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The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly
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.
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
22 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 29, 2020
Starts Off Slow, But Builds
This book was a requirement for grad school. It started off slow, but suddenly took hold of me as a reader and held my undivided attention to the very end. Instead of reading this as a resource, I began absorbing it on a professional and, most importantly, a personal level. It was one of those rare moments where you were looking for answers to some of life’s most immediate and pressing issues and then, voila, the solutions are presented to you on the pages of a book in which you never expected.
If you struggle in the beginning of this book, please do yourself a favor and have patience. My hope, along with the author’s, I’m sure, is that you will find out just how relevant and powerful the lessons in this book truly are. Thank you.
This book was a requirement for grad school. It started off slow, but suddenly took hold of me as a reader and held my undivided attention to the very end. Instead of reading this as a resource, I began absorbing it on a professional and, most importantly, a personal level. It was one of those rare moments where you were looking for answers to some of life’s most immediate and pressing issues and then, voila, the solutions are presented to you on the pages of a book in which you never expected.
If you struggle in the beginning of this book, please do yourself a favor and have patience. My hope, along with the author’s, I’m sure, is that you will find out just how relevant and powerful the lessons in this book truly are. Thank you.
June 13, 2020
Some interesting ideas, but the book presents in a way that is very abstract and difficult to wrap one's head around. I felt like the author had a hard time articulating the ideas in a concrete way, which made it difficult to grasp and a bit tedious to read.
December 16, 2012
Hang together or hang separately!
What happens when a group faces a difficult problem? In some circumstances the group arrives at an extraordinary solution that was unknown to any individual at the start of the deliberations. In other cases the group settles on a decision that becomes tragic, even though many in the group thought better of it. What are the conditions that can allow a group to access their combined wisdom? How can we connect with each other and tap into our cocreative abilities? What conditions allow a group to fall into miserable folly?
The book begins with the story of the 1949 Mann Gulch fire tragedy and uses it to differentiate individual skill and personal wisdom from collective wisdom. Then inspiring stories of unexpected success resulting from extraordinary sportsmanship, the commitment of a mom to transform an industry for the sake of the children, and the courage of a peasant to speak up and offer an idea that helped transform the United Farm Workers each demonstrate the power of collective wisdom.
Chapter three is dedicated to describing synchronicity, collective conscience, and the noosphere. Beliefs of Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Pierre de Chardin, Mary Follett, and Ralph Waldo Emerson are sampled to support these controversial theories. Because I choose to remain trapped in a causal universe I remain skeptical of these concepts. The chapter begins with an ambitious premise but delivers only a junior varsity performance, except when describing Mary Follett’s ideas on the importance of “power with” rather than “power over”.
The five stances for collective wisdom are described in chapter four. These are: 1) deep listening—an authentic curiosity about what is going on inside the speaker, 2) suspending uncertainty—deferring judgment and allowing a new truth to emerge, 3) seeing whole systems and seeking diverse perspectives—seeking the origins of positive deviance through appreciative inquiry to understand solutions that now exist within the system, 4) respect for others and group discernment, and 5) welcoming all that is arising—embracing unexpected participants and allowing unplanned events to contribute to the solution. A constant trust in the transcendent provides the confidence and patience often required for the connections to be made and the wisdom to emerge.
Three chapters describe many tragedies of collective folly. One of two conditions emerge in the group and inevitably lead to this folly. The group may separate and fragment so that one faction attacks another. This may be the rich against the poor, the engineers against the managers, the powerful against the vulnerable, the educated against the illiterate, the young against the old, or any form of us against them. Alternatively, the group may settle on an illusion of an agreement rather than an authentic and enduring commitment. This can happen when voices within the collective are suppressed and not heard—when time pressures, or temporary momentum, or shouting, or ego, or shame, or fear, or power differentials discourage or marginalize some people or ideas. This folly is illustrated with tragic stories of unfounded certainty about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, group polarization that fails to prevent thousands of deaths from childbed fever despite knowing the simple cause, and illusions of agreement suppressing warnings that could have prevented the Apollo I fire and the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
Roman playwright and freed slave Terence declared: “I am a human being. Nothing that is human is alien to me.” If we can hold on to this profound belief the collective cannot possibly fragment to draw us away from wisdom.
The book concludes with a chapter on mindfulness, an essential skill for encouraging collective wisdom to emerge. The four mindfulness practices described are: 1) creating safe spaces for inquiry, 2) enable deep listening, 3) shift attention from individual experts to group expertise, and 4) ask essential questions.
I read the Kindle edition of this book. Typographical errors that would be considered egregious in a printed version are rampant in the Kindle version. Amazon, the publishers, and authors need to work collectively to eliminate these annoying, distracting, and ugly errors that mar an otherwise artful product.
What happens when a group faces a difficult problem? In some circumstances the group arrives at an extraordinary solution that was unknown to any individual at the start of the deliberations. In other cases the group settles on a decision that becomes tragic, even though many in the group thought better of it. What are the conditions that can allow a group to access their combined wisdom? How can we connect with each other and tap into our cocreative abilities? What conditions allow a group to fall into miserable folly?
The book begins with the story of the 1949 Mann Gulch fire tragedy and uses it to differentiate individual skill and personal wisdom from collective wisdom. Then inspiring stories of unexpected success resulting from extraordinary sportsmanship, the commitment of a mom to transform an industry for the sake of the children, and the courage of a peasant to speak up and offer an idea that helped transform the United Farm Workers each demonstrate the power of collective wisdom.
Chapter three is dedicated to describing synchronicity, collective conscience, and the noosphere. Beliefs of Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Pierre de Chardin, Mary Follett, and Ralph Waldo Emerson are sampled to support these controversial theories. Because I choose to remain trapped in a causal universe I remain skeptical of these concepts. The chapter begins with an ambitious premise but delivers only a junior varsity performance, except when describing Mary Follett’s ideas on the importance of “power with” rather than “power over”.
The five stances for collective wisdom are described in chapter four. These are: 1) deep listening—an authentic curiosity about what is going on inside the speaker, 2) suspending uncertainty—deferring judgment and allowing a new truth to emerge, 3) seeing whole systems and seeking diverse perspectives—seeking the origins of positive deviance through appreciative inquiry to understand solutions that now exist within the system, 4) respect for others and group discernment, and 5) welcoming all that is arising—embracing unexpected participants and allowing unplanned events to contribute to the solution. A constant trust in the transcendent provides the confidence and patience often required for the connections to be made and the wisdom to emerge.
Three chapters describe many tragedies of collective folly. One of two conditions emerge in the group and inevitably lead to this folly. The group may separate and fragment so that one faction attacks another. This may be the rich against the poor, the engineers against the managers, the powerful against the vulnerable, the educated against the illiterate, the young against the old, or any form of us against them. Alternatively, the group may settle on an illusion of an agreement rather than an authentic and enduring commitment. This can happen when voices within the collective are suppressed and not heard—when time pressures, or temporary momentum, or shouting, or ego, or shame, or fear, or power differentials discourage or marginalize some people or ideas. This folly is illustrated with tragic stories of unfounded certainty about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, group polarization that fails to prevent thousands of deaths from childbed fever despite knowing the simple cause, and illusions of agreement suppressing warnings that could have prevented the Apollo I fire and the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
Roman playwright and freed slave Terence declared: “I am a human being. Nothing that is human is alien to me.” If we can hold on to this profound belief the collective cannot possibly fragment to draw us away from wisdom.
The book concludes with a chapter on mindfulness, an essential skill for encouraging collective wisdom to emerge. The four mindfulness practices described are: 1) creating safe spaces for inquiry, 2) enable deep listening, 3) shift attention from individual experts to group expertise, and 4) ask essential questions.
I read the Kindle edition of this book. Typographical errors that would be considered egregious in a printed version are rampant in the Kindle version. Amazon, the publishers, and authors need to work collectively to eliminate these annoying, distracting, and ugly errors that mar an otherwise artful product.
August 27, 2017
Wonderful book. It's also oddly similar to my own book, Getting Messy. We must have been breathing the same molecules from the collective unconscious or something...
It's really great to read someone else write about this stuff though, and it makes me happy and excited that I'm in this field. I think the most interesting part of the book for me was learning about Jacob Needleman's belief that the group is the new "art form" of the future. I've always been most interested in the creative process on the group level, rather than on the level of the individual. Groups have so much power, and the thing I most love about teaching is when the magic happens in a group--some larger wisdom comes through that is larger than any of us individually. Jacob Needleman wrote this in a letter to the president of the Fetzer Institute:
“I [believe:] that the group is the art form of the future…In our present culture the main need is for a form that can enable human beings to share their perceptions and attention and, through that sharing, to become a conduit for the appearance of spiritual intelligence.”
The other very cool thing that the authors only mentioned briefly, was the role of metaphor in connecting with this larger intelligence. They write:
"It is instead an expression of the belief that there exists a field of collective consciousness—often seen and expressed through metaphor—that is real and influential, yet invisible."
Unfortunately, this is their only mention of the role of metaphor in the entire 200-page book. I'm teaching my Psychology of Metaphor class at Meridian University starting in April. I know that there is so much more here than anyone has written about or knows about. For example, every external event that happens in our lives can be looked at as a metaphor which has come to bring wisdom. Metaphor is the bridge between our physical reality and spiritual wisdom. It's what brings meaning to our lives. For more about the role of metaphor, you can go to my blog and click on the category "metaphor." http://www.kimhermanson.com/
January 20, 2014
I read this book in advance of a workshop I am attending knowing that this book informed the workshop presenter. Thought it would be good to learn more about the concept through reading. Learned lots and wish this book had been out when I took Community Work back in the 1980s.
I am in a bit of a lull at the moment in terms of collective action, but am feeling pulled back into the group effort. There is a concise and helpful This book at a glance section to start. I liked this line regarding the focus of chapter 2: "In chapter 2, we discuss six stances that can deepen our capacity for wise action and prepare us for collective wisdom to arise - illustrated with stories from diverse settings and time in history." Those stories stay with you and are beautifully woven back into later chapters.
The final chapter focuses on "how to embody the power of collective wisdom in acts of mindfulness."
This is a book I will keep and read again. Even just reading the bios about the four authors makes you want to get active and reflective and contribute more to the whole!
I read this in tandem with The Lily and the Lotus and the two worked well together for me in terms of practical theory and techniques for organizing with others and being prepared internally as well to work with others. Both books point to spiritual dimensions that work for and nurture me.
I am in a bit of a lull at the moment in terms of collective action, but am feeling pulled back into the group effort. There is a concise and helpful This book at a glance section to start. I liked this line regarding the focus of chapter 2: "In chapter 2, we discuss six stances that can deepen our capacity for wise action and prepare us for collective wisdom to arise - illustrated with stories from diverse settings and time in history." Those stories stay with you and are beautifully woven back into later chapters.
The final chapter focuses on "how to embody the power of collective wisdom in acts of mindfulness."
This is a book I will keep and read again. Even just reading the bios about the four authors makes you want to get active and reflective and contribute more to the whole!
I read this in tandem with The Lily and the Lotus and the two worked well together for me in terms of practical theory and techniques for organizing with others and being prepared internally as well to work with others. Both books point to spiritual dimensions that work for and nurture me.
September 20, 2014
Recommended by Shauna. Very profound. I can see many personal and wider ways to apply the principles in this book.
Still loving this book. Would love to discuss it with a group. Along with The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods.
Still loving this book. Would love to discuss it with a group. Along with The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods.
October 5, 2015
This book wasn't actually what I thought it was going to be, but it was good. I'm starting to lead a group that is wounded and fractured and was looking for some help. This was a good book and I liked it. I don't know that I got a ton of practical guidance, but I recommend it just from a philosophical standpoint.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews