Many of us feel more and more alienated from ourselves, each other and the world around us. We sense something is seriously amiss, that will require more than tweaking at the edges and moving the deck chairs on the titanic. Seismic shifts are happening in our world, whether we like it or not.

The fabric of our society is built on a predominant worldview, which has reached the limits of its usefulness. This worldview contains implicit assumptions, so deep as to seem identical to reality itself, sacred cows to be illuminated with caution and care.

Being blind to these assumptions is core to much of our current suffering and dysfunction and means that changing our systems and structures, on top of this crumbling foundation is a temporary solution at best, and counterproductive at worst. Unconscious action renders much of our well -meaning intentions limited.

Sustainable systems change requires fundamental worldview change.

Here are some of the underlying assumptions in the predominant world view

We are separate from each other and nature with ultimate responsibility for our own success, in a universe indifferent at best, and hostile at worst, that we need to control
Only when we have maximised self -interest is there room to think about the interests of others, particularly in the context of an economic model
Prosocial behaviour requires overcoming the natural tendency towards selfishness – which requires waging a war against the self, often in the guise of personal development, even self-care
Change and progress happen through the application of drive and through a greater and greater ability to manipulate others and the world, to our preferences
Our purpose it to bring order and intelligence to a world that has none of its own
Only what can be weighed, counted and measured is real
To understand something, including ourselves and our organisations is to take it apart
The body, emotion, thought and spirit are all split into a hierarchical relationship with each other
Science has brought us from ignorance and superstition to true knowledge; technology has enabled us to master the material world

More and more of us are questioning these implicit assumptions. Part of the difficulty we encounter is that they have become self -fulfilling. Powerful forces, which have taken on a life of their own – economic, social - corral us towards this reigning worldview, even as we see its disastrous consequences and catch a glimpse of something more. This can render us cynical, confused and helpless.

A new worldview built on a different set of assumptions, such as the following, is emerging as perhaps closer to reality and certainly more life affirming.

Notice how you feel as you read these, thinking of a time when you have had a sense of some, if not all

I am a holographic mirror of all that is. I contain the infinite and well as the infinitesimal – I am simultaneously as large as life and a miniscule part of it
I am an integral part of the whole, intimately connected to all – what I experience others experience, through the interweaving, entangled web of life
Prosocial behaviour is a core part of human nature which can be nourished, developed and expressed, given the right conditions
To fulfill our role and function in life, we seek not only to survive but to express our unique gifts in meaningful ways in our part of the ecosystem
Coherence, form and shape emerge spontaneously, out of apparent chaos. There is an implicate order in the universe
Any change that happens, no matter how small, contributes to a field in which that change can happen anywhere
Every person we encounter and everything we experience mirrors or reveals something in ourselves
Reality has a qualitative dimension that will always elude reduction to quantity
The universe is alive. Reductionist, causal explanations cannot grasp the full mystery of life

I want to emphasise that no worldview, old or new, removes the basic necessities of life, clean air to breath, water to drink, food to eat, safety from harm etc. Nor do I intend to minimise the real effects of collective trauma and the evil experienced by so many in the world right now, or the valiant efforts by brave souls to address this. To bypass the reality of so many, takes us out of the territory of lived experience.

Wrapped into many of our models of human development – many of the ones I’ve trained in and use, is the assumption that we are progressing to variations of this ‘next stage’ worldview. I work with a model of change with posits that to develop we need to transcend and include our old worldviews. I’ve loved this approach and see it as a real improvement on traditional models of ‘get rid of the old, in with the new’. I find it works really well for my clients.

But I’m also aware of another movement developing in my work, over the last few years, which is more connected with human unfolding. It allows the innate intelligence of the complex being/group I work with to emerge, through deep connection and authentic relatedness, beyond expertly guiding my fellow humans through certain maps. The more I have worked in this field, the more lightly I hold the maps, knowing deeply, that they are not the territory, however useful, regardless of how sophisticated (or seamless) in combination they appear.

Which brings me to my final point – the more connected we are to the territory, of ourselves, each other and the natural world, the less we need a map. Sensemaking and movement happen in the moment, in an alive, dynamic universe, which is way beyond the limited capacity of rational analysis to understand, predict and control.

Questions to Ponder

What assumptions underpin our current change interventions? What more life affirming choices are possible?
What systems and infrastructure will emerge as we enact this new worldview, on the bones of the previous one, as it and all around it crumbles?
What will be salvaged, what will be included and how do we let all of that emerge whilst bringing our unique gifts?

Uncovering a new worldview in the middle of the old worldview, with all its perverse incentives and current real life necessities, is not a simple, straightforward matter, nor a luxury to be indulged in, but an absolute necessity. And, of course, it can’t develop based on the assumptions of the old worldview.

PS . This offers some high level context for the thinking and motivation behind my Conscious Game Changers programme, which will reopen in the coming weeks.

Many thanks to Charles Eisentein’s recent article A new story, which prompted and aided this articulation, on a topic that has been on mind and close to my heart, for over a decade.