I attended the 14th Annual Human Synergistics Conference last week in Perth on Culture and Leadership. It centred around a new perspective on how to cultivate an edge in a world where exponential change is defining a new order. Basically organisations and the people in them are constantly working in an unconscious state. 90% of our mind is functioning unconsciously with only 10% conscious. Of the 10% we only question 20% of those thoughts and information. Stats on those leading the unconscious organisation: 29% are overrated 33% enjoy more authority than warranted 19% are in the role to advance their own success rather than the company. The higher up the organisation you go the more likely you are to be task orientated, the less likely you are to get constructive feedback (No one wants to tell you you are doing a crap job) & the more aggressive/defensive you get with your passive/ defensive abilities going down. Many jobs have no autonomy or variety. Employees are given the message that I should check my brain out at the door. Organisations put people into an unconscious state from the get go. But then put a sign up that says "use your initiative and be accountable for your actions". Many organisations are out of alignment in what they want their employees to do. Trying to implement human development over chaos doesn't work. The key message is "If you centralise all the decision making, don't ask people to use their initiative". If you want to shift from being an unconscious organisation and more to a conscious organisation then you must involve your people. In addition you will gain respect & engagement by asking them. Should you choose to involve your people in making decisions and asking them how we can make the organisation better. Before you go into that meeting/workshop you have to do the following: leave RAE at the door (rank, authority, ego). What does conscious orgranisation look like? It has courageous visionary leaders - with vision purpose and values A compelling strategy Systems promoting excellence Structures that empowers Challenging realistic goals Motivational design Genuine communication Disiplined execution Distributed influence