Our ‘principles of thinking’ challenge, initially taken up by prof. Edward Nęcka in his Decalogue, has also triggered Sayfan G. Borghini, an Instructor at the School of Thinking, to contribute her take on the matter.
Phases of Thinking in Organization
by Sayfan G. Borghini, 2021
Reading along, I thought that together with the fertile humanistic, analytical, ontological, pragmatic and colorful approaches I may propose to introduce a biophysical one and attempt at describing “phases” of thinking in organization. I began with three main phases (habits;-) but of course more phases were nesting in between, echoing to the quasi crystal or quasi liquid, and more are probably there waiting to be described.
Phases are easily described as sequentially following each other, within a process of ‘becoming some-thing’ (as I am going to attempt to do), but I wish to clarify at the very beginning, that they are never pure, they mostly co-exist in different proportions, thus rather non-linearly or even chaotically shifting and reversing atmospheres in the ‘milieu of thought’.
Looking at the way this very thought is composing itself.
I can describe an initial phase in which it is like a rich medium of diverse triggers and inputs, a multiplicity of new units composing and decomposing themselves, phrases, entities, sensations, in a fleeting fertile bath of excitement. Nothing can be seen yet, but the equivalent of new words are aggregating, analogies, connections, metaphors are rising and falling. High fertility and high death rate. (proposed code name: bubbly phase)
A different phase where a line of thinking, maybe few, takes off and rise out of the bath, it begins to raise the coherency, the bonds and binding, aggregating more lines and pulling units, a moment of recognition – something is indeed emerging to call for more attention, to turn resources from different corners. It begins to sustain time – longer life-time, resource hungry. And with it, codification begins. (proposed code name: aha! phase)
Codification comes with screening, filtering, composing, recomposing – in short selection, forging, burning, polishing – the condensation and emergence of a greater sense if at all, linking the wider thinking texture, the fresh line is now beginning to weave its place and test its relevancy. Articulation. And as it happens a full shower of nano-decisions and possibilities – how would it be? Fully sharp? Ambiguous? open? Defensible? Soft? Cohered at all costs or bringing in some ruffle, strengthened by impurities… what will be its strategy of survival and fertilization? History begins to shape, form, carve, reflect. (proposed code name: condensed phase)
A moment of weightlessness.
Now the greater atmosphere. Air, winds, turbines and whirlwinds. Communication, exchange, change. Longer and greater connections across skin, space, time. This phase opens a milieu which extends beyond the perception of localized control…(unless it did already happen before, but am leaving it for now)..the line of thought is almost moving on its own, being reflected, interpreted, mis-interpreted, sinking to oblivion, coming back transformed, in the best of all cases leaving an interesting seed, while being engulfed and phagocytized, for the same or different mind to pick upon and re-initiate the iteration. (proposed code name: thinking climate/mind/s at play)
Abandon. Beholding. Synthetizing. Distilling. Ascertaining the slight difference in the overall texture. Light shiver – resetting, releasing specific history as much as possible. Waiting at the turbulent horizon (active, passive, however the momentary style) for the next fertile bit to heat the water. (Proposed code name (if Weaver may agree:) – breathing)
Of course the jumping across phases may follow very different trajectories, die in mid flight or sublimate.
With the wish for a great excursion through it all.
