Recently a friend asked me how I became inspired by self-management and new ways of working. After hearing the story, she encouraged me to write about it. So this is my best attempt.
Throughout the 1980s I worked as an insurance broker at several of the main international firms. These businesses were run in a very conventional, top down, Machine style – hierarchy, layers of management, rules and bureaucracy. This was my management ‘norm’.
In 1986, I discovered a system of self-development called the Fourth Way. In 1990, I left the world of insurance (forever), and I moved to California, USA to live at the headquarters of a Fourth Way school. I stayed there for seven years. This was a (mainly) closed, ‘monastic’ community; like all the students I worked in depth on the practice of being present. This included intense inner work (individual, one-to-one, and group) on self-observation, self-awareness and obstacles to presence.
The external expression of this Fourth Way school had two main elements – The Arts (classical orchestra, ballet, opera, theatre) and an Estate Vineyard and Winery – and the latter was a commercial operation. Below is a picture of the estate. Wine critic James Halliday said:
“If there is a more remarkable vineyard in California, I did not see it. I can only suggest you move heaven and earth to make an appointment, for you will see both when you arrive.”
The Arts and Winery operations were divided into discreet activities e.g. staging an opera, growing grapes. The most remarkable aspect was the pressure of the inner work and the lack of ‘management’ structures that informed this laboratory of consciousness. Each activity was coordinated by a student and supported by other students – the allocation of these roles changed periodically. Because everyone was a student, no person was in charge as such, and things unfolded in a collaborative spirit where each person gave consent through their actions. And if a person did not agree with the direction, there would be a very direct, honest conversation, with feedback as necessary. At certain points in the calendar e.g. harvest, one activity took priority, but any support arrived on a voluntary basis.
At this point in the story it’s probably easier to tell rather than write so if there are any intrigued podcasters, you’re welcome to get in touch.
