What is the practice of co-intelligence? Part 1

Co-intelligence is a worldview and capacity that manifests in various methodologies and as an applied philosophy. It involves embracing wholeness, inclusiveness, and interconnectedness in addressing challenges and situations. Practicing co-intelligence includes seeking to understand and engage with the evolving whole, including more lives and perspectives, nurturing relationships, and developing systems that enhance collective capacity. It can be approached through principles, inquiry, and cultivating specific qualities. A community of practice can help practitioners learn from each other’s experiences and explore challenges together.  In this series of posts I provide six approaches around which to organize communities of co-intelligent practice.

Convening a community of practice around practicing co-intelligence

I’d like to provide here a foundation for a community of practice around co-intelligence. It is not obvious how to do this, since co-intelligence is a worldview and a capacity more than something we DO. The doingness of co-intelligence manifests most obviously in diverse “co-intelligent” methodologies or “processes.”  But co-intelligence can also be used as an applied philosophy, an overarching guide for how to live our lives.  

So I’m thinking that both these dimensions of co-intelligence can be embraced by a community of practice:  Activities in a co-intelligence community of practice can help practitioners who use “co-intelligent” approaches learn from each other’s understanding and experiences. So, too, can people trying to live their lives more co-intelligently learn from each other’s thoughts, feelings, and real-life stories as they explore their lives together.

Finally, since co-intelligence is a very broad topic with virtually infinite manifestations – despite its fundamentally simple core of “wholeness” – a community of practice would ideally have several different perspectives on co-intelligence to provide diverse starting places and flexible guidance for the journey.  So in this series of posts I’m providing six different approaches to exploring the practice of co-intelligence.  Any or all of them can be referred to during a person’s or group’s explorations and development.  See which appeal to you.

Here’s the first one…

1.  The simplest way to look at it

Co-intelligence is about working together smartly and seeing the big picture. It means including different viewpoints, caring about how everything connects, and making choices that help everyone in the long run. People can practice co-intelligence by asking good questions, being open to new ideas, and working on skills like listening and cooperation. A group of people interested in co-intelligence can learn from each other’s experiences.

Co-intelligence helps us connect better with the big picture of life. It’s about seeing more of how everything fits together and changes over time. By including different views and ideas, we can understand more of what’s really going on. This helps us make choices that work well for everyone and everything in the long run.  As we practice co-intelligence, we get better at noticing what’s important and how our actions affect the whole world around us.

A community of people noticing and sharing their experiences with these dynamics of co-intelligence can help them all do co-intelligence better.

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Tom Atlee, The Co-Intelligence Institute, POB 493, Eugene, OR 97440

Appreciating, evoking and engaging the wisdom and resourcefulness of the whole on behalf of the whole

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