Consciousness and organizations

#42 - Dec.2022

The study of consciousness is a fascinating world! It is amazing how little we know about the mysteries of what makes you, you.

When you are conscious you acknowledge your identity. You have intentions. You build more complex ideas such as purpose and life goals. When unconscious, you are in an idle state as when you are sedated or heavily brain-injured. Intentionless. Static.

Some scientists theorize that consciousness is a mix of the level of information (inputs/ideas) and integration (the overall experience). Both properties are needed to consider a conscious state, not just one of them.

Isn't this surprisingly similar to how an organization behaves? We could agree that some organizations are much more conscious than others; they are driven by intention and purpose. They acknowledge their identity as a group. They are not idle and static.

I believe 'unconscious organizations' lack information and integration properties. They either lack a valuable flow of information to make better decisions at every level or they don't promote the proper integration between teams, creating silos between teams.

Unconscious organizations are like sleeping creatures. Wake-up!