A visionary space that sees the future you

In a world that is complex and fast moving, how does an organization keep pace, particularly in a health care industry that is notoriously cautious? Organizations that are visioning the future benefit from the accompaniment of our team of designers and facilitators who help participants author a future that is more satisfying and impactful. We support organizations in expanding their sense-making, which increases their capacity to make enlightened choices.

We have been trying to make sense of both sides of our experience since dawn of time. Polarities can be complementary or they can seem conflictual. They often show up in our lives as tensions that feel unresolvable. Is this a problem to be solved or a polarity to be integrated? Together, we’re going to explore how we can move from the tension of either/or to the integrating wisdom of and/also across an organization. Learning to hone the strength of opposites, honoring the strength of opposing views and reducing our fear of the “other” side of things.

Vertical development is about expanding mindsets — it fundamentally changes the way we think and behave. Mindset refers to the mental models we use when we are thinking and its impact on our sense of identity. It informs our attitudes and behaviors. Vertical Development has far-reaching applications for health practice; it helps health leaders deepen their awareness of the stories they are telling themselves that shape their reality and how to expand those narratives developmentally.

Presence of mind and deep awareness creates clarity around what is necessary to fully engage ourselves and those in our care. A mindful disposition invites creativity, adaptability, and the capacity to be meaningfully present in any interaction. Leading mindfully means having the presence of attention to be aware of how our thoughts, emotions and sensations are supporting the present moment and bringing our full capacities to bear. Through mindful presence we open to tremendous possibilities.

Adversity in an organization is inevitable. How one relates to that adversity is within our power. Cultivating resilience means learning the path that transforms obstacles into opportunities. Limiting beliefs in how things should be done inhibits change and growth across organizations. We can react or we can choose; one path leads to growth the other leads to the familiar and a resurfacing of old patterns. Resilience is the opportunity to bounce forward and grow through adversity.

Leadership is 98% disposition and 2% position. That means that great leaders begin with the question: How am I leading myself? From that place we can begin to understand how we are projecting ourselves into the world and how we are inviting others to know themselves. Organizational cultures can be built around this ever evolving intelligence where everyone becomes more attuned to each other. That is a culture that nourishes mutual growth and support.

Participatory design aspires to actively involve all stakeholders in the creative process. It facilitates mutual empathy and equal engagement involving entire communities. Participatory design is an antidote to disempowering health care practice arising from destabilizing hierarchies, often seen in approaches to health care administration and across the experience of authoritarian health care. By facilitating the design of spaces, processes, and interactions developed in a participatory way, one restores equilibrium by drawing on collective capacity.

Cultivate a deeper sense of inner balance, grounding and focus. As you confidently develop the dexterous use of assertiveness and flexibility, this will ensure that the challenges you confront are handled in ways that lead to mutual empowerment and new solutions to old problems, while reducing the risk of harm to yourself or others. The result is an expansion of trust, collaboration and a healthy work culture. The experience includes time for role playing, team-building interactivity, and creative problem solving.

Warm Data Labs is an experience designed by Nora Bateson, filmmaker, educator and President of the International Bateson Institute. They are immersive group processes which highlight interdependency and generate felt understanding and perception of living systemic patterns. Without this relational awareness, we often enact simple or habitual responses to complex challenges, which in turn create their own problems and stuck-ness. By tending to what is moving and alive, we can create space for new responses to complex challenges.