Intimate Co-Creation

During collaboration within teams and organizations, sometimes dynamics appear between the co-workers that lead to various conditions that have to do with how they relate with each other. Conditions which include stagnation, tensions, stability or flow. Particularly, the dynamics between feminine and masculine forces seem to amplify these dynamics. Of course, feminine and masculine doesn’t necessarily mean women and men, but the essential principles which can be active in different flavors in all genders.

Many of these dynamics are generated by feelings and emotions, and even sexual attraction or its opposite, which are often unnoticed by the people involved and can have unconscious consequences. In my current work I want to explore how such emotions, as well as our life force, are influencing our collaboration in teams and organizations. This life-force energy, which has various names in different cultures (Libido, Eros, Élan vital, Kundalini, Tummo, etc.), is alive within us in different levels of intensity, and it can be increased and used consciously for a more effective and constructive collaboration and co-creation, through sublimation or transmutation.

Many books and research papers on this topic, mostly from the 80s or 90s, are more related to the subject of sexism, sexual violence, harassment and power games on the workplace. Not many look at it from a perspective in which the sexual energy could be used in a constructive way. Only recently, in the last few months, there have been a few articles and publications with a more positive view.

When Ideas Have Sex

I believe in the power of Love. And it needs love for the work we do, and an loving and intimate environment, where all feelings and emotions of the individual are welcome, to birth new ideas and visions for this broken economy and devastated world.

New approaches for organizational structures such as Holacracy do leave out the human aspect of collaboration. Holacracy promotes roles over people and decisions are made from rational justification and based on facts. That might be a good approach to get rid of egoistic thinking, but it dumps out the baby with the bathwater. As long work is done by humans we have to value feelings and emotions which come up in response to certain events, situations or statements made by other people. And we have to appreciate the power of our sexual energy which might influence our moods and consequently also decisions we make.

Sometimes we are not very aware of such dynamics, or even play out unconscious power games. This leads to confusion and tensions in the cooperation which are not very supportive to the outcome of projects we are working on.

Reinventing Collaboration

I startet a dialouge on that topic with several people and like to know from more how to deal with intimacy at the workplace and support a joyful, creative and intuitive approach to collaboration, where we as individuals can grow in our potential and contribute it for the organization and the common good. I understand that it is a very complex issue, that’s why I’m looking for diverse perspectives on that. I like to find answers on these questions which arose in the last few months, and maybe you can support me in that with your comments below.

How can one recognize his or her own feelings and emotions, and find more effective ways to manage, express and include these in a working situation? How can one recognize feelings and emotions in others, deal with them and support others to manage them better, themselves?

What are the possibilities to express attraction or reluctance to other people, so that they are not hurt in their feelings, and so that a further constructive collaboration is created, maintained, or promoted?

How can we provide a save working environment where intimacy between co-workers is fostered without exaggeration and suppression of the driving forces?

How can teams be put together so the diversity of genders and emerging energetic polarities can be used for co-creation?

How can we make the dynamics between people visible to make conscious choices, actions that serve every stakeholder of the organization, and have a positiv impact on future innovations?

How can we live aligned with our personal life purpose, bring our whole being into the workplace, collaborate in a joyful way and still achieve the most effective performance possible?

How can we activate and harness our life force to open up more for intuition and ideas from the emerging future?

I am interested in your thoughts and feelings.