The Darkness in the Light

The Darkness in the Light

Darkness has really gotten a bad rap over the eons. In fact, when one enters the void there is a darkness full of possibility; a sense of being connected to everything in the nothingness. As one passes through the light (often referred to as the point of light within) into the physical world, the possibility of fulfilling purpose garnered from the formless becoming form is birthed.

So it is with cosmic consciousness manifesting in and through our bodies as they are perfectly designed to be the vessel; the Bodhisattva, the Christ, the human in which God dwells becomes aware of the ONE. The within and the without merge as this marriage of heaven and earth takes place in our lives. The first step begins in the darkness and unknown... Fear and loathing in the New Age has no place.

So many are in this place of jumping off now, and many more will join in since we passed by 12/21 without incident. A new galactic year has begun, launching us into yet another unknown cycle of births and deaths. How will we embrace the unknown? How will we look at our own ignorance and superstition? How will we truly love one another? Will we continue on the same destructive path or have an upwising?

The only judgments made in the ‘light’ or any realm of consciousness are our own. What a paradox in the face of the fear, guilt and shame game! We all seem to know it's all about feeling connected, at peace and in love. What if we were able to carry that feeling with us, knowing it is what we will find at our next transition anyway? Is a transition inevitable? What if we had a choice?

Is this our challenge: to move from duality to Oneness in our own consciousness? Is this not also the challenge of modern Christianity and others? There is a faction within the Christian realm that profess the living Christ, yet condemn any modern understanding outside the text of the Bible. What a challenge for humans! Are we more than just humans? Or do we just not understand what being human really means? We certainly sense the deep connection with loved ones and in compassionate activities. Is this natural?

Does a child not grow up to become an adult with the capacity to become a parent? What is a self-actualized human being? Could we be confusing crawl-ins, stand-ins and walk-ins because we have no frame of reference and still cannot claim our own growth toward magnificence? The natural resonance of what we have categorized as the various forms of love is obvious evidence that we have a deep-seated knowing that produces sensations when we violate our own values in living.

Our ethics demonstrate how we weigh our knowing of this love with the maligned perception of fear, guilt or shame promoted by those who wish dominance because the grip of their own fear is so unshakeable. It's also demonstrated by how we behave in light of our words. Most of us don't realize just how transparent we are and how much attention others pay to the 'delta' between words and action. Words are cheap. Action is priceless.

A self-actualized human being, in my opinion, would have achieved awareness through primary personal portals into the fabric of consciousness, at least becoming proficient in creating constructive scenarios with people, places and things. One who achieves a connected state is able to excel in creating good will and execution of strategic plans to actualize personal or professional goals. It's also a path wrought with trials and tribulations like no other, excruciatingly painful when one has to let go of another who chooses to remain in destructive patterns.

Even those connected individuals realize that the challenge to remain connected is an ever-present moment. Now what about those who have extraordinary connectivity to things beyond the normal scope of human experience? How do they relate to a new living awareness? Apparently shifting consciousness is on the rise due to our planet’s increased vibratory rate as a bi-product of our movement through space. It's a new kind of quantum entanglement... spooky action at a distance arriving in your neighborhood soon.

According to some sources, cosmic volunteers that become self-actualized human beings master experiential knowing and translate their wisdom into 'righteous' acts, promoting the good of the order and all. They are able to engage phenomena beyond our imagination and yet because of universal edicts, their lives are often hidden from public view. Attempts by others to use this awareness for selfish gain find that it just doesn't work. Those who demand proof are rarely attentive enough to see it.

Humans tend to want spectacular sideshows and get caught up in the phenomena to the point of missing the message. We might even begin to see a synergism of previously fragmented bits of knowledge that congeal into malleable frameworks of great import if we pay attention closely. There is often too much psychic disturbance, too much mental chatter about nothing important, that keeps the affects of spontaneous moments from having a lasting effect.

We have a plethora of literature and accounts of the ascent in consciousness to query on our journey. Too often, though, we tend to get stuck in one path or religion and fail to grok the importance of them all. No one religion has the market on truth. It is possible that a view of them all might provide necessary clues as to their unity. What if we turned our attention to those things that truly matter to us all?

an afterthought...We must honor those who risk their lives to stand up for making sense common. Money and power have ruled many countries silently for centuries. Now the populations are to the point where the house divided simply cannot stand any longer.

The activity seems absolutely insane, yet absolutely necessary in order to shift the balance of power back to the people who deserve. It will take time and for those who are not in the midst of the action, like myself, I can only encourage the peaceful revolution to continue.

Wars do no determine who is right, only who is left. No doubt the insecurities and over-reaction of the police is a result of co-dependence - of acting like they think some authority wants them to act. Alas, the conversations come slowly as hearts are changed; opened to the truth of the inhumanity of brother against brother.

It is a time in our making of history for 'planetary citizens' to step up and continue to demonstrate the need for our society to evolve beyond the control and domination of those who fear its loss. It would seem there is a wave of discontent flowing around the planet now. Many knew it was coming. May the natural order of love for one another resume its process and provide ways for quick resolve with the least chaos and destruction as possible.

There are ways to engage the world's powers in new ways, inviting them to be part of the solutions rather than continuing to create the chasms between moral and ethical responsibility. No one like to be told they are foolish, misguided or wrong. One way to engage the corporations in new ways is through the incorporation of the ISO 26000 Social Responsibility Standards. You can find a copy at http://facebook.com/PlanetaryCitizens.

Critical Self Reflection

Critical Self Reflection

The process of critical reflection of assumptions empowers one and many to view influencing details that determines the ability to find consensus and harmony in any situation. Harmony does not mean the absence of conflict, merely the creative use of it to resolve issues that inhibit cooperative and collaborative relationships in professional and personal environments.

The article presents perspectives of human patterns and the avenues available to establish collective understandings of beliefs, intentions, values and feelings to facilitate a ‘common’ reality that is workable for everyone. Critical reflection of assumptions is used to enter into a discourse to assess alternative beliefs, predicated on universal principles. CRA is used in Transformational Theory, Assimilative Learning, Objective Reframing, and Subjective Reframing for adult learning.

Transformational Theory

Transformational Theory (Mezirow, 1991,1995, 1996), which uses reflection, maintains human learning is promoted in communication through assessing intentions, values, moral issues, and feelings which requiring the use of critical reflection of assumptions. Transformational Theory holds that CRA is not a panacea or provides some transcendent experience to resolve conflict. Rather, it presents the process as a ‘best practice’ compared to other options that have been used in the workplace.

Assimilative Learning

Assimilative Learning, as used by psychoanalysts, pertains to adjustment or accommodation to a difficult situation by accepting it as conforming to one’s desire. This process moves one to act according to regulative principles, a way of thinking or behaving deemed more functional or acceptable. This seems to characterize the way adults learn to adapt to change, using tacit judgment to move forward to constructive results.

Objective Reframing

Objective Reframing examines established definitions, theories, and practices to better understand the paradigms influencing decision-making. Using critical reflection of a premise and defining a problem can lead to transformative redefinition and ‘problem posing.’ The objective of this process, in the all its facets, is to improve performance.

Subjective Reframing

Subjective Reframing examines psychological or cultural assumptions to reveal conceptual and psychological limitations.

In all of the above situations, critical reflection of assumptions is used in discursive groups to assess and manage flow of communication relative to outcomes desired within those same discursive groups that are commonly found within the workplace environment. The task for a manager is to creatively translate the use of critical reflection of assumptions and discourse to effectively facilitate conflict resolution in the workplace.

Questions:

What are the tools available for creating an atmosphere where critical reflection of assumptions can be used effectively? How can one facilitate the use of such tools in environments where human communications are predicated on form, fit and function of critical path assessments?

Potential Answers:

Human resource development programs using a combination of psychoanalytic assessment tools and facilitation training for employees are one possibility. Cultural diversity and sensitivity training for managers is another, as they can then affect communication in their respective departments. Team building or collaborative alliance training outside of the company’s environment is yet another possibility that offers professional development through reliance on others as well as self.

Critical path assessment, defining the basic fundamentals of production, can be introduced through various scenarios involving critical reflection of assumptions. One such opportunity would involve discovering the logic path used to streamline production processes, eliminating wasted resources and labor costs as a functional goal. Another would use interpersonal skills development to better affect communicating goals and objectives to a diverse population within the workforce.

Personal ethics statement: I will to do good for all, desiring to serve humanity in the highest and best use of my mind/body/spirit complex, in the facilitation of a new world order of harmony among people and planet through the development of a state-of-the-art model community and website that promotes this endeavor.

Leadership

Effective leaders are rare. They are created through the trials and tribulations of managing or working with people in a variety of settings. Most good leaders have had their fair share of hard knocks that awakened them to the greater potential within their scope of influence. Effective leaders are excellent communicators, able to speak the many languages of the individuals within the groups they lead. Oftentimes the individual perspectives may appear different simply from the type of language they use. A good leader pays attention to the facts and then makes decisions based on objective analysis of those facts, which is not to say that humanitarian factors succumb to the bottom line.

Effective leaders naturally motivate people from their actions, which include showing respect, listening, reflecting, and negotiating through conflict. Efficient leaders learn the strengths and weaknesses of their subordinates and cohorts and utilize group dynamics. Leaders encourage and empower people to achieve success rather than place blame. Leaders have solid vision and unshakeable persistence in achieving a goal. Serendipity follows them everywhere as if their environments are alive and vibrant with creative energy just waiting for an opportunity to manifest a synchronicity.. Their efforts are empowered by their ability to manage and organize both activities and time in their busy schedules.

A good leader is courageous, able to make decisions without hesitation, and maintains integrity of word and deed. Dependability is also a key trait for a leader must always be there for their group. Sound judgment and sensibility are also features of a leader, with loyalty, enthusiasm, endurance, and initiative rounding out the ever expanding list. These characteristics manifest in a variety of presentations and situations, especially for project managers in process.

Project Manager Effectiveness
Project managers are leaders of small and large groups destined to complete a strategic project plan. Leadership characteristics described above can make or break a team. In all successful project fulfillments, it is the leadership of the project manager that determines the type of success for the project’s members. The most successful accomplishments are met with a sense of fun and reward when goals and objectives are met, all facilitated by the project manager’s leadership. “Persistent leadership is required to make partnering work. Project managers must “walk the talk” and consistently display a collaborative response to problems. Similarly, top management must consistently and visibly champion the principles of openness, trust, and teamwork.” (Gray and Larson, 2001, p. 373)

There is also an emerging element in project management. It was first introduced by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Flow – The Psychology of Optimal Experience. (Harper and Row, 1990). He states that, “Instead of accepting the unity of purpose provided by genetic instructions or by the rules of society, the challenge for us is to create harmony based on reason and choice.” This reason and choice are the foundations of project management.

People are more productive when they have optimal experience, a sense of flow to their personal and professional lives. Mr. Csikszentmihalyi describes flow as "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost." This is the foundation for the highest productivity in any organization.

Project managers of today are successful due to their interpersonal relationships with everyone associated with the project. Providing an environment noted by Gray and Larson means that to incorporate the concepts and a delivery mechanism of optimal performance, Flow has to be incorporated within the foundation of the strategic plan. The attention given to this process empowers the leadership skills of each member of the team. Empowered leaders facilitate action and results, often better than anticipated.

CEO Comparisons
Leadership styles that are successful in one industry may not garner the same results in another. The integrity of James Burke, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, led the company out of a potential disaster when Tylenol’s tampering took place. Instead of following the recommendations of both the FBI and the Food and Drug Association, they recalled the entire supply on the market, even replacing customers’ capsule bottles with tablets. On the other hand, had he been faced with the knowledge that fossil fuel use is polluting air, ground, and waters of the world, would he have recalled the oil?

More often than not in the 80s, CEOs' management styles were often tailored to their particular industry. Defense contractors had traditionally been led by threat rather than reward; demanding and commanding compliance and performance. Managing by threat creates an atmosphere of mistrust, which is diametrically opposed to current management philosophy. Many companies in this industry now have initiated a variety of sensitivity programs to bolster moral and productivity.

Inspired stakeholder involvement creates opportunity for evolutionary leaps in a learning organization, across the gamut of organizational type or industry.

Code of Ethics
The Project Manager Code of Ethics described in the text begins with:
“Project Management Professionals, in the pursuit of their profession, affect the quality of life for all people in our society. Therefore, it is vital that Project Management Professionals conduct their work in an ethical manner to earn and maintain the confidence of team members, colleagues, employees, clients, and the public.” (Gray and Larson, 2001, p. 550)

The Articles within the Code of Ethics describe the optimal practices of human accountability, creativity, and responsibility. With minor nomenclature changes, it could very well read like the articles for developing any kind of organizational foundation. Leaders, true leaders, exemplify these Articles in their daily living. It is the following of the precepts set forth in these Articles that make them the recognized leaders within the organizations they serve, be it a corporation or community.

In Waking Up – Overcoming the Obstacles to Human Potential (1986), Dr. Charles Tart postulates our will is largely a mechanical reaction based on conditioning, intelligence is severely limited compared to what it could be, and there is no true self controlling life from a state of genuine self-consciousness. This discovery, not only by Dr. Tart, is changing the way personal and professional lives are working. The attitude of project management reflects this change. The qualities of leadership and project management demonstrate the symbiosis of creating results in life or in industry. There is little difference between the two in our evolving society.

In more practical applications, communities and municipalities depend on these best practices for survival now. For instance, AzDOT partnering meetings engage every stakeholder to create a partnering agreement mission statement with goals for the project team [stakeholders], a code of ethics, an issue resolution plan for jobsite activity and an issue resolution plan for all known or potential issues. The most effective leaders engage the spirit of partnering, create trust relationships with subcontractors by being trustworthy and more often than not bring in projects ahead of schedule and below budget from value engineering addendums. This leadership choice, the partnering meetings, also reduced lawsuits by over 800%. This practice begs inclusion in every commercial and/or community project, especially now.

Conclusion
This writer proposes that a true leader is priceless. Demonstrating the qualities of leadership not only wins friends and influences people; it sets the standard of behavior within an organization. The writer’s perspective of a true leader is one who leads people by example through using a synergy of charisma, tact and skill in handling challenges, concern for the rights and privileges of others and care for the positive impact on people and planet within the scope of their leadership and beyond.

References
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1990). Flow – The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York, NY: Harper and Row Publishing.
Gray, Clifford F.; Larson, Erik W., Project Management – The Managerial Process, Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Tart, Dr. Charles (1986), Waking Up – Overcoming the Obstacles to Human Potential, Copyright © 1986 by The Institute of Noetic Sciences