Based on nine years of research, The Power of Collective Wisdom shows how we can reliably tap into the extraordinary cocreative potential that exists whenever human beings gather together. Stories and historical examples illustrate how collective wisdom has emerged in a range of cultures, settings, and traditions, and the authors offer a set of practices to help readers realize the key lessons of the book. Equally important, they describe how to recognize the pitfalls of polarization or false agreement that lead to collective folly. Ultimately, this book emerges from a deep conviction that we all have a stake in each other and that what binds us together can be greater than what drives us apart.
The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly
Description
Table of Contents
Foreword by Peter Senge
Welcome
Use of Terms
INTRODUCTION: Collective And Wisdom Makes the Difference
CHAPTER 1: What Is Collective Wisdom and How Does It Show Up?
CHAPTER 2: Preparing for Collective Wisdom to Arise
CHAPTER 3: Inhabiting a Different World View
CHAPTER 4: What Makes Groups Foolish
CHAPTER 5: The Tragedy of Polarized Groups
CHAPTER 6: An Illusion of Agreement
CHAPTER 7: The Unlimited Co-Creative Power of Groups and Communities
CHAPTER 8: Practices of Mindfulness for Collective Wisdom
Final Reflection
An Invitation to the Web Site
Individuals Profiled in the Book (listed in order of appearance)
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
About The Collective Wisdom Initiative
About The Fetzer Institute
About the Cover Image
About the Authors
Author Description
Review Text
An extraordinary book filled with powerful insights, evocative stories, and yes, collective wisdom! Beyond the Knowledge Revolution lies the Wisdom Revolution and this book points the way.
William Ury, coauthor of Getting to Yes; author of The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop; and cofounder, Harvard Law School s Program on Negotiation
This is an exceptional work challenging leaders to question their assumptions about how to achieve organizational excellence and providing a new narrative for leading with an eye toward collective wisdom. I love this book s message that we are all needed and that each of us has a reason to invest in one another.
Carol Pearson, PhD, Executive Vice President and Provost, Pacifica Graduate Institute, and author of The Hero Within
What I find especially useful about this book is that along with its creativity in search of wisdom is its inclusion of humanities destructive inclinations, what the authors call collective folly. Decision makers and leaders will find this book a necessary stop in any search for wisdom.
Arthur D. Colman, MD, author of Up from Scapegoating; Senior Fellow, James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership; and Clinical Professor, UC San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco
The Power of Collective Wisdom is down to earth, extremely practical, and rich with wisdom a rare combination. It shows how collaboration is possible and necessary for those who care deeply about the outcome of their collective efforts. The book is remarkably easy to read but also reaches a depth of thought that is engaging and profound.
Jan Boller, PhD, RN, Associate Professor and Director of Nursing Leadership Programs, College of Graduate Nursing, Western University of Health Sciences, and coauthor of Daily Miracles
The most significant challenges of our time social, economic, and environmental are calling for leaders to understand, trust, and draw upon relational and cocreative capacities. This inspiring and practical book points the way. Not only have authors Briskin, Erikson, Ott, and Callanan written about collective wisdom, they have created it.
Diana Whitney, PhD, author of The Power of Appreciative Inquiry
In a time when expressions like wisdom of the crowd can be shorthand for quick, uninformed group decision making, The Power of Collective Wisdom gives the world a new vocabulary to distinguish the various states and stages of wisdom. Finally, a book that explains what collective wisdom is and how to harness this wisdom if we hope to survive as a species!
Peter Coughlan, Partner and Coleader of Transformation Practice, IDEO