What value do Dabrowski's ideas have for understanding and guiding organizational change?
This question has been traveling with me for a while, partly because it touches on the personal and professional experiences of people I meet within trainings and individual sessions, and also because similar questions were recently raised in a podcast interview with Kate Arms.
How does an organization become self-reflective?
Dabrowski's theory is about a process of psychological development through which an individual can develop into a 'personality'. Positive disintegration is the transformational process, psychic structures ‘dis-integrate’ and a qualitatively different psychic organization is born. A newly developed, embodied value system is central to this development and works as a moral compass for choices and actions. According to Dabrowski, this development depends on the developmental potential of an individual. In addition to the (social) environment and autonomous, psychological growth forces ('dynamisms'), the so-called 'overexcitabilities' are part of this.
Overexcitability is an above-average responsiveness of the nervous system. Individuals who are above average excitable could be so in five different areas, according to Dabrowski. The intense and complex inner experience associated with these overexcitabilities can be very valuable within organizations - all the more so in a rapidly and complexly changing societal landscape.
Some examples:
An emotionally overexcitable person will be able to perceive an organization 'feelingly' as a whole connected by relationships. The change readiness of an organization relies heavily on the quality of relationships. Trust, daring to deal with uncertainties, daring to experiment… all these qualities rely on the experienced relational safety. An emotionally intense person is sharply attuned to the ‘nervous system’ of the organization and discovers, for example, where and for whom safety or growth needs get frustrated, what type of communication is attuned to these situations and how relationship conflicts are wisely alleviated, or even seen and approached as a potential for creative and emotional growth. Also, an emotionally sensitive person might take into account the particular needs of other sentient beings and advocate for their wellbeing within the (broader, ecological) context of organizational decisions.
An imaginationally overexcitable person could flourish within innovation, finding creative solutions to problems (perhaps not yet discovered by others) and perceiving realities that do not (yet) exist for others, for example by tackling an issue spatially rather than linguistically (which can benefit the company’s understanding of and experimenting with complexity) or by sketching far-reaching images of the future (from doomsday scenarios to the projections of certain ideals based on a consciously developed value system).
An intellectually overexcitable person, with his, her of their potentially sharp judgment and clear self-awareness, can be part of the moral and ethical compass of the organization, especially when combined with the aforementioned emotional overexcitability. These may include the people who dare to ask the deeper questions and send ethical signals when complex interests are overlooked, self-directed motivations prevail in decisions that affect everyone, costs are unconsciously externalized or long-term consequences are not adequately included in objectives.
A sensually overexcitable person could be sensitive to the impact of the sensory environment on well-being and happiness at work. Details that escape someone else's attention are emphatically noticed by this person. This can be of value at product level (think of the 'usability' of products and services, also tailored to the needs of people or other sentient beings that are often overlooked), but also at personnel level. Small adjustments in the environment may lead to much less overstimulating - or, conversely, deeply inspiring, creativity-enhancing - environments. In a rapidly changing world, what environments and stimuli provide essential moments of rest and recovery? Which environments encourage us to approach an issue differently than usual, which 'sensations' play a role in the undercurrent of our experience, decision - and sense-making? And, how do we keep are felt sense of our (broader ecological) environment alive in us, as individuals, departments, and as an organization as a whole?
A person with psychomotor overexcitability detects faster than others when stagnation threatens the vitality of the organization, when indecisiveness has an inhibiting effect and when trying out any action or experimenting may lead to more clarity (in an organizational structure or situation tending towards chaos) over time. The energy required for change can be inspired by the person with psychomotor intensity who takes ownership of the possibilities for change and shares these options and related steps ('organizational motions') energetically. In addition, issues that may be approached mainly through cognition would also be understood through the body by a person intensively living and experiencing their psychomotor wisdom, such as the basic, physical importance of movement for well-being, but (for example) also play as an entrance to insight, flow and connection.
Now, in the above examples I approach the overexcitabilities separately and each in its own right as characteristic of a person. However, the overexcitabilities can be simultaneously present within a person’s psychological make-up, although one can be more dominant (and therefore also ‘color’ one's perception and personal development more dominantly). From Dabrowski's point of view: the more (different) overexcitabilities are active, especially the emotional, intellectual and imaginative, the stronger the development potential (not to mention that a stimulating and supportive environment is equally desirable). An executive who demonstrates many of these intensities would ideally demonstrate a dynamically balanced combination of sharp cognition, embodied emotional awareness, fluid open-mindedness and compassionate courage. In this case, the overexcitabilities work together, they are (through the process of positive disintegration and qualitatively different) integrated, and 'their operation' also shows the developed, extensive and deepened value system reflective of the transformation. The intense inner experience has been developed in a multilevel manner, according to Dabrowski's conceptual interpretation (more on this in a subsequent blog post). Seen from Dabrowski's point of view, or at least how I interpret this, intense people are therefore a source of potential growth, fine-tuned insight, developmental criticism and adaptivity, and that in a current organizational and social context that seems to demand these qualities equally intensely.
A critical note here is that it may well be that overexcitable people are more likely to suffer from an environment that is not adaptive, where complexity is not recognized and appreciated and which is not open to emotionally conscious, moral development. These are possibly people who also burn or bore out earlier, their experiences and 'dis-eases' signal a need for change, also on a systemic level. So, looking around in an organization through the lens of overexcitability (and the extended, whole process of positive disintegration) may well bring about a completely different appreciation of existing relationships and challenges. What do people with overexcitabilities need to flourish, what kind of challenges may be related to their intensities, and what is their 'organizational language'? How can we understand, appreciate and integrate their particular, idiosyncratic approach to organizational issues and their sometimes intense developmental tensions?
We can additionally hypothesize that different departments can function as (a constellation of) different (over)excitabilities, as if the organization were indeed one nervous system, or as a whole a living, breathing, willing being. In this context, I deliberately (also) use the word "excitability" because I think (contrary or perhaps in addition to Dabrowski's view) that a certain conscious excitability can be practiced, intensified and integrated, and that this makes some of Dabrowski's insights valuable in as of yet unexplored areas. More about this later, there is still a lot of excitability to investigate 😉.