ADEPT prosperity: More than bread alone
Autor: Hal Bolton
Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on: 09/01/2009
Transforming
the workplace may not seem like a solution to the current global economic
imbalance, but practicing prosperity consciousness at every level every workday
according to what I call the ADEPT System can take the adventure of making
money in a new, more democratic and humanitarian direction. The old war myth of
corporate dragons operating on childlike or adolescent awareness becomes
obsolete when we engage this more progressive model.
Although
these times look bleak in regard to material
prosperity, it may be the perfect moment for a long overdue new
prosperity consciousness that encompasses not only money making but the
potential for increased equality and fairness, as well as human growth, in the
workplace. In the current economic downturn, false inflated material prosperity
is diminishing, offering a golden opportunity to embrace a prosperity
consciousness that benefits all instead of only a few.
For
decades, people with childlike awareness have been expecting money and goods to
flow forever, while those with adolescent awareness—characterized by
unfairness, refusal to take responsibility, and tendency to respond to conflict
with domination and trickery rather than mediation—have been governing Wall
Street. Neither level of awareness reflects a prosperity consciousness that
considers benefits to society as a whole. In fact, the lesson that the great
dragon mega-corporations, thrashing their way around the world, can teach us
is:
If
exclusive prosperity leads to social devastation, then inclusive prosperity can
lead to social growth. And in casting off our childlike or adolescent
awareness, rooted in narrow narcissism and focusing on the few, we can move to
a post-recession adult awareness engendering a prosperity consciousness that
nourishes everyone, all-upmanship rather than one-upmanship.
La
concept of prosperity consciousness has been circulating in New Age circles
since the 1980s. It has been widely held that Prosperity is a state of mind
that creates abundance War and Prosperity can be manifested by thoughts,
affirmations, and creative visualizations focused on abundance. But in fact
it is possible and even necessary to go beyond affirmations and visualizations
to build a new, more democratic prosperity consciousness that leads to
abundance for the many.
As
a longtime CEO and business consultant, I often thought about what it means to
really prosper and be successful, not just as an employee or employer but as a human
being. I observed that people, who typically spend one-third of their lives in
the workplace want to grow professionally and personally as well as make a good
living. Contemplating the workplace with its carefully segregated CEOs,
management personnel, and workers, I pondered how I could create an environment
in which people of all three echelons felt they were prospering not just
materially but in the broader sense of their human potential. Ultimately I
concluded that to change the workplace in these ways would involve altering
business structures and processes, a mission I proceeded to undertake.
First,
I tracked adolescent awareness and found it rooted in old workplace dominance
myths—business as war games myths, corporate welfare myths, entitlement myths,
captains of industry myths, corporate ladder myths, management myths, and
above-the-law myths. In one place of business after another, I watched as
workers were treated like children and management and CEOs behaved like
rivaling adolescents. It became clear to me that such pre-recession myths and
the awareness sustaining them precluded any possibility of turning the
workplace into an environment where adults might not just survive but thrive.
Second,
to change old habits in the workplace, I introduced adult awareness into
meetings at all three levels by encouraging people to listen to all sides of an
issue, to make more objective judgments by valuing analytical thinking, and to
take responsibility for their propositions.
Finally,
I presented a more advanced level of
awareness—life mastery awareness—based on the desirability of working
not only for profit but also for growth, a consciousness requiring
unconditional love, fairness, wisdom, and resolutions that respect everyone
involved. I envisioned people employing life mastery awareness for the purpose
of expanding the goals of prosperity beyond our usual expectations for the
workplace. Whereas individuals who use adult awareness identify with concerns
close at hand, those who exercise life mastery awareness for the sake of
prosperity consciousness are motivated by a vision that encompasses the global
community, with the workplace as an economically and spiritually powerful
jumping-off point.
Pre-recession
institutions dominated by war myths may be tempted to scorn such post-recession
visions as too soft for a business context. But the political and economic
mountains moved by those whose life mastery awareness serves a prosperity
consciousness indicate otherwise.
To
generate a prosperity consciousness in the workplace using life mastery
awareness, I recommend testing, and adapting as necessary, the ADEPT method,
which stands for: Attention, Dialogue, Engagement, Practice, Transformation. Attention
is the gateway to adult awareness beyond procedural machinations born of war
myths that have sucked the vitality from many workplaces. Dialogue
exposes questionable myths and procedures and gets productive energy flowing
again. Whereas Attention and Dialogue assist in seeing problems, Engagement
allows alteration of everyday procedures, such as the way meetings are run,
decisions are made concerning acquisitions, or how hiring and firing are
implemented. Practice then provides essential feedback that solidifies
the changes or clarifies the need for additional alteration. Transformation
is the end result, reflected in enhanced interconnections on all levels, such
as employees treating one another with greater respect and understanding, as
well as policy and procedures that truly support growth.
Consciously
using this method in the workplace can result in greater personal prosperity
for all, beyond any materialistic gains.
Bio: Hal Bolton is a retired CEO and business consultant and author of the forthcoming book The Dragon’s Teeth: Transforming War Myths in the Workplace. He resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
