It is so easy to complain about the sinister that crawls out of systems of control.

What is the model of a healthy organization? What can we look up to as an example?

A healthy organization allows, indeed invites, self-critique from within. It is not sure of its ‘rightness’, just like I am not sure as an individual about my actions. There is a degree of faith required in any healthy organization, that the direction taken is indeed headed towards the light, when darkness daily confuses our sense of direction.

My mentor says that healthy systems all have the following:

• A sense of community
• Inclusion and welcoming of diversity
• Subjectivity, the ability to look at any situation from the perspective of another
• Change, both the willingness to adapt, and the intention to live boldly with a sense of adventure. No adventure is stable, that would be the place of the flat-line, at the end. Risk is inherent in the objectives of health.

He also says that Responsibility, Accountability and Authority all need to be present in a roughly balanced way.

Are the organizations you work, play and contribute to healthy?

If not, will you stand up for the principles above?

Castenada says that “Opportunity has to be actively grasped”

Cut out the cardboard sides of your organization and view stories from every direction. If it works, use it, and remember, premises or theories may be wrong…