‘Metacrisis’ requires rethinking

Spirituality growing

There’s a phenomenon emerging that gives me hope. It is a sign of the evolution of humanity, despite the headlines. There are global movements arising that are committed to human and planetary flourishing. And these movements are finding each other and amplifying and supporting each other’s visions of a more interconnected and loving world. They are quietly working together toward something undefinable, but there common threads in their efforts and practices.

One thread is a sense that humanity is experiencing a metacrisis. “Metacrisis” is defined by Daniel Thorson as “the multiple overlapping and interconnected global crises that our nascent planetary culture faces.” Ian Mitroff refers to this phenomenon as “wicked problems,” problems that cannot be solved by one perspective or by rational, analytical thinking. What is needed is a collective shift in consciousness that sees the complexity in the overlapping systems. Then it becomes essential to deeply listen to the many voices in these complex systems. Hierarchical approaches don’t work, and in fact they make things worse. Instead, what is beginning to occur is a spiritual transformation in thinking, in our understanding of reality, and in our systems.

In April 2020, two scientists from IBM asked what would happen if they formed a community around the integration of artificial intelligence, systems thinking, and spirituality to create community resilience in the face of covid and climate crisis? Within months, I and hundreds of people from around the world joined this organization, called Pivot Projects, to self-organize around their local projects and to learn best processes from other projects. Self-organized teams meet weekly on Zoom, and discussions take place on Slack where people share ideas and resources.

Most hopeful is the trend of enlightened business leaders who are committed to using their influence to support the elevation of global consciousness. Fred Tsao, chairman of IMC, has created a nonprofit organization called AITIA Institute to support the integration of Western science and Eastern wisdom in an approach called “quantum leadership.” Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry Wehmiller, is working with business school faculty to develop educational programs on conscious leadership. Tomas Bjorkman, a retired banker, brings together some of the best minds in the world to examine the metacrisis from a spiritual and complexity perspective. The people drawn to efforts like these are diverse, and they are full of energy for creating healthy systems to replace what is breaking down. They are idealistic, highly skilled, and they give me hope for an increased sense of global consciousness in humanity.

I personally will feel successful when global consciousness leadership is routinely taught in MBA programs. It’s beginning.