Raising the Collective Consciousness of the Team

by Team xMonks

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Raising the Collective Consciousness of the Team

At some point in our lives, we have all had to make drastic changes to accommodate a new way of life.

Some express increased anxiety or concern about their financial well-being or professional goals in the future. Several people have expressed feelings of loneliness and isolation, as well as some form of existential crisis, and have questioned whether their loneliness was not masked by their daily interactions with other people.

If you find yourself in any of the aforementioned camps, take heart in the fact that you are far from alone. There is a collective unconscious that guides us all, more often than not in similar ways.

Perhaps there is a silver lining to all of this lunacy.

How closely do your beliefs correspond to those of others in society? What, if anything, unites people within a society? How do you develop an understanding of yourself as more than an individual, but as a member of a larger society? A theory of collective consciousness provides an explanation for such questions.

What is Collective Consciousness?

In 1916, Jung coined the term “collective unconscious,” which he later defined in Man and His Symbols (1964) as “that part of the psyche that retains and transmits mankind’s common psychological inheritance.” He continued:

The further we delve into the origins of a ‘collective image’… the more we uncover a seemingly unending web of archetypal patterns that, before modern times, were never the object of conscious reflection… The fact is that in former times men did not reflect upon their symbols; they lived them and were unconsciously animated by their meaning.

The concept of collective consciousness originated in sociology and related social sciences with the French theorist and sociologist Emile Durkheim. Collective consciousness is all about comprehending how society functions.

According to Durkheim, individuals in society – while each of us has our own unique consciousness – also share a sense of solidarity. We collaborate in a variety of ways, and our collective consciousness enables this.

Collective consciousness is a collection of shared ideas, beliefs, and values held by a large number of people in a given society.

Collective Consciousness in Teams Through Connection

The digitalization of our collective consciousness is the great development, crisis, and opportunity of contemporary life. Yes, all three. The twenty-first century is more interconnected, faster-paced, and unpredictable than previous epochs.

This unpredictability and complexity necessitate a team mentality, in which teams are deeply knowledgeable and capable of resolving issues as they arise, rather than waiting for direction from above. To develop this new consciousness, all facets of the organisation needed to change.

Perhaps the technology that will succeed the internet is something entirely different. Perhaps it is a networked consciousness.

Each connection unlocks greater potential.

It may be analogous to consciousness in our emerging global network.

Having a collective consciousness throughout the workplace enables an organisation to foster a cross-functional environment in which people have access to the appropriate information at the appropriate time. By bringing together individuals from diverse disciplines and departments, you enable individuals with a common goal to share their knowledge.

To have a deeper insight into tapping into collective consciousness, we welcome you to The Coaching Conclave 2021. We have David Clutterbuck speaking on Raising the collective consciousness of the team.

David’s view of Collective Consciousness is-

“Teams are complex, adaptive systems made up of people (who are also complex adaptive systems) nested in other complex, adaptive systems. Most of what happens in teams is instinctive — members are not aware of the systems in play and how these affect whether and how they collaborate. The more clearly a team understands its own dynamics, the better decisions it makes and the more able it is to respond to change in its environment. In this thought-provoking webinar we explore how the team’s emotions, cultural, thinking patterns and narratives come together to create or hinder high performance — and the role that team coaching plays in helping the team see itself more clearly.”

About David

David Clutterbuck is one of Europe’s most prolific authors and thinkers on management. Author or co-author of over 50 books, he is visiting professor in coaching and mentoring at both Oxford Brookes and Sheffield Hallam Universities. His recurrent theme is that improving the quality of conversations helps people and organizations make better decisions and helps achieve ambitions. He is a serial entrepreneur and practices what he preaches, setting himself a major learning challenge every year. He is in the top 15 of “HR’s most influential”. He was voted Coaching at Work magazine’s first Mentor of the Year and is visiting professor at three universities – Sheffield Hallam, Oxford Brookes and York St John.

He is also a conference speaker, workshop presented, researcher, and occasional comedian.

Collective Consciousness collective unconscious Consciousness Consciousness in Teams David Clutterbuck

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