Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL

present IQM concept as a “set of scientifically based tools for bringing people and organizations
into coherence.” (Childre and Cryer, 1999)
As we have already discussed in Part 1, chaos is a necessary precondition for the processes of
self-organization to occur (appearance of new structures). However, keeping things under control
is more difficult and it requires more energy when the ‘temperature’ in an organization is high
(bigger pressure on existing structures). When the interrelation of elements takes on a character of
inter-CO-relation that is focused on a certain final result (P. Anohin), then an organism as a system
is functioning in the most effective energetic regime, because projections of individual efforts on
the general direction of development lay together and pile up, and are not mutually annihilating.
Internal ‘harmony’ among components of an organization that corresponds to such inter-COrelation
and manifests itself in a certain order regarding informational content and flows, is called
sometimes ‘coherence’ (see Chapter 1.1). Energy dissipation used ‘for heating the atmosphere’ in
a coherent system is minimal.
Childre and Cryer claim that “a shift from incoherence to coherence can bring dramatic effect: a
60-watt light bulb whose light waves could be made coherent as a laser, would have the power to
bore a hole through the sun (ref. to W. Tiller, 1997). What if an organization is doing an admirable
job, providing decent customer service, good products or services - just like a household light bulb
- while without knowing it, also cancelling out much of its effectiveness due to internal distortion,
static, and stress? Light bulbs burn out; so do people, and so do organizations. …Putting
emphasis on learning how to deal effectively with workplace and personal problems will create
more coherence in individuals. Attention span, mental clarity, and creativity naturally will increase.
Coherence is efficiency in action. …When the system is coherent, virtually no energy is wasted
because of the internal synchronization. Power is maximized – the power to adapt, flex, innovate.
This coherent power results in a major leap in efficiency and effectiveness.” (Childre and Cryer,
1999)
Human history provides a lot of examples of how much more effective coherent organizations were
compared to incoherent ones. Alexander the Great was able to conquer most of the world that was
known to him. The tightly organized troops of the Mongols were unbeatable in the times of
Genghis Khan. The ratio of 1:20 was quite usual – 1 warrior would not defeat 20, but 1,000 were
able to disperse 20,000 in many cases - due to the organization, and due to the coherence. That is
very impressive. With approximately 0,2 million native people, the Mongols created the second
largest empire in world history, ruling 35 million km² (13.8 million miles²) and more than 100 million
people.
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