost) but not without treasured images from my time there.  Please join me in a meditation of sound and images taken on the grounds of Nuneham Park, near Oxford, England, and the Bra

William Murtha has just come out with a new book, 100 Words: Two Hundred Visionaries Share Their Hope for the Future . The book has plenty of visionaries and my words as well... At the time, I was reflecting on Teilhard de Chardin’s prophetic writings about the nature of the noosphere and how the very nature of our suffering as well as the global threats to our planet would usher in a new form of consciousness. Here are my 120 words: If I were to look into the future, I’d se

Alan Briskin is an award winning author, organizational consultant, leadership coach, speaker, and advocate for personal and institutional renewal. He has a doctorate in organizational psychology and thirty five years of experience leading and consulting to organizations. Alan has a particular love for bringing forward new ideas, demonstrated by his books on the stirring of soul in the workplace and the power of collective wisdom and by his collaboration with others including

<p>A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking to an evening class at San Francisco State in their Wholistic Health department. The course, A Season for Non Violence, focused on applying principles of love and wisdom to daily life and the particular class I attended was on “mending the social divide.” I wondered what social divide could they mean, but then I woke up, made some coffee and braced myself for the morning paper. </p> <p>As I prepared my talk and discuss

This is a space to celebrate and contemplate ideas, fleeting thoughts, wisdom, courage, soul, and the shifting boundaries between the individual and the collective. I want to raise questions and share beauty, consider the unresolved nature of contemporary times and remind ourselves of critical junctures we have faced in the past. Only by claiming our imagination do we prepare for an unknown future, only by tending to what we hold dear can we pre-tend to what is worthwhile and

INTRODUCTION Beginnings are gentle If we let them be, Not brass bands Nor gongs of certainty But flute sounds… Quiet questioning, Soft inquiry.                                              -Judy Brown