Thresholds, phase changes and reset buttons
Tom Schwarz commented:
For me there is a significant difference between nature’s phase changes (at thresholds) and that when a collaborative group’s reality transforms - once a group’s awareness has been expanded/altered - there’s usually no ‘going back’ - no ‘reset button’ .. why I regard collaborative processes as being able to lead to genuine transformations
So whereas nature’s phase changes are two way, you are pointing to one way happenings. Perhaps the natural analogy might be species creation or extinction, rather than the collapse and recovery of populations.
I reckon groups are products of their situations. Almost by definition, they form to change the situation in whole or in part. Changes and cycles in the group usually parallel changes and cycles in the broader situation.
For me, the gift of collaboration is that it draws on the resources of the whole group. It enables those resources to be allocted and used much more effectively. It is this that leads to transformation.
All up, a useful metaphor. Best to learn from it, rather than get carried away with it though.