I believe in the power of groups in a world where this belief is not widely held.
We live and work in groups, and yet the mindsets and skillsets needed to work with groups intentionally are rare – it is a blend of art and science that only a few weirdos like me invest the time to learn. I think that part of the problem is that most people never experience the positive potential of group settings.
I only have to listen to how people talk about the endless meetings at work, to hear this. If meetings and group work are painful and to be avoided, why would anyone want to learn about them? And yet, I truly believe that the world today needs collectives – groups, teams, communities, projects – to come together effectively more than ever.
Whilst every situation is unique, I can see that there are four potential superpowers I have seen groups fulfil.
The wisdom of a group
- Information exchange – Through sharing information group members can raise their awareness – this is the most common form of group work in business.
The synthesise that is possible through conversation and collaboration
- Generate new ideas through the synthesis of different views – The potential, when facilitated well, to synthesis multiple perspectives to cocreate something that no one person could achieve.
- Solve complex challenges together – when groups have diverse membership, they hold the potential power to work with complexity and to develop solutions that work in complex situations.
Learning and adapting
- Collective learning and adaptability is at the heart of sustainable change. This is very different to the ‘done to’ change programmes that pervade modern workplaces. This quality of work is only possible when a group of people are willing to work and learn together in a situation, then collective adaptability becomes possible.
- A group can create more impact for change than an individual when there is connection to a common cause, connection to each other and freedom to act. Sustainable collective change comes from a group doing and BEING different in a system.
Healing
- There are many different modalities of healing that enable people to work through their issues, grow and develop. Groups have the power to support healing when we create space of belonging where there is enough safety and challenge for people to learn with the support and witness of others. This feels different from individual healing.