{"id":9850,"date":"2022-09-15T19:06:46","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T17:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evolute-institute.com\/?p=9850"},"modified":"2024-12-16T13:14:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T12:14:40","slug":"mote-elefanten-i-rommet-inntil-dypet-i-det-interne-arbeidet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evolute-institute.com\/nb\/personal-development-leadership\/deep-inner-work\/meeting-the-elephant-in-the-room\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00f8te med elefanten i rommet - den glemte veien til indre arbeid for personlig utvikling og lederutvikling"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDmitrij Achelrod PhD\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDr. Dmitrij Achelrod (PhD) is passionate about advancing human and planetary well-being. With an extensive background in healthcare and data science, Dmitrij has pioneered AI-powered solutions at high-growth tech startups, served on advisory boards in digital therapeutics companies, and co-founded Evolute Institute to cultivate wisdom in leadership circles.\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Contributing Author
Christopher Kabakis<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDmitrij Achelrod PhD\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDr. Dmitrij Achelrod (PhD) is passionate about advancing human and planetary well-being. With an extensive background in healthcare and data science, Dmitrij has pioneered AI-powered solutions at high-growth tech startups, served on advisory boards in digital therapeutics companies, and co-founded Evolute Institute to cultivate wisdom in leadership circles.\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Contributing Author
Christopher Kabakis<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What does “deep inner work” actually mean?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In the many conversations with leaders and change-makers from diverse sectors (business, non-profit, NGO, government) from all over the world over the past year, people continuously asked us one fundamental question: \u201cWhat does \u2018deep inner work\u2019 really mean\u201d? Numerous schools of thought, ranging from millennia-old philosophies to modern academic approaches like developmental psychology and evolutionary biology, have made invaluable contributions over time to the understanding and fostering of human growth and development. At Evolute Institute, we tried to synthesize the best insights from these wisdom traditions, scientific theories and practices as well as from applied therapeutic process work and coaching. Our motivation was to create a framework for \u201cdeep inner work\u201d that can stand the test of time and advance human well-being and flourishing \u2013 both in our personal as well as professional lives, because the need for it has never been more urgent than now.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Why is deep inner work necessary at all?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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At a global level, we are entering an era of unpredictability and brittleness where established organizational principles of society and economy from the past are no longer sufficient or helpful. The signs of massive systemic disbalance can no longer be ignored even by the brightest optimists. To name just a few examples:<\/p>

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

Aggravating state of global mental health<\/h3>

Despite advancements in technology and in material living standards of most people in the last 4 decades, we are facing unprecedented mental health challenges. Depression and anxiety have become one of the leading causes of worldwide disability, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among teens and young adults.[1]<\/a>[2]<\/a> Both rates have been climbing over the past decades, in particular in the USA where suicide rates are the highest recorded since the 1990s[3]<\/a>. Two-thirds of young people report serious loneliness[4]<\/a>, and this trend has been rampant even before the onset of the Covid pandemic.[5]<\/a><\/p>

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Environmental collapse<\/h3>

We are on the brink of the Sixth Mass Extinction \u2013 the first one caused by human activity \u2013 with more than 25 percent (i.e. 1 million species) of plant, animal and fungi species facing extinction. The global biomass of wild mammals has declined by 82 percent and three quarter of the earth\u2019s land surface has been already severely altered[6]<\/a>. Exploitation of natural resources has reached record highs: for instance, only between 2000 and 2014, the world\u2019s second largest rainforest in the Congo Basin has lost an area of pristine forest larger than Bangladesh.[7]<\/a> Worldwide, we destroy a football pitch-sized area of tropical rainforest every six seconds.[8]<\/a> In addition to this catastrophic biodiversity loss, we are heading towards 2-3 C\u00b0 of global warming[9]<\/a>, with devastating non-linear and irreversible chain-reactions likely to follow.[10]<\/a> Even now, we are already feeling the repercussions of the highest atmospheric CO2 concentrations recorded in human history[11]<\/a>, with the seven hottest years in the past 140 years having all occurred since 2014. [12]<\/a><\/p>

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Rising inequality<\/h3>

Since 1995, the top 1% have accumulated almost 20 times more of global wealth than the bottom 50 percent of humanity. U.S. CEOs in 1965 made 24 times more than the average production worker, whereas in 2009 they made 185 times more.[13]<\/a> In 2022, the average gap between CEO and median worker propelled to 670-to-1.[14]<\/a> In most Western countries, like in Germany, social mobility has declined in the past three decades [15]<\/a> and a person\u2019s attainable social status is still heavily determined by the occupational status of their great-grandparents.[16]<\/a>\u00a0Even our lifestyle leaves vastly unequal ecological footprints on the planet, with the twenty richest billionaires emitting, on average, 8000 times more CO2 than the billion poorest people.[17]<\/a> In view of these developments, it is no surprise that people\u2019s trust in their (political, business and media) leadership has hit record lows across the globe.[18]<\/a>[19]<\/a>[20]<\/a><\/p>

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The problems are severe, and we urgently require solutions towards a healthier state of individual and collective well-being.<\/p>

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But… technology will save us, right?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Some of us might contest that what we need is simply more sophisticated technology to deal with the most pressing issues of our time. For example, if we only found a better way to store carbon dioxide or produce cleaner energy, then the dilemma of climate change would resolve, and we could continue driving economic growth. However, both empirical research[21]<\/a>, the careful observation of historical developments and even ancient wisdom tell a different story: technology developed and applied with our current mindset will only create new problems of the same kind, which in turn will have to be solved by yet more advanced technology. As long as we do not address the \u201cgrowth-constrained\u201d and extractive zeitgeist of late-stage capitalism and its alienation from the ecological, social and psychological reality, we will only perpetuate our plight.<\/p>

To illustrate our point (with a pinch of salt), let\u2019s have a look together at the following discovery we have recently made during one of our work trips through Germany: \u00a0<\/p>

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Yes, it is a beautiful, egg-shaped ceramic pissoir located inside a fuel station along a West-German highway. The astonishing detail though is not the elegant shape of this urinal, but the massive LED-screen located on top of it. That\u2019s right: we use high-resolution LED-screens and valuable resources to mount a display on top of a pissoir, so that we can be bombarded with commercials to buy products we do not need with money we do not have whilst we are emptying our bladders. An achievement the human civilization has been desperately waiting for, tech is our savior! Admittedly, this example is somewhat simplified and exaggerated, but is still raises a valid point: tech alone without the appropriate mindset designing it is very unlikely to make our lives better. Indeed, the list of innovations that once were considered game-changers and silver-bullets for humanity but post-hoc turned out to be existential threats to (a healthy) life on this planet is long: nuclear fission, plastics, artificial fertilizers, DDT, chlorofluorocarbons, combustion engines, rapid production cycles in fast-fashion etc.<\/p>

As the saying goes, we cannot solve a problem with the same mindset that created it. Jack Kornfield (PhD), a renowned Western teacher of Buddhism, put it very clearly:<\/p>

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\n\t\t\t\t\u201cNo amount of new technology\u2026will stop continuing warfare and racism and environmental destruction. This is a pivotal point in our history. The powers of science and technology now have to be matched by the inner developments of humanity\u201d.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJack Kornfield, PhD<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Inner development for outer transformation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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It follows, then, that external technological innovations\u00a0need to be accompanied by an internal development of our mindsets (to be clear: yes, innovation is important and we urgently require more green tech!). In particular, we need to start questioning fundamental and sometimes barely visible assumptions of our (Western) culture. We need to shed light on the implicit operating mechanisms that hide in our collective shadow and that fundamentally determine our worldview and values:<\/p>