Human beings and the power of collectivities

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
	Queralt Prat Pubill	Ciencias Sociales	ENG

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM

Traditionally in management studies students focus on organizing for the creation of ideas, products and services and developing certain entrepreneurial knowledge, abilities and attitudes to take those to the market. We often forget that entrepreneurs and managers need to be able to mobilize a diverse group of people with different pieces of knowledge and experiences.

It is the entrepreneur's talent in cohering and motivating a collectivity that propels the group to accomplish this creative feat. Often, this ability to cohere and motivate teams is left to chance.

Specifically, in this course, we investigate our cognitive capacities with the objective to train ourselves in the ability to understand the two different ways in which to relate to the world. We also focus on how to develop good communication so to create cohesive and motivated collectives for creativity to flourish.

This investigation is focused on the belief that a new type of organization is rapidly advancing, as it is shown by the research of Laloux (2014), Carney and Getz (2009), Davids et al. (2018). These organizations have as a central concern the development of creativity in a complex and ever-changing world with accelerated interactions of science and technology.

Thus, in technoscientific contexts, the role of managers is transformed from one of authority to one of a motivator. The manager needs to excel at creating trustworthy and serving relationships among the collective members so creativity can flourish. By investigating our cognitive capacities and learning about good communication we establish the cornerstone of our ability to motivate collectives towards creating and developing trustworthy relationships and thus our ability to foster creative development. This means that we need to re-imagine the role of managers and the processes and systems for organizing.

Furthermore, because we do not know what the future holds, and which knowledge and skills will be relevant in the near and distant future, it is for this reason that we would need to ensure that we develop this meta-capacity of engaging the collaboration of others with specialized knowledge. We can confidently affirm that nothing can happen within a collective without the ability to harness this cooperation.

19. Mediation and conflict management
17. Influence
18. Teamwork and collaboration
3. Taking decisions / making judgments
10. Intellectual curiosity (`enlightened professionalism')
9. Creativity and innovation
5. Ability for continuous learning/Ability to learn continually

CONTENT

1. The problem: the power of collectivities, which are current management needs? Required readings: Lanfranchi, G. (1977). La formation de soi par soi. La pratique. Beauvais: CDDP click here for English Excerpt Session¿s main theoretical idea: Why are we following this focus in class? what are the implications? Level 1: understanding what moves one Level 2: understanding potentially what moves others Level 3: considering the management of the axiological How flexible are our conceptions of what management and entrepreneurship is about
2. Collective communication, the theoretical approach of NVC - Nonviolent Communication Required readings: (this is one of the course readings) Rosenberg, M. (2015). Nonviolent Communication. A Language of Life. Puddledancer Press. Click here for book ENG; book in CAST Suggested other: Some links of Marshall Rosenberg in youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LuPCAh9FCc&t=2830s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C50SD-SDBKg&t=266s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2KkOPZfn_Y&t=9s Session¿s main theoretical idea: NVC offers us a way to create quality relationships by understanding how to use our cognitive capacity in a very specific way.
3. Understanding and practising human quality Session¿s main theoretical idea: In technoscientific societies, axiological cohesion can only be achieved through persuasion and thus it is demanded that collaboration is achieved willingly without any type of repression or authority. Trustworthy communication is the key to achieve such collaboration. However, the ability to communicate in a trustworthy manner is not enough. We need to foster a specific attitude that generates creative possibilities. We know, because of our anthropological constitution, that only those people who develop their human quality will be able to work creatively with others. Thus the development of human quality is a key feature to ensure cohesion and motivation can be developed in collectivities. It is the first time in human history that we have this key requirement for survival.
4. Understanding and practising human quality Required readings: Castaneda (1972) Journey to I pag 1-35 A short explanation: How to understand these wisdom traditions writings? Session¿s main theoretical idea: In technoscientific societies, the development of human quality is a requirement. We will work one text to start exploring what this human quality means in practice in our entrepreneurial project
5. Exploring the Absolute dimension (AD) of reality. Practising Human quality Required readings: Nisargadatta Please read only dialogues: 6,10,66,67 Or in this document: document only with dialogues 6,10, 66 and 67 Session¿s main theoretical idea: the Absolute Dimension is our nature. It is what defines our species particularity. Thanks to this access to an Absolute Dimension of reality we can change the way we survive, we can create dynamism in everything we do, we interpret, and we value.
6. Wrap-up NVC and HQ pillars of re-imagining organising No readings for this session Session¿s main theoretical idea: To focus on re-imagining what is organizing about.

1. The problem: the power of collectivities, which are current management needs?

Required readings:
Lanfranchi, G. (1977). La formation de soi par soi. La pratique. Beauvais: CDDP
click here for English Excerpt

Session¿s main theoretical idea:
Why are we following this focus in class? what are the implications?
Level 1: understanding what moves one
Level 2: understanding potentially what moves others
Level 3: considering the management of the axiological
How flexible are our conceptions of what management and entrepreneurship is about

2. Collective communication, the theoretical approach of NVC - Nonviolent Communication

Required readings: (this is one of the course readings)
Rosenberg, M. (2015). Nonviolent Communication. A Language of Life. Puddledancer Press.
Click here for book ENG; book in CAST

Suggested other:
Some links of Marshall Rosenberg in youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LuPCAh9FCc&t=2830s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C50SD-SDBKg&t=266s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2KkOPZfn_Y&t=9s

Session¿s main theoretical idea:
NVC offers us a way to create quality relationships by understanding how to use our cognitive capacity in a very specific way.

3. Understanding and practising human quality

Session¿s main theoretical idea:
In technoscientific societies, axiological cohesion can only be achieved through persuasion and thus it is demanded that collaboration is achieved willingly without any type of repression or authority. Trustworthy communication is the key to achieve such collaboration.

However, the ability to communicate in a trustworthy manner is not enough. We need to foster a specific attitude that generates creative possibilities. We know, because of our anthropological constitution, that only those people who develop their human quality will be able to work creatively with others. Thus the development of human quality is a key feature to ensure cohesion and motivation can be developed in collectivities. It is the first time in human history that we have this key requirement for survival.

4. Understanding and practising human quality

Required readings:
Castaneda (1972) Journey to I
pag 1-35
A short explanation: How to understand these wisdom traditions writings?

Session¿s main theoretical idea:
In technoscientific societies, the development of human quality is a requirement. We will work one text to start exploring what this human quality means in practice in our entrepreneurial project

5. Exploring the Absolute dimension (AD) of reality. Practising Human quality

Required readings:
Nisargadatta
Please read only dialogues: 6,10,66,67 Or in this document: document only with dialogues 6,10, 66 and 67

Session¿s main theoretical idea: the Absolute Dimension is our nature. It is what defines our species particularity. Thanks to this access to an Absolute Dimension of reality we can change the way we survive, we can create dynamism in everything we do, we interpret, and we value.

6. Wrap-up NVC and HQ pillars of re-imagining organising

No readings for this session

Session¿s main theoretical idea: To focus on re-imagining what is organizing about.

Methodology

Assessment criteria

Final individual project - 40% of the course grade
Group projects - 60% of the course grade (2 group projects)

Re-imagining the role of management in technoscientific societies means to develop a new way of observing, imagining, interpreting and communicating. Non-violent communication and human quality are the pillars on which to build powerful teams able to create at the pace it is required, without the need for managers. As good as this might be, non-violent communication and the ability to be creative and go beyond our own automatisms is not enough to achieve a collective organization without managers. Ideally, an evolutionary purpose needs to be designed together with an axiological project able to cohere and motivate the team towards building the desired evolutionary purpose. Thus, in this course, we have advanced some axiological technology, a new way of observing, imagining, interpreting and communicating in organizations.

The assignment for the final individual deliverable project is to present a diary in log format "what happened when by whom? applying the theories of nonviolent communication and human quality to your daily life during the month of January. The information in this diary will be treated as confidential.

What to do?
After the first class start developing an individual diary in log format "what happened when by whom?.

How to proceed with the final deliverable?
Start your text by writing an opening paragraph where you describe which were your experiments. It should contain enough information so I am able to contextualize the work you have done (max. 200 words).
Then present your log-diary developed during the month of January.
Lastly, in the case is required, as an appendix, you may include any links, images, videos, etc. with a brief explanation of their purpose.

Evaluation Criteria for the exam
A clear application of NVC and HQ
Ability to explain the difficulties and question both theories.

Final individual deliverable deadline:
email to queralt.prat@esade.edu

Grade distribution:
Exam deadline: 1 week after last class

Type:	OP	Curs:	1	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	2 ECTS

Human beings and the power of collectivities (19BBA00838)

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COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM

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