head-heart-hands

The "Head-Heart-Hands" model of transformation is a systems-based framework originally created in the early nineties by David Orr, as a way to approach sustainability education. 

I had to go find the source of the framework because I have started to see it everywhere in professional frameworks and wondered about its origin. It seems so obvious to include a "whole human" context to growth and transformation of any kind. But truly, embodiment and the body-mind connection hasn't really been emphasised or prized for very long, and we're still at the very beginning of the cusp of widespread up-take of this idea in the workplace. 

Head-Heart-Hands is central to the Integrative Enneagram Solutions system of personality-typing.  It's embedded in the social change-mangement model developed by MIT's Presencing Institute.  It invites us into the recognition that wholeness is a healthy integration of all three of these "centres of intelligence". Any one of these centres can be blocked, distorted, malfunctioning or short-circuiting. And we are finally (thankfully) outgrowing the phase where the Heart Intelligence (empathy, EQ, etc) was outright shunned. 

The action centre - when firing healthily - will trigger dopamine release.  The heart centre - when firing healthily - will trigger oxytocin release.  Both of these hormones are essential to the vitality of a thriving and impactful human being. 

If Head is akin to direction, vision, strategy, problem-solving, and  if Hands is akin to the act of getting shit done, then  Heart could be considered the climate within which we operate. 

It is the soup of unspoken consciousness we all swim in when we're together, and some of your team memebers are going to be more tuned in and sensitive to the truth of it than others. 

It's the vibes, the energy, the feel. The trust or lack thereof. The watercooler chat, the health or toxicity of relationships.  The respect we do or dont have for each other, the support we do or don't offer. The way we have each other's backs, or throw each other under the bus.  The way we throw shade, eyeroll, hold resentment criticism and judgement behind smiles.  The way our actual values inform our behaviours and choices, and the degree to which those are congruent or contradictory the values on the wall.  The overt and covert rituals & beliefs that make up what we define as culture!  Do we play fair or do we play dirty. Is everyone really on the same team, or are there subtle enemy line drawn? 

In other words, do you feel SAFE, at ease, relaxed and like you truly belong?  Or is your armour up and on?  How has the culture conditioned you to show up, and how might you be influencing the culture too?  SAFETY is climatic, emotional, subtle and speaks to the heart of belonging. 

What conditions are present for you in your workplace, that give you clues whether the culture is psychologically safe or unsafe?