askintegralexperts.com Interview: What is an Integral Business?

Below I am sharing the written answers from my interview with askintegralexperts.com. Not all of the questions made it into the interview or the final edit, so I have decided to share them here. When you have a moment, check out the interview on askintegralexperts.com. Because of the length of these answers, I have decided to post each separately.

1. I know one of your passions is Integral business. Can you talk a little bit about what Integral business is, what it looks like, and how it functions?

Integral Business is what I am most passionate about right now. I feel business more than anything else currently has the capacity to generate more impact in world and galvanize human change. Almost every single person on this planet is engaged in business (commerce) and everyone is affected by it. It’s no longer a matter of chaos theory: Literally, deforestation in Brazil affects the weather in Texas.

And, in more concrete terms, most people will spend most of their lives working. In a recent Conference Board poll 53% of Americans are dissatisfied with their Jobs, 47% don’t like their immediate supervisor, 48% don’t like their work environment. That’s a lot of unhappiness. And yet that doesn’t cover all that business affects: government, policy, stakeholders, the environment, research, science… the list is huge.

Currently, I think, business is more powerful than any other system on the planet. Business crosses geographic and political boundaries, and business greatly influences and innovates cyber-space. Simply, business is everywhere, and wonderfully it’s changeable.

I have pursued for essentially the entirety of my life how to instigate positive change for others and myself. I began to get really interested in business about five years ago. It was an awakening with universal impact. It was of L.A. Story billboard portions screaming: If you want to create change, look here. And the here is business.

After a lot of consideration, and all ready being a student and member of the integral community, I naturally began looking at what an integral business might look like. And, one thing that I constantly come back to is that the most exciting thing about this work is that no one knows what an integral business really looks like.

I’m not sure a successful integral business exists yet, outside of perhaps a few sole-proprietorships, intellectual property firms, and training and consulting firms – essentially those few consultancy, coaching, training and development firms, and a few very small revenue minimally staffed regional business. We don’t yet have a business that is not in the business of change operating with an integral perspective as an integral organization. We’re a long ways from this.

That said, I am currently building a few businesses with others that are interested in the same. And excitingly, I think we are well on the way to creating this. One of our operations is on track to gross over $1,000,000 in revenue this year. This is a huge and exciting step.

Right now, the majority of work on integral business is academic (Leo Burke, John Forman, Brett Thomas, and Michael Putz’s 2005 paper titled Integral Business), literary (Fred Kofman’s book Conscious Business), and theoretical .

As I said, I am not sure a large-scale, successful integral business exists yet, and I am really passionate about creating them - at least none that I have found. Of course there are inklings and aspects here and there – the work Pacific Integral is doing in leadership, personal development, and organization development and the work Holacracy One is doing in organization design, for example, and I know there are some great people out there exploring progressive business models, like Kevin Clark at Content Evolution. And I don’t feel we have the whole package. Not yet, anyway.

And this is why: In order for anything to be integral, it has to be completely novel – it has to include all that has come before and also be something completely new integrating each component that makes something, well, something (in this case, a business) and this is no easy feat.

Most of what I see coming out of the integral world these days in regards to business is mostly related to leadership development. For example, Kofman says, on the second page of his book, Conscious Business, “My effort is to unlock the black box of leadership” – Conscious Business is really about leadership. Kofman’s Conscious Business is really about conscious people consciously leading. This is great. And it does not fully address business as a whole.

I sense that an integral business will create value in five areas (instead of just profit), and that’s profit, people, planet, progress and principles, and will consider equally, in all it does, the development and motivation of individuals, the actions and outcomes of individuals, the culture of the organization, the effectiveness of the organization’s systems, and the organization’s unique purpose backward and forewords through space and time. When you bring these things together, something novel begins to emerge. An integral business begins to emerge.

The business that I mentioned earlier is an outsource sales and distribution company. We are applying the above principles and awarenesses, and already some amazing things have happened – the organization has a culture like none I have ever experienced in a business context, we are already cash positive after just six months of operating, and, as I mentioned, we’re on track to gross a million dollars in revenue this year. That’s cool!

Though complex, integral business is fairly simple to think and theorize about – the maps aren’t hard – compared to its application, which is very challenging. Consider how hard it is to create a conventional and profitable business. Now take the many essential things that make an integral business and require really developed people to implement while keeping ensuring the organization profitable. This is why I’m so passionate about assisting businesses and people in growth, and creating integral businesses myself – it’s what has to happen.

Follow up: What is the impact that Integral business is having now and what will the impact be once enough businesses awaken to such a thing?

Right now, I think the fully developed impact of integral business has yet to be realized – right now it’s still a vision and a dream for the most part, shared by many people. However, we have been seeing the impact that some of the components have produced. For example, the impact triple bottom line thinking and practice (a value development) has had on both the marketplace and the environment, and the impact social media (a systems development) has had on a company’s orientation to consumers. And, though post-conventional, these shifts in business are not yet integral; they’re birthed from Green Meme consciousness.

I believe that in the future, integral business will be responsible for birthing integral government (Steve McIntosh’s passion), it will integrate spirituality in people’s everyday lives in meaningful and practical ways (what if doing your job was your spiritual practice?), it will care for and protect the environment and the world’s people, and it will become the main force of human development.

Could you imagine going to work to generate your income, engage in your spiritual practice in an explicit way, develop as an individual, care for the environment and for others, while creating and experiencing the life you want to live? That’s an integral business!

Integral Leadership Review Article: It's Time for the Bottom Line to Get Bigger

Check out my latest article in the Integral Leadership Review:

As I’ve discussed recently in my blog Integral Business, the future of sustainable, profitable and socially responsible companies rest well beyond what is now commonly referred to as “triple bottom line” organizations. Indeed an evolutionary step, achieving a triple bottom line status is a great challenge that inspires great merit—it’s a huge accomplishment. And, we need more.

There is a lot of talk in the business world, especially the post-modern business world of value and vision, about the triple bottom line: profit, people and planet, which I think is a great start towards building businesses that are sustainable in the long-term and meaningfully impacting in the short term.

For more...

Leading From the Heart II: The Nature of Being

As leaders, coaches, and change agents each of us have so much to give and offer. It seems from the desire to give, the fear of not knowing, and the push for a result we can so easily loose ourselves in the process. I’ve certainly found myself so lost in trying to solve someone’s problem or decide what technique to employ I have completely lost touch becoming removed from myself and the person in front of me.

The large majority of our leadership development and coach training programs focus on technique, tool gathering and process. It's about the processes, metaphors, theory, tools, skills, and such all leading to clear results and understanding, with little attention given, except for perhaps a morning meditation, to yourself and your presence. I like tools, skills, theory, and technique. They are helpful and essential, and we couldn’t do our jobs without them. I wouldn’t be where I am today had I not engaged them. However, what gets lost in this is the most important thing: who the leader coach is will impact people, space and time more than anything else.

Did you see Kung Fu Panda? It’s brilliant, simple and funny, and Jack Black is always jovial. In the film, the secret of Kung Fu is contained in a hidden scroll and much of the film’s journey involves finding the scroll. Upon discovering the scroll we learn that it’s blank except for a simple reflective surface. Perplexed the Panda wanders away to only later discover that the secret to Kung Fu is the reflection, himself – it’s in him and it’s who he is.

Transformation happens because of who you are - it's about you. Change occurs as a result of your presence, listening, attention, and seeing. Insight and development happens because you show up in each moment. Tools and techniques are expressions and extensions of your rich and present interior. Metaphors are good, detached questioning is good, and other techniques, both hands off and on, are good too. But they’re really only as good as your attention and only as big as your heart.

In developing your leadership and impact, work as much on yourself as you do on your technique. Cultivate your being presence, what ever your unique expression of that is. Bring yourself to your coaching sessions trusting that this is enough. Bring your watchful presence to your leadership experiences trusting this is enough. Don’t show up to use shiny tools, though important, and achieve results, which will happen; show up to be fully you and trust that this is enough always. Spend less time in the moment trying to figure out what technique or method is going to get the results, and trust that you, just you, will create the impact that is necessary.

Trusting that you're enough is where leadership and change begins and ends. All of the amazing tools and techniques we have created to instigate change and growth are expressions of the transformative you.

Beyond The Triple Bottom Line (Integral Business II)

There is a lot of talk in the business world, especially the post-modern new business world of value and vision, about the Triple Bottom Line: profit, people, and planet. I like this approach. I think it's a great start towards building businesses that are sustainable in the long-term and impacting, meaningful in the short term. However, an integral business needs to go beyond this.

I know some of us are just getting our feet wet to the idea and practice of the Triple Bottom Line. For some of us, it's not even yet on the radar. An integral business of profit and impact needs a Penta Bottom Line. I was going to add just one more to the mix (quadruple bottom line), but we, as a business community, need to take a huge leap. Now.

The Penta Bottom Line: Profit, People, Planet, Principles, and Progress.

Most when talking about the Triple Bottom Line put profit last, as in: planet, people, profit. I think this is wonderfully visionary, and yet it fails to acknowledge that a business exists, in my perspective, to primarily create capital. Certainly, not at the harm of the other points on the bottom line, but it's primary reason for being a business, is again, making money. Otherwise, it would be a non-profit or something different.

I assume most of you understand profit, people, and planet, so I will explain principles and progress.

Principles: Rules are out. Principles are in. Principles act as guides and measures in vision, strategy, process, operations, and out-reach. Principles are interactive, directive voices in the process of decision making. Rules are rigid, limit creativity, and exist to create measured and tested results. Principles, on the other hand, acknowledge that our world is complex, changing, and unstable. No longer will rigid rules work to guide organizations that need dynamic and responsive action in a rapidly changing market and business landscape - we need interactive principles. What are the known and unknown principles that guide the decisions in your organization? Do you like them? Are they effectively guiding the outcomes you desire? Do you need a guiding principles tune-up?

Progress: I forced myself to stick with P's, but by progress I really mean development. Integral businesses consider the development of their people, culture, organizations, and the systems they interact with as important as profit. A direct investment in the development of each employee in your organization is a direct investment in your organization. Development programs are generally geared towards management (which is great and certainly needed) and those that are really screwing up, but what would your organization look like if it valued the development of each person, group, and the world around you? How can you create systems where each person is given the chance to build capacities and self?

By operating with a Penta Bottom Line, your organization opens up the sphere and valuation of success to areas that directly relate to your organization's success in the short-term and long-term.

As always, more on this soon.

Integral Business I: Short-Term and Long-Term

For the purpose of this blog and post, business is defined as any operation creating capital increase. The hub of a business is making money. This, of course, doesn’t mean that businesses can’t do other things, as they both do and need to – look for a future post: Penta Bottom Line. This simply means that the creation of new capital is the generalizing principle for all things defined as business.

The core intention of this blog is to illustrate what an integral business is, how it operates, and how it is created. My assumption is an integrally framed business will ultimately be more profitable and sustainable (meaning: existing for a longer period of time) than a business that is not.

Businesses typically focus on capital and profit. This makes sense given that business’ organizing and general principle is generation of new capital; however, in our contemporary world with stockholders and stakeholders operating at multiple levels, this has come to mean consistent quarterly increases with solid strategy reaching generally about three quarters out.
An integral business considers many different things as essential to both its existence and profitability. Short-term profit growth is important, as is long term. There are many examples of individuals and organizations that have made decisions that boosted short-term increases, but were ultimately detrimental in the long-term (both to profit and sometimes the viability of the organization).

I recommend that organizations visionize and strategize ten years forward. I understand that ten years is a very long time. Things change rapidly in this world: the market, technology, governments and law, generational preferences in the workforce, social values, and the environment. However, with the assistance of forecasting, intuition, and highly developed leaders and strategists, a ten-year vision and strategy is not simply possibly, but functional and necessary.

Visions and strategies are not fixed, concrete things. They are meant to be dynamic, adjustable, and molded with the feedback of the market and further insight. Though they adjust over time, vision and strategy becomes the guide for every decision made in the present moment. Each decision for profit in the present is measured against a ten-year vision and strategy, and the evaluation considers both short-term and long-term impact (imagine if Enron did this).

An integral business works dynamically in the present while always keeping its sight ten years forward. The relationship and tension between the present and the future (while considering the past) more greatly enables a business for present and future profitability.

Dialogue with Brian Herr on Transformative Evolutionary Leadership

Great conversation with Brian Herr on Transformative Evolutionary Leadership.

Please enjoy:

Transformative Evolutionary Leadership

Leadership and Blogging: Deep Intentional Impact & Value

I recently listened to a great talk between John Gruber and Merlin Mann, which is linked at the bottom of this post, about blogging, social media, and (my interpretation) being a great human being. I loved the talk. They’re both insightful and damn funny, and they’re speaking from (generally) an elevated perspective.

A keystone in my consulting practice is individual and social development theory and practice. I am constantly listening for the stages (or memes) that produce the content people are presenting in the world (words, actions, and artifacts such as art, written material including blogs and tweets, and systems, to name just a few). People don’t produce content. Perspectives in people produce content. People aren’t their perspectives or the content they produce – people are people. (This too is just another perspective, but more on that in another post).

Almost all contemporary individual and social development theorists across the board observe and agree on a few general stages of development. As an individual or society develops, their capacity to observe and understand complexity grows (from very simplistic interpretations to very complex and considerate interpretations), and their circles of identity and impact grow larger (from self to family to nation to world to universe).

Here’s a quick summation of stage growth expressed through blogging content:

1. I blog because my ideas are right. My beliefs are true. Your beliefs are wrong if they’re different mine. I am blogging to share the truth with those of you that don’t get it. I am also really interested in the people that agree with my ideas, as they get it. Here’s an example: http://www.keeptruth.com/
2. I am blogging to network, sell and create opportunities. Blogging is a tool that enables my success. Here’s an example: http://www.redfiregroupllc.com/wordpress/?p=486
3. Blogging is an opportunity to express my unique perspective. Blogging enables connection; blogging is really about connection. I can listen to others sharing their unique perspectives. We can all enjoy and appreciate each other. Here’s an example: http://rajanaka.blogspot.com/
4. Blogging is many things to many people, and has a many different experiences within it. I blog to share with those that find meaning and value in my writing. I blog to create connections of possibility and invitation – an invitation of mutual success. I blog to create connection and learn from others. I blog to create a valuable integration of perspectives that radically serves the past, present and future. Here’s an example: http://starshamansview.blogspot.com/
5. I blog because it makes me happy. I blog to connect to our larger shared experience, and service this experience. Here’s an example: http://davekennedy.blogspot.com/
   

Disclaimer 1: The higher numbers do not equal better or more relevant. The numbers organize a continuum of perspectives increasing in complexity and consideration. Higher isn’t better, it’s just different and generally more inclusive, which is very effective for certain things. (Leadership today requires complex, considerate and inclusive perspectives).

Disclaimer 2: I’m not making a definitive statement about the blogs I am using as examples – I spent about ten minutes finding the first two and the last three are blogs I subscribe to. Each of these blogs has value and I am certain all of these authors are making great contributions to our human experience. All of these perspectives have great relevance and I appreciate them all equally for different reasons.

In their talk, John and Merlin are mostly speaking from perspective no. 3, and this is a refreshing perspective (a personal favorite). In a world and market where everyone is jumping on the social media bandwagon as a means to create the next influx of massive capital, John and Merlin are speaking about important attributes that skilled, effective, and powerful leaders possess.

Successful blogging, as John and Merlin discuss, incorporates a few important principles. First, be authentic. Be yourself. Let yourself, as you are, be fully expressed through your blog. This is great for blogging and great for leadership. Leadership is about being your self, deeply. This allows others to be themselves and shine, and it gives you complete access to all of your unique gifts, ideas and emotions, all of which are your greatest assets. Next, find what you obsess over and write about that, and because you’re excited your excitement will inspiration others. Again, true in blogging and true in leadership. Great leaders are committed to and excited about a vision or cause inspiring others to join them in their journey. Know what you’re excited about out; share it with others constantly.

From authenticity and inspiration, know who you’re writing for and write for them. Write for them as an act of care and love (“love” being my interpretation of what John and Merlin where discussing). When you write and lead from a place of service as an act of care, you can’t help but touch people and magnetize them towards you. Everyone then gets to share in a potent experience and exchange.

Lastly, attention is valuable. Attention is perhaps one the most valuable things in this universe. Successful leaders and bloggers know how capture and sustain attention. Dynamic leaders and bloggers creating transformative change know how to sustain and service attention. Attention is perhaps one the greatest resources we have. Honor the attention that is given to you and the attention given to you will grow.

John and Merlin offer a great and entertaining talk. Get comfortable, grab a cup of tea or a glass of wine; it’s an hour long:

John and Merlin on Blogging

Becoming Change Course and Video Series

Doug Miller and I are offering a telecourse "Becoming Change" beginning April 1st for individuals in transition: new job, career, life purpose, vision, and world work, all pushing towards greater self and world change. In this series of videos, Doug and I discuss change, our current state of society and culture, and the various things individuals are facing as each of us is confronted with our world.

New Management Job Description: Managing Stress, Anxiety and Fear

In a survey conducted several years ago by the Anxiety Disorders of America Association (ADAA) in partnership with National Stress Out Week, 56% of people said that anxiety and stress affects their performance, 51% said it affected their interpersonal work relationships, 50% said it affects their quality of work, and 43% said it affects their relationship with their superiors.

From The Business Mirror:

"For some, the economy is having an extreme impact. In a November-December study by the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 54 percent of participating hotline callers said their household's financial situation had changed in the past year. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, meanwhile, has had an increase in calls, from 412,000 in 2007 to 568,000 in 2008."

Right now, almost everyone is, at least a little, stressed out. Especially at organizations that have gone through one, two or three rounds of layoffs. Right now, in this economy and during this recession, managers, leaders, and organizations need to step into new leadership capacities. Managers need to engage and interact with people in a way that assists in finding ease and support. We need new management for a new world. Earlier this week, I wrote a blog called Leading from the Heart, the first in an undetermined series on a new and emergent way of leadership and management. We all need to lead from the heart.

Again, from The Business Mirror:

"The irony, advisers and economists say, is that an anxious investor, consumer or worker actually compounds the economy's distress. The fear is driving people to make rash decisions with investments, thus contributing to the volatility of the stock markets. It is keeping consumers from spending money, not a good thing nationally, considering that consumer spending makes up 70 percent of the economy. And it is making many workers less productive at work."

Building leadership capacities is now essential for an organization's success. Managers need to manage and lead from the heart. Leaders need a new sensitivity and awareness. If an organization's leaders cannot manage fear, anxiety and stress, that organization will be greatly crippled and ultimately fail.

In the series Leading from the Heart, I will touch on and explore many different perspectives on what will be required for leaders to manage successfully and effectively in our new world and time.

In the meantime, here are a few pointers:

1) Find confidence and be confident. Inauthentic expressions will backfire. However, if you can access a true perspective of ease, innovation, and abundance your presence will have powerful impact on all of those around you. Your attitude speaks much louder than your words.

2) Listen. Listen. Listen. Use your time to listen to your employees concerns. Listen with genuine concern. Talking to your employees about their problems is not listening to their problems. Truly listen. Truly listen to them from a place of clarity and compassion. Yes, compassion. This is not the 80s anymore and management needs to change.

3) Be honest and positive. False hope is false. Blind optimism is annoying. However, find a healthy, balanced, positive perspective and share it generously.

4) Reframe. Challenge the assumptions of doom and the perspectives of failure. Give your people a new and empowered place to perceive from. Show them hope. Show them innovation. Make the impossible possible. Take failure and turn it into results.

5) Be real. Share your concerns and your fears in a real, honest, and authentic way, and also offer your wisdom for how you manage and deal with it. Be willing to relate to your people; collapse the divide and let down the wall. Create access to you. This isn't an open door policy, it's an open heart and mind policy. Revisit no. 3.

Change has to happen, and it needs to happen fast. The world and our economy is not going to afford us an even and measured learning curve. The time for new management came yesterday. Get busy.

Leading from the Heart: An Introduction

I imagine that most of you like the sound of leading from the heart and agree with the idea. In a post-modern culture, dominated by Oprah-endorsed spirituality and post-feminist appreciation of emotional intelligence (even Donald Trump cries now), we react favorable, nod our heads, and completely agree. Ideas of emotion, heart, depth, and interiority are now a part of our popular culture.

A top level executive at a national corporation recently told me that in hiring other executives, emotional development is looked at and is now considered to be equally important as an MBA. Yes, you read that correctly, emotional intelligence is equally important as an MBA. Unfortunately, no one is giving out degrees in emotional aptitude.

You might be interested to know, when I asked said executive if I could quote him, he looked at me and said, “Are you f&cking kidding me?” Apparently, I could not quote him on that.

When it comes to the real world, the contemporary real world, ideas like emotional intelligence and leading from the heart sound nice. However, more and more, I am seeing that it’s most often limited to the space of another good, contemporary idea along with ideas like "being green." (When was the last time you rode your bike to work?)

Ideas about emotions are not emotions. Liking emotional intelligence is not emotional intelligence.

Last week in a coaching session with someone currently involved in huge upper level management conflict I asked, “how do you think they feel?” And the answer was, “how is that going to help me?” I generally expect responses like this, but every once in awhile they do catch me off guard. Is the best the adult world has to offer iterations of playground memories?

We need to do better.

“Have you ever listened to someone from the inside?” Jeremy (“Powder”) asks Lindsey in the film Powder. This is where leading from the heart begins.

I write with awareness that this is a huge subject with infinite implications – implications of great impact. (I just went back to the title and added: An Introduction). This is the first of a series of undetermined parts.

Leading from the heart begins with listening to yourself and others from the inside. Listening to yourself creates a much greater matrix of information and intelligence – you can access more wisdom, intuition, and knowledge. Listening to others from the inside means considering how they feel and what their experience is; considering what their perspective is; considering what their motivations are. And that’s just the beginning. This leads to feeling them from the inside. Being present to the way the space feels, how they appear in their skin, their receptivity and experience. Being this open to someone allows you to listen fully. In listening deeply you can communicate more effectively.

You might wonder how this helps you. In resourcing anecdotal evidence of project failure, deal breakdowns, and organization struggle, miscommunication and conflict soar above all other problems. If you want to be successful, if you want to change the world you need a smart heart, and you need to lead from it.

Stay posted for more blogs on Leading from the Heart – there are a lot more to come.