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conscious capitalism
June 2009 
Activating a FLOW Movement - draft
Posted on Apr 9th, 2007
by 
Jeff Klein
Jeff Klein
This is the second draft of a piece I wrote recently. I revised and posted it on April 10th, to respond to excellent input from Happiness on the first draft. Elendil added another insightful comment, that is leading me to some research as I develop Part 2 of this theme. (see comments below).
All comments welcome! Bring 'em on!
Namaste,
Jeff
A raging river begins as countless drops from melting snow. If we see the drops individually, their power is not likely to impress us, nor will we feel the river they will become sometime during their journey.
A movement, in the sense of a prospective FLOW Movement, is what happens when countless people converge in a river of shared meaning, purpose, intention, and act in consonance with their shared meaning.
While we don’t presume to be catalyzing a movement, we recognize the potential for a FLOW Movement to emerge, and consider our role in melting the snow and becoming drops ourselves, that might feed a great river of converging meaning and purpose.
Since we understand FLOW, Inc. to be an “entrepreneur of meaning,” then its success will likely be measured by the extent to which the meaning it purveys propagates and manifests. Another measure of its success will be its ability to establish financial sustainability, based on people paying for its products and services, which deliver meaning, guidance, and other value in exchange.
Because the FLOW vision is rooted in an understanding of the interrelatedness of all things and in explicit values and principles of human interaction (based on commitments to human flourishing, non-violence, and radical tolerance), we believe it is imperative that we embody and cultivate these values and principles in our efforts to develop and promote FLOW. To a meaningful extent, this informs the way we embody the entrepreneurial spirit, and play our roles as stewards of FLOW.
On some level, all entrepreneurship and authentic application of markets embrace radical tolerance and voluntary exchange, and support human flourishing. As long as products and services merging out of the entrepreneurial process to not cause harm or force compliance on people, and markets are not manipulated to limit access and choice, then we celebrate the creative and generative potential of entrepreneurship and the wisdom of voluntary exchange facilitated by markets, to advance human understanding and well-being.
Related to this, in alignment with FLOW principles, we refrain from condemning innovations (and other expressions of the entrepreneurial spirit), production, and consumption we may not personally relate to, identify with, or appreciate. We have great faith in the wisdom of markets and the upward flow of human consciousness.
We also know that human beings – individually and collectively – exist and function at different levels of consciousness; that consciousness evolves and can even dramatically shift; and that we can actively engage in the transformation of consciousness – our own and that of others – with significant implications for the manifestations of consciousness and the quality of our lives.
So we put forth an ambitious, optimistic, and idealistic vision for a “new operating system” for entrepreneurship and markets – one explicitly directed towards manifesting a “greater good,” that recognizes the interdependent nature of all things and that seeks to optimize the entire system.
While we appreciate and celebrate entrepreneurship in all of its forms and expressions, we also acknowledge that sometimes entrepreneurs earn the critical epithets they often receive – abrasive, narcissistic, compulsive, etc. – and we invoke and evoke a conscious entrepreneurship, based in conscious purpose and practice.
As we develop FLOW products and services to support sustainability for FLOW, Inc., and work to broadly propagate the FLOW vision and principles, the consciousness of the FLOW Ethos requires that we continually reflect, embody, and refine the FLOW Ethos and Vision to increase the relevance, authenticity, and potency of FLOW.
In this context, a FLOW Movement will emerge if enough people share and co-create the FLOW Vision, embody FLOW Principles, and act in ways that reflect and manifest FLOW. It will define itself through the voluntary participation of, collaboration and exchange of meaning between, countless people.
Our role in activating a FLOW Movement begins with our own cultivation and practice of FLOW Principles and embodiment of conscious, FLOW entrepreneurship. Specifically, we see our work of activation to include:
We understand and appreciate that FLOW is both a process and a product (or desired outcome). For the FLOW Vision to become manifest, we must embody FLOW Principles. Realizing the promise of FLOW’s signature line - liberating the entrepreneurial spirit for good – requires the light of consciousness to melt the snow of potential of countless beings, to feed a great river of love, compassion, and profound generative creativity and energy.
We embrace the potential of a FLOW Movement, and do our part to be and to catalyze the drops that feed it.
All comments welcome! Bring 'em on!
Namaste,
Jeff
Activating a FLOW Movement
Part 1: From the Inside Out
By Jeff Klein
Executive Director &
Chief Activation Officer
FLOW, Inc.
Executive Director &
Chief Activation Officer
FLOW, Inc.
Nothing in the world
is as soft and yielding as water,
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
nothing can surpass it.
Tao te Ching, excerpt from passage 78
All things flow to the sea
because it is lower than they are.
Humility gives it its power.
Tao te Ching, excerpt from passage 66
A raging river begins as countless drops from melting snow. If we see the drops individually, their power is not likely to impress us, nor will we feel the river they will become sometime during their journey.
A movement, in the sense of a prospective FLOW Movement, is what happens when countless people converge in a river of shared meaning, purpose, intention, and act in consonance with their shared meaning.
While we don’t presume to be catalyzing a movement, we recognize the potential for a FLOW Movement to emerge, and consider our role in melting the snow and becoming drops ourselves, that might feed a great river of converging meaning and purpose.
Since we understand FLOW, Inc. to be an “entrepreneur of meaning,” then its success will likely be measured by the extent to which the meaning it purveys propagates and manifests. Another measure of its success will be its ability to establish financial sustainability, based on people paying for its products and services, which deliver meaning, guidance, and other value in exchange.
Because the FLOW vision is rooted in an understanding of the interrelatedness of all things and in explicit values and principles of human interaction (based on commitments to human flourishing, non-violence, and radical tolerance), we believe it is imperative that we embody and cultivate these values and principles in our efforts to develop and promote FLOW. To a meaningful extent, this informs the way we embody the entrepreneurial spirit, and play our roles as stewards of FLOW.
On some level, all entrepreneurship and authentic application of markets embrace radical tolerance and voluntary exchange, and support human flourishing. As long as products and services merging out of the entrepreneurial process to not cause harm or force compliance on people, and markets are not manipulated to limit access and choice, then we celebrate the creative and generative potential of entrepreneurship and the wisdom of voluntary exchange facilitated by markets, to advance human understanding and well-being.
Related to this, in alignment with FLOW principles, we refrain from condemning innovations (and other expressions of the entrepreneurial spirit), production, and consumption we may not personally relate to, identify with, or appreciate. We have great faith in the wisdom of markets and the upward flow of human consciousness.
We also know that human beings – individually and collectively – exist and function at different levels of consciousness; that consciousness evolves and can even dramatically shift; and that we can actively engage in the transformation of consciousness – our own and that of others – with significant implications for the manifestations of consciousness and the quality of our lives.
So we put forth an ambitious, optimistic, and idealistic vision for a “new operating system” for entrepreneurship and markets – one explicitly directed towards manifesting a “greater good,” that recognizes the interdependent nature of all things and that seeks to optimize the entire system.
While we appreciate and celebrate entrepreneurship in all of its forms and expressions, we also acknowledge that sometimes entrepreneurs earn the critical epithets they often receive – abrasive, narcissistic, compulsive, etc. – and we invoke and evoke a conscious entrepreneurship, based in conscious purpose and practice.
As we develop FLOW products and services to support sustainability for FLOW, Inc., and work to broadly propagate the FLOW vision and principles, the consciousness of the FLOW Ethos requires that we continually reflect, embody, and refine the FLOW Ethos and Vision to increase the relevance, authenticity, and potency of FLOW.
In this context, a FLOW Movement will emerge if enough people share and co-create the FLOW Vision, embody FLOW Principles, and act in ways that reflect and manifest FLOW. It will define itself through the voluntary participation of, collaboration and exchange of meaning between, countless people.
Our role in activating a FLOW Movement begins with our own cultivation and practice of FLOW Principles and embodiment of conscious, FLOW entrepreneurship. Specifically, we see our work of activation to include:
- Articulating, disseminating, and propagating the FLOW Vision, Principles, and FLOW Ideas in general; continually refining them to reflect new understandings and insights, and feedback from the marketplace, to ensure and enhance their relevance and resonance. Some of the specific ways we currently do so and envision doing so include:
- Publishing:
- On our web site (www.flowidealism.org), through other media outlets
- The FLOW Papers – a draft in-progress currently available in sections at a private pod at Zaadz.com, soon to be more broadly available in a refined format via our website and the FLOW pod at Zaadz.com
- Fostering dialog, collaboration, and user-generated content on-line and via FLOW Activation Circles and other FLOW gatherings. These bring stories to life reflecting FLOW Vision in Action, provide access to resources and community. This will be greatly enhanced when we launch our new, wiki-based web site (very soon).
- Programs: Including Peace Through Commerce and Conscious Capitalism, through which we focus on specific reflections of FLOW Ideas & FLOW Action.
- Cultivating and embodying FLOW Values & Principles in all we do as and through FLOW.
-
- Daily practice: We consciously and explicitly hold ourselves and each other in awareness and accountability to embody FLOW Values and practice FLOW Principles in our work with each other and more broadly, and we introduce these Values and Principles, and related Practices to others, as we carry FLOW into the world.
- Conscious Design, Development, & Facilitation: With tremendous guidance, support, and resources from Interaction Associates, we purposefully design, develop and facilitate our Programs, FLOW Activation Circle meetings, and gatherings to foster a conscious, collaborative “field experience.”
- Convening and collaborating with others to propagate FLOW Ideas & FLOW-related action.
- As mentioned above, our Programs and FLOW Activation Circles are designed and produced to catalyze community around FLOW Ideas & Action.
- Our Programs are designed to provide opportunities for collaboration with other organizations who share a commitment to FLOW Vision and Principles, and whose business or organization can work with us in a balanced exchange of value for all involved.
- Employing the Zaadz tools and (soon) our wiki-based site, we are catalyzing on-line community.
- Developing systems and tools to facilitate ever-broadening access to FLOW ideas and to resources to support FLOW entrepreneurship and Conscious Capitalism.
- In addition to the Zaadz tools and our wiki-based site, we are working with the Bootstrap Network and Enterprise Teaming, we intend to employ other tools to facilitate direct collaboration between participants in the FLOW community.
- We will soon begin packaging training programs, as well as audio and video content for on-line distribution.
- We are in the process of formalizing a currently informal consulting practice to provide high-level guidance and support for FLOW-related endeavors.
We understand and appreciate that FLOW is both a process and a product (or desired outcome). For the FLOW Vision to become manifest, we must embody FLOW Principles. Realizing the promise of FLOW’s signature line - liberating the entrepreneurial spirit for good – requires the light of consciousness to melt the snow of potential of countless beings, to feed a great river of love, compassion, and profound generative creativity and energy.
We embrace the potential of a FLOW Movement, and do our part to be and to catalyze the drops that feed it.
Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.
Tao te Ching, excerpt from passage 33
Access: Public
Jeff: This is an inspiring and poetic description of the DNA of your FLOW vision. I can feel the spirit embodied in your statements, and they call to mind the same excitement I felt when I read Patricia Auburdene's MEGATRENDS: 2010. What I believe would now make this a compelling “sales” document is to take these admirable and most desirable principles, and create a “Part 2” for people who are meeting FLOW for the first time, and who resonate with your vision. This hypothetical “Part 2” could be seen as a kind of “dreamtrust” ( a “braintrust” that sets out some attainable dreams). This “Part 2” document would set out specific ways in which FLOW might serve its constituency, specific products, offerings, services. It would answer such concrete questions as how do you intend to promote FLOW to your customers/clients, how would these products be created, where would they be available (online e-courses? retreats? conference calls?), what is your business model, and so on. I believe that your excellent vision overview as presented here, coupled with an operational “Part 2” would be of enormous interest to a variety of potential markets (social entrepreneurs, triple bottom line business ventures, aspiring eco-preneurs, and……?) If you do create such a “Part 2,” written for someone who has no other material on your proposed activites, I would hope that you would publish it here. Does this help? I would certainly like to steal this for our new Business Capital Catalyst, as it expresses the spirit and atmosphere of what many entrepreneurs are trying to articulate to themselves. Blessings and thanks for an inspiring job! H.
Thank you so much for your comment. I will begin working on Part 2 this week!
Hi Jeff,
Very inspiring material!
I echo Happiness' comments about a Part Two that defines some of the specific offerings/services. I'd also recommend reading some of Ken Wilber's materials on Integral Business and Integral Theory overall as it points to the very accurate distinctions you've made about varying levels of consciousness in any organization. Wilber would also say there are uneven developmental skill issues, regardless of consciousness level and I think FLOW could help clients/customers in this area as well. Perhaps of most interest to you in developing products and services, might be the data Integral demographers/sociologists have created which demonstrates that the way we interpret any event–the meaning we give it–is wholly determined by the worldview into which our level of consciousness gives us access. This can explain a lot of the human conflict in any organization.
Anyhow, great stuff and I look forward to read part two when you;ve created it!
Ed
This is fantastic, bud.
Deep bow.
-bri
Thank you Ed. This is extremely helpful. While my familiarity and facility wiht Integral Theory is rudimentary at best, I get the relevance and will dive in. I intend to post a slightly modified version of the current doc as a first step towards phase 2, later this morning (10 April 2007).
Amd thanks for the bow Bri!
Namste,
Jeff