The Preface from Quantum Organizations
by Ralph H. Kilmann
Contents
THE BIG PICTURE
OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS
ORIGIN OF BOOK
THE BIG PICTURE
During the past century, the great success of organizations in the Western world was achieved through extreme specialization. Experts could resolve well-structured problems within well-defined fields -- and put a man on the moon. But the immense success of specialization has also resulted in a daunting progression of unintended consequences: Specialization has created widespread fragmentation -- in people, organizations, and nations. Problems no longer fit within strict scientific specialties or traditional management functions but, instead, exist in between the specialties, fields, disciplines, and categories that evolved from prior centuries. Complex problems now swirl across -- and encircle -- the entire globe. The new millennium finds itself deeply entangled with the intermingling of all social, economic, political, biological, psychological, spiritual, and environmental problems.
It is rather ironic that innovations in information, communication, production, and transportation technologies, which were accomplished by extreme specialization, have so thoroughly interconnected all people and organizations -- typified by the World Wide Web. Deregulation of industries, nations, and consortia of nations has also encouraged the merging of all aspects of business and life -- worldwide. Biological and computer-based viruses and the increasing number of nations that can generate nuclear holocausts at the touch of a button have, in their own insidious way, also contributed to the intermingling of messy problems on a planetary scale. Everything affects -- and is affected by -- everything else.
What were once simple problems that could be solved by extreme specialization have become complex problems that challenge fragmented categories. To succeed in the new millennium, accordingly, requires holistic categories that will enable members and their organizations to (1) clearly see the flowing interconnections surrounding the globe, (2) consciously think about interconnected problems in comprehensive ways, and (3) purposely behave in a manner that stimulates the meaningfulness and coevolution of life and nature throughout the world and the expanding universe. Seeing, thinking, and behaving with new -- holistic -- categories requires a mental revolution in self-aware consciousness.
The members of business organizations (or other organizations) are intimately interconnected within the global ecosystem. Their success now depends on whether they are active participants in the holistic movement that is progressing toward self-aware consciousness. They can choose to ignore it and simply continue down the narrow course of specialization -- with blinders in place. Or they can choose to embrace it -- and transform the way they see, think, and behave. But one thing has become especially clear: Denying, ignoring, or avoiding what is already happening in between scientific spheres, management functions, and most other categories is not fully engaging with reality. We live in an interconnected world yet suffer from acute fragmentation.
The term paradigm defines the fundamental challenge that confronts humankind -- as poignantly exposed by Kuhn (1962) several decades ago. The basis for a paradigmatic revolution, however, now involves all people and organizations -- not just scientists. Briefly considered, a paradigm is a fairly rigid set of mental categories (and relationships among categories) for seeing, thinking, and behaving that is organically ingrained in every person's mind/brain. When challenging problems suit mental categories, people and organizations can be adaptive. But when mental categories no longer capture the nature of difficult problems, people and organizations become endangered. Remember the age-old problem of "hardening of the arteries" as a debilitating illness that endangers life? The new epidemic for both young and old is hardening of the categories. And a paradigm that is left to work its magic in the dark becomes, ultimately, the "mental illness" that prevents all other challenging problems in the universe from being seen -- and then resolved.
Through the development of self-aware consciousness of one's own paradigm, however, the habitual blindness of one's seeing, thinking, and behaving can be brought to light. Consequently, paradigms are subject to revolutionary change -- as long as people are able and willing to undergo self-reflection in an open-minded and determined manner. Simply stated, self-aware consciousness is first getting acquainted with your own paradigm (and how it differs from other paradigms) and then consciously changing it in order to see, think, and behave in a more successful and meaningful manner -- for today's, not yesterday's, world. Conveniently, the process of self-transformation in organizations requires the continual development of self-aware consciousness in individuals. Indeed, it seems that a paradigm shift for organizations cannot occur without a corresponding shift in the paradigms of its members. "Know thyself" is the key to the universe.
The old paradigm that cultivates extreme specialization is called the Cartesian-Newtonian Paradigm. Basically, starting with Euclid's and Aristotle's notions of space and time, this paradigm became rigidified with Descartes' dualism (the forced split between mind and matter) and Newton's laws of motion (explaining the dynamics of inert objects -- but excluding life and people). The Cartesian-Newtonian Paradigm has persuasively dominated Western society for several hundred years and remains deeply entrenched in everything we see and do. Indeed, this outdated paradigm continues to inhabit our minds/brains, since it has been incorporated into the formal systems and processes of our organizations and institutions.
By the early 1900s, however, Planck's insights into quantum action and Einstein's theories of relativity had already challenged the traditional principles of Newtonian reality -- regarding the extreme separateness of light, space, time, mass, and energy and, hence, the extreme separateness of mind and matter. Eventually, a new worldview materialized from the pioneering insights and discoveries from quantum physics and relativity theory. The new paradigm, which I name the Quantum-Relativistic Paradigm, has been formulated by the "new" science -- which incorporates quantum physics and relativity theory with recent developments in systems theory, chaos theory, cosmology, evolutionary theories, neuroscience, superstring theory, and mind/consciousness research. This new paradigm explicitly includes mental categories for appreciating the dynamic interconnections of light, mass, energy, space, and time -- and the coevolution of mind and matter throughout the universe.
The classic problem of introducing revolutionary change, however, is evident: Since holistic categories in the new paradigm do not match the specialized categories in the old paradigm, it is rather difficult for Western people to comprehend -- and assimilate -- what appear to be incredulous theories and findings from quantum physics and relativity theory. Notice: If a person doesn't have a category for something, it doesn't exist. Yet by setting a process of self-transformation in motion for an organization, an assortment of powerful social forces are able to encourage all members to get thoroughly acquainted with their old paradigms while learning to see their world in a new light. Enabling self-transformation, therefore, brings about the much needed revolutionary shift in paradigms -- even though members' specialized categories were not at first able to make much sense of the unfamiliar (holistic) challenges before them.
Albert Einstein was supposedly fond of saying: "A problem cannot be solved by the same consciousness that created it." The interconnected problems created by the organizational success of extreme specialization, therefore, cannot be solved with the same fragmented categories that still exist in the Cartesian-Newtonian Paradigm. A new self-aware consciousness is needed if we are to resolve the interconnected problems that now flow across all the old categories -- problems which can now be witnessed and addressed by the Quantum-Relativistic Paradigm.
The distinctive purpose of my book is twofold: (1) to provide a deep understanding of the two dueling paradigms and (2) to offer an effective method for enabling self-aware consciousness and self-transformation in organizations. By applying these insights and approaches, it is possible to create quantum organizations. Although some organizations manifest one or more attributes of this new invention, despite a broad search I was unable to find a single example of a quantum organization -- in which the thrust of transformation was enabling self-aware consciousness. There are many examples of piecemeal efforts at transformation or cases of organizational improvement imposed on members. But self-transformation -- which enables members to examine unconscious paradigms, discover hidden forces, and self-design formal systems and processes -- still remains to be seen.
There have been a couple of efforts to translate the new science into an organizational framework, particularly Margaret Wheatley's 1992 book, Leadership and the New Science, and Donah Zohar's 1997 contribution, Rewiring the Corporate Brain. While these two works introduce the reader to the new science, they go neither far enough nor deep enough into the primordial mystery of self-aware consciousness -- and how to accelerate this mental revolution for members and their organizations. Even more to the point, these books do not offer change initiatives that empower organizations to transform themselves into the new paradigm. Readers of these beginning works are left on their own to figure out what to do with the exciting new knowledge that the new science offers. Consequently, I wrote my book to fill these noticeable gaps by examining self-aware consciousness in depth while presenting a completely integrated program that enables all members to achieve organizational success and personal meaning.
In this preface I discuss how all the material in the book is arranged into chapters -- consistent with the dire need for holistic categories. After summarizing each chapter, I reveal the origin of this book, including the authors who stimulated the shift in my paradigm. The preface concludes with special acknowledgments to the people who actively supported my personal and professional development.
OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS
The material in this book is organized into Chapters 0 to 6. Realizing the extreme specialization that has dominated Western civilization, just think how easy it would have been to divide three hundred or more pages into many more chapters (between ten and fifteen), so that each chapter would be somewhere between twenty and thirty pages long. This is the standard for management books -- which, incidentally, parallels the large number of extremely specialized departments that still exist in most organizations. Short chapters seem easier to absorb than long ones. When one's mental categories are suited for extreme specialization, what is most comfortable (or familiar) for our minds/brains, however, may not be best for deeply understanding -- and then changing -- our entrenched paradigms. A book composed of many small chapters may seriously fragment holistic categories.
Even if it is more demanding, therefore, to scrutinize a long chapter (between forty and seventy pages in length), holistic categories necessarily include a more encompassing piece of the whole puzzle. Moreover, these holistic categories (chapters) also embody the interfaces, interconnections, and interactions that generally fall in between specialized chapters (just as when some tasks are not clearly assigned to any unit in an organization, they tend to fall between the cracks). But organizations are changing their structures from management functions (extremely specialized) to business processes (holistic categories). The underlying structure of chapters in this book also reflects this movement toward wholeness.
Chapter 0 introduces the core theme of self-aware consciousness by using a story: The Ultimate Encounter. The reader will vicariously experience the deepest regrets of a person's unexamined life, which are reinforced by unconscious organizations. This story dramatically reveals the importance of knowing one's true essence (as early in life as possible) and using this self-knowledge to create organizations that encourage conscious living.
Chapter 1 describes two dueling paradigms -- the Cartesian-Newtonian Paradigm and the Quantum-Relativistic Paradigm -- summarized as seven diametrically opposed categories. Readers who can examine this material before proceeding with the subsequent chapters will attain a much deeper understanding of everything that follows. But if this forty-page chapter is too difficult to absorb as one thought, move on to Chapter 2. Later, a greater depth of understanding can still be achieved by turning back to Chapter 1. But I urge the reader to confront the mind-bending and paradigm-breaking discussion presented in Chapter 1 of this book -- at one time or another. It crystallizes the underlying worldview for achieving self-transformation.
Chapter 2 begins with a brief review of the key concepts of the new paradigm by making use of artwork. A series of figures graphically reveals the essence of seeing, thinking, and behaving in holistic ways. (For readers who may have skipped to this point from Chapter 1, these figures and the accompanying text will smooth the reentry.) Since the language of both paradigms was primarily developed from the physical sciences, Chapter 2 provides a translation of the salient terms into a vocabulary that is more appropriate to organizations. Using this dictionary, it is easy to distinguish a Newtonian organization from a quantum organization. Next, Chapter 2 describes the seven attributes of the new organization and then proposes the fundamental challenge: how to transform an old Newtonian organization into a new quantum organization. This chapter then switches to action by presenting an overview of self-transformation: (1) summarizing the three components of transformation -- quantum infrastructures, formal systems, and process management; (2) deriving the completely integrated program of eight tracks -- culture, skills, teams, strategy-structure, rewards, gradual process, radical process, and learning process; and (3) identifying the five stages of self-transformation.
Chapters 3, 4, and 5 cover the three components of transformation -- quantum infrastructures, formal systems, and process management -- each as a mini-book. Chapter 3 reviews the first three tracks of the completely integrated program, which develop quantum infrastructures. Most important, self-aware consciousness is noticeably enhanced by enabling members to manage cultural norms, implicit assumptions, and group process -- topics that were rarely, if ever, discussed previously. As a result, members learn to confront these hidden forces consciously and purposefully. Without first establishing quantum infrastructures, members will find it nearly impossible to engage in an effective dialogue about anything crucial and complex.
Chapter 4 investigates the middle two tracks of self-transformation: strategy-structure and rewards. Building on the quantum infrastructures that were established, strategy first develops the architectural plan for the future and then determines short-term objectives for all strategic business units (SBUs); structure then arranges objectives, tasks, people, and all other resources into subunits within each SBU. Reward systems are developed to motivate members to provide strategically relevant behavior and results in exchange for intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. These three formal systems must be completely aligned and fully deployed -- in order for members to spend the right amount of time on the right tasks according to the right strategic objectives. In fact, these systems should allow all members to see clearly which actions add the most economic value to their organization.
Chapter 5 presents the last three tracks of the completely integrated program -- which presume quantum infrastructures and aligned systems. All members first learn to describe, control, and improve processes within their subunits. They then are ready to self-design new horizontal subunits around holistic business processes -- supported by information technology. Once they have accomplished gradual and radical process improvement, members describe, control, and improve their learning processes: creating, acquiring, and sharing strategically relevant knowledge across all mental and organizational boundaries. Quantum organizations are thereby able to improve infrastructures, systems, and processes faster and better during all subsequent self-transformations, thus enabling self-aware consciousness, organizational success, and personal meaning to accelerate and advance.
The popular names for the material presented in Chapter 5 include total quality management (TQM), business process reengineering (BPR), and organizational learning (or knowledge management). Some of these terms have developed a negative connotation because of the high failure rate of implementing these improvement programs (which is greater than 75% for TQM and reengineering). Accordingly, these popularized improvement efforts are often dismissed as passing fads. The high failure rates, however, often resulted from ignoring weak infrastructures and misaligned systems, as opposed to any inherent flaws in the tools and techniques themselves. Basically, "the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater," which tends to discourage organizations from again trying to utilize these approaches. By making use of more neutral language (gradual process, radical process, and learning process), however, and by explicitly investigating process management within a larger context of quantum infrastructures and formal systems -- perhaps the great concepts from TQM and reengineering can still be saved. Naturally, any attempt at improvement or transformation that does not take into account the crippling impact of poor infrastructures and misaligned systems is also doomed to fail, become a passing fad, and ultimately lose its potential contribution to organizations.
Chapter 6 concludes this book by summarizing twenty critical success factors that determine the key outcomes of self-transformation: self-aware consciousness, organizational success, and personal meaning. The topic of self-aware consciousness (including a mental revolution toward the new paradigm) has been the guiding light throughout our conversation up to this point. Additional material is provided to enhance this pivotal theme: Ego development (Freud) resolves the various psychological defenses and dysfunctional behavior that sidetrack ego energy; spiritual enlightenment (Buddha) reveals the highest stages of human evolution.
ORIGIN OF THE BOOK
Quantum Organizations includes most of the knowledge and experience that I have accumulated during the past thirty years of my professional career: essentially from the time I began the Ph.D. program in Behavioral Science at UCLA in 1970 until now. The bibliography lists some of my books that were important points along the way, notably, Social Systems Design in 1977, Beyond the Quick Fix in 1984, Managing Beyond the Quick Fix in 1989, Workbook for Implementing the Tracks in 1991, and Holographic Quality Management in 1993. The article that first organized the series of eight tracks into a completely integrated program was published in June 1995 as "A Holistic Program and Critical Success Factors of Corporate Transformation."
In mid-1995, however, I sensed that my approach to transformation was still missing something, but I didn't know what. Maybe I had become too acquainted with my own viewpoint, which made it impossible for me to break out of my familiar box and see something new. Because of what I was sensing, I refused to write another new book along the same lines as before -- so I just started reading. I looked for books that epitomized areas that I always wanted to learn about, but never had the time (or took the time) to read -- since I was preoccupied with my own perspective (the one I had learned at UCLA that had served me well for a quarter of a century). To make a long story short, there were several books that altered the way I see and think about organizations, which restructured my paradigm.
Leahey and Harris (1993) did a fantastic job of presenting and then integrating some basic material on learning and cognition, including how the mind/brain works. Then I switched to economics and thoroughly read and studied the brilliant work by Milgrom and Roberts (1992), which sets the stage for developing an economics of holism. From there I visited the evolution of consciousness in the universe -- from the very first photon to the limits of human enlightenment: I learned how Young (1976) integrated physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, and spirituality via evolutionary theories. The consciousness theme then brought me to Grof (1993), whose insights awakened me. Transpersonal psychology (finding that people can consciously engage with past, present, and future life forms and matter in the cosmos) must be the utmost challenge to the current paradigm in the Western world. My mind was so stimulated by these ideas that I attended Grof's weeklong workshops. These transpersonal experiences changed my views about the links between mind/matter and psychology/physics. At this juncture, I had to learn about the beginning of time (and when time might end) and the creation of matter and consciousness in the universe.
The next stop on my nontraditional journey was quantum physics and cosmology -- with a keen interest in universal consciousness. The new science was introduced to me by Wheatley (1992) and then Zohar (1997). I thoroughly enjoyed Goswami (1993), because he expanded on the theme of consciousness -- which for me highlighted the real challenge to the old paradigm. Smolin's (1997) book on cosmological natural selection was just as challenging as Grof's work, suggesting that universes are evolving in a manner not unlike life forms on earth. Smolin also included stimulating discussion of Einstein's relativity theory and how it might be joined with quantum theory -- sometime in the future. Smolin also introduced me to string theory, which led me to several additional works on this subject.
I next studied Shlain's (1991) book on art and physics. Not only did I learn the history of art (with doses of music and literature), but I learned how artists' creations anticipate later developments in physics (including the new science), by fifty to several hundred years. Linking right-brain art to left-brain physics (with a lag in between) provided an understanding of science that further challenged and changed my paradigm. Shlain's book also encouraged me to use artwork to illuminate science, which activates both halves of the human brain. (Indeed, the reader will encounter more than one hundred figures in this book.) Ken Wilber (1995) addressed both halves of the human brain by incorporating "all" history and philosophy across the Eastern and Western worlds. His penetrating insights extended my understanding of consciousness into spirituality. I had to read much more, of course, but these are the authors who transformed my mind.
Someday I would like to hold a creative, interactive workshop and invite these ingenious thinkers to attend: Goswami, Grof, Shlain, Smolin, Wheatley, Wilber, Young, Zohar. Imagine what could be generated -- and learned -- by having a distinguished group of paradigm breakers ponder the future for science and organizations. Energetic, divergent interaction is what all people need in order to break the old paradigm of specialization and begin living with the new paradigm of holism -- and the evolution of self-aware consciousness. Until such a real-live setting can be arranged, I invite the reader to trust in my ability to understand and integrate what these and other authors have provided by their written word. I have tried to capture the essence of their provocative ideas and put them in a form that will enable self-transformation -- and spiritual enlightenment.
One difficulty in writing a book that introduces a new paradigm for organizations is finding real examples. What if prototypes do not yet exist? Two forms of initial validation are useful to distinguish: (1) the proof is in the pudding and (2) the proof is in the experience.
The standard blueprint for management books is to propose a new theory or practice and supply plenty of business examples -- revealing the best practices of that new approach to management. This blueprint recites the stories of companies that have been using this "new" approach -- and what performance outcomes have apparently improved. It seems that the more companies that are cited along with demonstrative results, the more "proof" or credibility is attributed to the new approach. I call this process of knowledge validation: the proof is in the pudding. While this blueprint for validation has many positive features, it also has some serious drawbacks: It does not apply the principles of scientific research. But most perplexing is the "newness" paradox: The more companies that are already using the approach, the less it can really be new! If other organizations are waiting for this kind of proof before they try something new, they are relegating themselves to becoming followers to industry leaders who were somehow able to implement the new approach first, without any convincing "proof." Even though it helps to have some examples of what others have learned, the point is soon reached when an approach is no longer new.
At the other extreme is a different blueprint for management books, designated: the proof is in the experience. Now validation occurs if a book can shake up management thought and challenge prevailing practices -- but there are very few examples that "prove" the effectiveness of this radical new approach to organizational improvement. Here the proposed theory and method must be judged by logic, emotion, intuition, past experience, conviction, and some amount of faith. Does the new approach stimulate dialogue, confrontation, and self-reflection? Can the new approach lead to change, improvement, and transformation before other organizations find the way? How does one become the popular example that will be cited in the future, which will thus demonstrate "proof" of the new approach? This blueprint is about stimulating contemplation, self-awareness, and action -- rather than providing well-known examples about others' successes.
My book falls closer to the proof is in the experience than to the proof is in the pudding. While I have included many examples about various aspects of self-transformation and quantum organizations, I cannot point to any organization that incorporates all attributes of a quantum organization. Actually, my hope is that this book will challenge people to examine their own paradigms and those of their organizations. As people achieve both self-aware consciousness and self-transformation, they will create living proof of quantum organizations. At some point, we can then determine if holistic categories with organized action can effectively heal the interconnected problems that encircle our globe.