An Integral Practice for Evolutionary Leadership and Change

with Peter Merry and Dylan Newcomb

We are in the midst of a global transition. Mainstream ways of thinking and leading are proving inadequate to the complexity of the challenges we face.  Collectively we are in need of new maps to help us see more clearly and navigate more effectively.

In this module we will illuminate our current leadership challenge using an integral evolutionary perspective – that is to say, a perspective in which everything is interconnected and evolving. We will learn and practice a number of tools and approaches that support this perspective, including Integral Theory, Spiral Dynamics, Theory U, and the Chaordic lenses. We will also deepen our understanding of who we are and what we are being called to do, drawing on practices such as Circle, World Café, Open Space Technology and Deep Ecology. While exploring these tools and practices, we will also identify some of the common principles behind them all, so we are better prepared to choose the right tool at the right time. We will ground our learning in our current realities and in our bodies as much as possible, ensuring that we take home the insights that emerge. To do this, we will work with real case situations, as well as embodiment exercises. 

What we will leave with:

• A greater capacity to make sense of our current global situation, explain it to others and develop interventions that are coherent with natural dynamics
• A greater capacity for using our physical bodies to assess situations and shift our own energy
• An integral body practice that we can do daily
• Case stories that can illustrate and inspire
• Friendships that hold potential for high-impact collaboration

This module is for anyone who is committed to aligning their selves and their work with the needs in the world today. It will require that people are open to exercising all parts of their being – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. We would love to have you with us on this journey. It is also our highest intention to have significant amounts of fun...

Peter Merry is a founding partner of Engage! InterAct, Chair of the Board of the Center for Human Emergence (Netherlands) and Director of The Hague Center for Global Governance, Innovation and Emergence.

Peter works in many different sectors. Projects include facilitating Integral change processes in a multinational technology corporation, major airline and Dutch ministry. He is currently in the core team of the State of the World Forum and related Global Transition Initiative. He is a recognised expert in the field of evolutionary systems dynamics and Spiral Dynamics Integral in particular. He is the author of Evolutionary Leadership (Dutch 2006, English 2009). His passion is to help us connect with clarity to our current condition and organise ourselves rapidly to take the necessary action. He has a Masters degree in Human Ecology and has strong roots in theatre and folk music.

Watch this video of Peter speaking about chaos and change.

Dylan Newcomb is a founding member of the Danslab Institute for movement research in The Hague, and the inventor of the 16 Ways approach to body-mind development. He trained at the Juilliard School in both dance and music composition, after which he danced for eight seasons with the Netherlands Dance Theater, a leading contemporary dance company based in The Hague. For the past seven years, he has been choreographing and composing his own work independently and has won several major Dutch awards for his work, including best choreographer, best dancer, and the Phillip Morris Prize.

A long time practitioner of Vipassana meditation and many styles of Yoga, Dylan is certified in Psychological Kinesiology and maintains a small private practice as an energy psychologist, assisting people in resolving personal issues on the mental-emotional level. A large portion of his time and effort is dedicated to researching, developing and teaching The 16 Ways, which blends Integral theory, I Ching/Yin-Yang philosophy, and psycho-energetic rebalancing techniques with dance, music and the creative process. For more information, see dylannewcomb.com.

ALIA Europe Modules

The Art of Hosting Transformational Change
with Toke Paludan Møller, Monica Nissén, and Phil Cass

Embodied Leadership
with Wendy Palmer

An Integral Practice for Evolutionary Leadership and Change
with Peter Merry and Dylan Newcomb

Practicing Fearlessness in Times of Fear
with Margaret Wheatley and Jerry Granelli

Solving Tough Problems: Co-creating New Realities in Complex Systems
with Adam Kahane, LeAnne Grillo, and Mustafa Suleyman