Relationship Constellations
Finding the hidden dynamics in relationship systems within organisations
Dr.
Introduction
The word organisation comes from “organic”, a system that organises (organism),
following certain universal rules.
Either in the family, school or any
other organisation, individuals form different levels of relationships, which
themselves form regulating systems. Those systems determine a large part of our
daily lives. People are born within a system (family, community etc) or choose
to become a member of a system, for example, when joining a club or starting to
work for an organisation. Once part of a system, regardless of your opinion,
you are also part of the dynamics within that system.
Unit of knowledge
When we take one cell from a person (one unit), science has proven that that
cell contains all the information of the total body of that person. We call the
information in one cell the “unit of knowledge.”
When we take one person out of a system,
that person contains all the information of that system. That person contains
the “unit of knowledge” from that system.
One person contains different units of
knowledge from different systems.
Communication
When you have Person A, who needs to communicate with Person B, to achieve a
certain goal, it is obvious that both persons have to negotiate the outcome of
that communication.
Pure communication is a form of art that
needs quite some consideration:
When people meet for the first time, they use reference points of
understandings that are built from their own history of memories, experiences
and intelligence. Without these references one cannot communicate (example: you
have to understand the meaning of the spoken words). However, those references
are not always that clear (the meaning of a certain word is subject to
interpretation).
Understanding between life partners can be very good, but it may have taken
years before those partners started to know each other. When you meet a person
for the first time (like a customer and a sales person in a shop) the
communication takes place on assumed (learned) understandings, which can be
misinterpreted by subconscious interference of reference points (like somebody
talks like one’s diseased dominant destructive father). The negotiation of the
outcome of the communication (a sale) can be quite different when the
interpretation of a certain language was compared with unconscious interference
of reference points of a voice that resembles that of a very dear loving
friend.
Then there are the hidden “agendas” of the persons involved: person A wants to buy something, trying to get some discount, while
person B wants to sell not only the item, but some other goods as well. During
the communication all sorts of levels of feelings will express themselves by
intonation of the voice, body language etc. Both persons will react on those
signals (transference), which will then give counter reactions (counter
transference) and therefore interfere with the “clear” communication.
We can compare the communication process
with a floating iceberg. When we
consider the “pure” communication (that is the communication without all the
interferences like transference and counter transference) as the visible top of
the iceberg (10 % that is above the surface of the water), then the rest of the
communication (90%) is not visible, but dominates the communication process.
Relationships
Relationships, which are the building blocks of systems, are based on
communication. We believe that when we are dealing with issues and problems
within a system or organisation, we locate those problems at the level of communication.
We now can make the hidden parts of the communication process (the under water
part of the iceberg) visible with a technique called: System Constellation or
Organisational Constellation.
Organisational constellation
The word constellation comes from the positioning of the stars and planets in
the universe. Organisational constellation is the positioning of elements
(people, influences etc) in an open space, using subconscious knowledge of the
participants.
A person sets up a constellation by
placing people (including a substitute for him or her self) intuitively in a
specific configuration that represents an issue they want to have a look at.
This provides a living map of key elements within a particular situation.
Rather than simply talking about, or just looking at a ‘snap shot’ of what is
happening, participants will be able to see clearly into the interaction of
these key elements.
Experience has shown that participants
in the constellation become aware of the meaning of their own place. The
conscious knowledge of this place and the position of others make space for
acceptance and meaning.
An unconscious level exists in all
systems formed by man; this can be interpreted as the system's collective
sub-conscious. The members of a system are generally unaware of the dynamics
originating from this. The patterns that determine the dynamics in systems are
often complex and intangible for the people participating in the system. For
this reason they are also difficult to trace by questioning the members of the
system.
When we set up a constellation, verbal
communication is restricted to a minimum. The facilitator will interview the
person with the issue or question and discretely guides the person to
(intuitively) choose the representatives.
The experience of the participant
People tend to initially experience the constellation method as something
‘magical’. A participant tends to get drawn to a position that gives the
feeling of balance and harmony. Being in harmony means that by
"recognising what is" you eventually experience a peaceful
concentrated state of being. From this state of consciousness you experience
inner peace. You are connected and at a distance at the same time.
While being in that state, when asked
how your feel, intuitively you are able to reflect the feelings and thoughts
that describes the part that you represent in the actual system.
Sometimes, very accurate and with quite
astonishing preciseness, wordings will emerge and contribute to the solution
focussed resolutions for the person whose issue has been constellated.
Relationship Constellations
It is not only those belonging to an organisation who participates in the
success or failure; others also play a role – for example, the customer, the
share holder, the users, the competitors and perhaps foreign affiliates. Like a
network, all those elements are interrelated, they form relationships, they create a powerful whole that is more than the sum of
its parts.
Regardless of your position in your
system, the application of relational principles can give you insight into
problems, help you in making critical decisions and open new perspectives for
the development of the system as a whole.
Using Relationship Constellations, you can tap into the informing
field of your business. You can select what you need from this network that
receives all relevant information about the web of relationships within and
outside the company.
September 2005
References:
Emotional Intelligence (1997) D. Coleman; Bantam Books,
Spiritual Intelligence (2000) D. Zohar and Dr I. Marshall;
Invisible Dynamics (2005) K. P.Horne and R. Brick; Crl-Aur,
Acknowledgement What is (2001), B. Hellinger and G. ten Hoevel,
Constellations
(Submitted for publication) (2005) Dr E. Kloprogge, P.G. Gleeson and T.J.
Francis.
The
Therapeutic Relationships (2003), P.Clarkson: Whurr Publishers,
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