How All Human Systems Work
Development, Balance, Harmony, Leadership
Every human being has an internal system, and all humans live in a series of nested external systems.
Human systems at all levels function according to similar principles and are in constant feedback loops with each other. Each of us influences the external systems in which we are embedded, and those external systems, in turn, influence our internal systems. To facilitate healing and transformation, we must understand our internal systems and the external systems in which we are embedded. When we enter a human system, internal or external, we must be sensitive to the ecology of that system.
An individual human is a system, comprising parts and Self. A system is an entity in which the parts relate to each other in patterned ways. In a human system, those relationships can be healthy, harmonious, and growth-enhancing, or they can be unhealthy, conflict-ridden, and stunted in some areas of development. It depends on the leadership. If a human system is Self-led, it will be balanced, harmonious, and developing in healthy and creative ways. If a human system is dominated by burdened parts, it will be unbalanced, polarized, and unable to mature fully. What is true for the internal systems of individuals is true also for external human systems, like families, communities, corporations, and nations, even the planet.
All human systems, both internal and external, possess four mutually influential dimensions of functioning: development, balance, harmony, and leadership:
Development: Development describes the growth and evolution of a system. Human systems, whether at the individual or the group level, need time and a sustaining environment to develop their potential. A sustaining environment is safe, nurturing, and unconstrained by burdens of limiting conditions and beliefs. Such an environment gives an individual or a group the space to learn about and make use of their innate resources. Leaders need time to develop; parts or members need time to find their preferred roles. The opposite of a sustaining environment is a constraining environment. A constraining environment is unsafe, not reliably nurturing, and burdened by limiting conditions and beliefs. Such environments inhibit development and lead to problematic leadership, that is, leadership by parts or members that have little or no access to Self.
Balance: Human systems function best when balanced. Balance is the equitable distribution of influence, resources, and responsibilities. A balanced system also has functioning and flexible boundaries that provide, on the one hand, safety and privacy and, on the other hand, connection and access to other relationships. In other words, the boundaries are neither too rigid nor too porous; they are balanced. The opposite of a balanced system is one that is unbalanced; influence, resources, and responsibilities are not distributed equitably, and boundaries are too rigid or too porous.
Harmony: Harmony describes relationships that are cooperative, collaborative, and flexible. If there is competition, it is healthy; all involved are respected regardless of outcome. In a harmonious system, all members are valued and feel valued. Differences are respected, while still honoring a common vision. Members of such a system are willing to sacrifice for the sake of the system, confident that the other members will support them at key moments. The opposite of a harmonious system is a polarized one. Instead of flexibility and cooperation, there is rigidity, conflict, and destructive competition. Some members are valued; others are disparaged; still others are ignored. Members disagree on the common good; in other words, there is disharmony.
Leadership: To have balance, harmony, and healthy development requires effective leadership. An effective leader ensures the safety of all members, respects all members, allocates benefits equitably, facilitates the flow of accurate information, mediates disputes, provides a vision, and acts as a trusted ambassador when dealing with other systems. Self is the natural leader of human systems at all levels because Self has the qualities that engender trust, the perspective to consider all points of view, and the willingness to be fierce for all.
A Self-led system naturally finds balance, harmony, and development.
When Self is not available to lead, human systems at all levels, organize into three groups: managers, who are pre-emptive and controlling; exiles who are hurting, isolated, and desperate, and firefighters, who are reactive, impulsive, and distracting. The more burdened a system, the less access to Self, and the less access to Self, the more the system is unbalanced and polarized and the more troubled the leadership. A burdened system is an unhappy system.
Systems that are not led by Self will be dominated by managers, firefighters, exiles, or polarizations:
Manager-dominated systems can be rigid, critical, controlling, depressed.
Firefighter-dominated systems can be chaotic, impulsive, compulsive.
Exile-dominated systems have trouble functioning as adults: the person can’t hold a job, and they get into abusive or otherwise dysfunctional relationships.
Systems dominated by polarities tend to be paralyzed or on a seesaw.
As access to Self increases, systems naturally begin to balance, harmonize, and develop. Managers become less rigid and help us function effectively; firefighters become less reactive and help us relax, recharge, and appreciate novelty; exiles return from lives of pain, shame, and fear and offer their many gifts, like joy, innocence, and wonder; and polarities relax and parts with different skills can work as partners. In sustaining environments, systems have a natural tendency to heal, to discover their innate resources, and respond creatively to challenges. They self-actualize.
Human systems are nested in other human systems, like Russian dolls.
The systems of parts are nested in the individual; the individual, in the family; the family, in the community; the community, in the culture; the culture, in the nation; the nation, in the planet. All those systems, internal and external, display the same mutually influential dimensions of balance, harmony, development, and leadership.
In other words, human systems are isomorphic; that means they take the same shape and display the same properties at all levels. For example, the three groups of managers, exiles, and firefighters emerge at all levels. Thus, human systems are fractals of each other; you find the same impact of Self leadership or the lack of Self leadership in all human systems, whatever the size.
A change at one level leads to changes at other levels—
though you cannot predict the exact nature of the change. Human systems, nonetheless, move in parallel to each other. As you heal yourself, you contribute to the healing of the systems in which you are embedded; they, in turn, contribute to the healing of the systems in which they are embedded, and so on. So, as we heal ourselves and help others to heal, we are participating in the healings of families and communities, cultures and nations, and, ultimately, the planet. It also works the other way: as the larger systems heal, their healing ripples through the smaller systems contained within them.
Pema Chodron, the Buddhist nun, alluded to the mutuality of healing cycles, when she said, “We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves.”