Rooted in China /Reaching Out to the World-Part 2

I. Introduction: The Problem of Fragmentation (Disintegration)

In recent years we have been developing an approach to social and eco­nomic transformation that builds on an integrated perspective. Through this approach we aim to integrate the level of the individual, the organization, and the society, as well as the four societal (organizational) dimensions of:

• Nature (animate)• Culture (civic)• Politics (public)• Economics (private/business)

[Source: The Practice of Transformation].

 
It is an approach that is equally rooted in the four corners of our world (South, East, North and West) [Source: Four World Approach], which means that we root our educational programs as well as the transformational proj­ects that go along with them, in their local context before tapping into global knowledge. It is this development of an integrated perspective (conceptually and practically) that we call genuine Social and Economic Transformation.

 
We purposefully talk about transformation, not about change. Take, as an illustration, the case of the butterfly. Here, transformation is the process of a caterpillar transforming gradually into a butterfly, arriving at a totally different stage. Change, to stay with this metaphor, is the small caterpillar growing into a big one. We argue that mere change -- a bigger caterpillar, as it were -- is not enough. Rather, we need to work towards a new organi­zational and societal form, where the formerly fragmented perspective of organization, self or society on the one hand, or the sectoral fragmentation into either economics (private business), politics (public), culture (civic) or nature (animate) on the other hand, is altogether overcome.

 
All too often today there is a tendency to use the terms economy and society as equivalent terms, in which case we overlook the other equally important aspects of society, which are its environment (nature), its culture (civic sec­tor), its public (political) sector and, of course, its economic (private) sector. This common oversight is a clear expression of how far we have come in de­fining ourselves, our organizations and societies in purely economic terms.

We are suffering from a fragmented perspective on the world as a whole, where the West, at least in the past few hundred years, took the lead. The result is totally unbalanced globalization that is dominated mainly by the west and chiefly by economics. And we are painfully aware, especially to­day, where we are missing out in relation to our environmental, cultural and political dimensions. Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations is only one of the scenarios that seems to have become all too true.

 It is high time that we develop a more integrated perspective. It is not con­ceptual beauty that is driving us; we show in our research that there are farsighted organizations all over the world that deliver extraordinary results by leading the way along an integrated path.

We have, up to now, been mainly building on case studies of organizations based in the Middle East (e.g., Sekem, Egypt; source: Abouleish, Sekem), the USA (VISA; source: Dee Hock, Chaordic Organization and One From Many), South Africa (e.g. Cashbuild; source: Koopman), Bangladesh (Grameen Bank; source: Yunus) and in Japan (Canon; source: Canon).

So far, we have not come across a major organization in China which clearly represents a fully integrated perspective. China makes, on the one hand, a positive impression on the world with ever-greater achievements in terms of economic growth, but, on the other hand, a negative one with widespread exploitation and pollution of its environment, social inequity, suppression of minority rights, and a seemingly one-sided single-mindedly economic ap­proach towards the future, leaving the perception that it is disconnecting itself from its extraordinary cultural base.

 China's development is of significance for the entire world. It is of enormous importance that 'the Chinese get it right', and do not, with their large popu­lation leverage, repeat the mistakes of the West, especially in polluting their environment. Where, we ask for example, is the strong relationship to nature that Chinese culture has built over 3,000 years? Chinese philosophies are filled with deep wisdom regarding how to live in balance with nature, Lao-Tse being only one of the most prominent exemplars [Source: Tao Te King].

The Daoist Principle of Yin and Yang is perhaps the most powerful and well known example for a philosophical perspective that aims to dynamically balance opposing forces. According to Daoism, the world is made up of two energies: There is the male (Yang) and the female (Yin), the day (Yang) and the night (Yin). These two energies are opposite forces but deeply rely on each other.

 

With Broad Air Conditioning we have identified a powerful case of an organization that strives to stay in balance with its different inner and outer dimensions, in an organizational (micro) context, and in a societal (macro) context as well. It shows that if an organization builds on its local wisdom and is rooted in local nature and culture, it can contribute strongly to a sustainable development not only of its economy, but to society as a whole.

 

It is time now to introduce our integrated perspective on organizations in more depth before we turn to our case.