Metatheory of Change – The Display Format

We present our meta theory of change in a new, unusual way: It does not follow a table of contents, i.e. it is not constructed hierarchically, but rather heterarchically, rhizomatically and associatively.

Each concept is surrounded by further concepts which are connected, associated, related and deeper. The system itself is endless – just like the world is, too. You can click on all circles in the rosettes of the tool, a single click leads to an explanatory text. A second click leads to a new rosette which unfolds around the chosen concept and unlocks new connections.

No matter where you start, and what you click next, follow your interests, jump forward and sideways and from the back to the front, just as you wish. The explanations are almost all individually comprehensible and refer, on their part, to other associated concepts.

Metatheory Tool

"Instruction Manual" for Non-Linearity:

The great, but not so well-known philosopher and mathematician of the middle ages, Blaise Pascal, justified this way of thinking like this:

"I will write down my thoughts without order and yet, not in a confusion without a plan. It is the true order. I will always identify my purpose by means of the disorder itself. I would afford too much honour to my subject, if I handled it with order, as I wish to show that it is not capable of this."

(Œuvres Complètes, Edition Pléiade, 1102).

Hardly anything is as familiar to readers as a table of contents at the beginning of a book.

We know what belongs where and what are the main points and the sub-items. Using this display format in our presentation of this meta theory of change, we have radically departed from such a system. Fundamentally you will only find six main areas: system dynamics, psychodynamics, team dynamics, conflict dynamics, organisational dynamics and meta dynamics. Nevertheless, these fields and conceptual worlds, are also related and, accordingly, they are linked. In our metatheory tool you will find over 1000 (in the final version from there will probably be more than 3500) interconnected, linked, associated concepts, which are explained as concisely as possible. So far, the concepts of psychodynamics and team dynamics are online. The area of organisational dynamics is being developed now.

An Integral Theory Must be Able to Cope with Complexity.

However, complexity is not linear or systematic. It is circular, it is based upon references, not causes, it is relational, it is, within itself, boundless; in particular, it seems contradictory, unclear, multi-dimensional, paradoxical and full of ambiguity. We have tried to do justice to these particular features by the way in which we present them. Thus we are guided by the theory styles of Pascal, La Rochefoucauld, Bacon, Erasmus, Schlegel and Nietzsche. And we use the possibilities which IT now offers us to present an associative networking logic as an alternative to the dominant, hierarchical, ordered arrangements, which don’t ‘exist’ in the real world.

Therefore, an Unwritten, and Considerable Part of this Theory Consists of Connections, in the Display Format.

The world is not hierarchical and ordered, nor is the world of counselling. Many different matters arise at the same time, in the same place and within the same context, coincidentally and without recognisable rules, complex and relevant. No one can say, this does not occur in my concept, in my plan, therefore I will ignore it (even though, of course, exactly this is what happens continuously). Those who are interested in change or who occupy themselves with it professionally, need an associative, implicit, comprehensive and inexplicable knowledge about the correlations. Often this is called ‘experience’.

 

Further Instructions for Use

When you allow yourself to experiment and explore, by means of interests and clicks, then you may also. at first, lose something or get bogged down by the lack of the habitual orientation. But possibly you will also discover the obvious and hidden order, maybe arrive at surprising correlations through unexpected references, and will allow yourself to be stimulated to invent your own network and your own associations. If you cannot get on with something, then simply move on by clicking. Sometimes the explanations are in everyday language and sometimes more demanding. This is the intention.
By colour-coding – which you will recognise from links - you will be kept up to date about that, which you have already read. Sometimes you will gain a different understanding by reading something twice or three times. We invite you to do this. There is much talk about networked thinking. Here you can try it out.
The literary form is aphoristic: Short, by necessity incomplete texts. Sometimes theoretically abstract, sometimes pragmatically entertaining, sometimes pointed, sometimes thought provoking, sometimes veering off course, always fragments.
We are continuing to work on this, on the style, type and form of the theory. Please continue to drop by. Click here to find our tool: Metatheory Tool