the Vision
World-wide, tens of thousands of groups, in business, government, civil society, and communities are in the process of experimenting with and reinventing their fundamental agreements and discovering they can generate higher levels of sustainable outcomes and harmonic co-existence
They are demonstrating new ways of relating - in work and in life - which are more sustainable and lead to greater efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation than has long been the accepted norm
We envision a world in which virtually all individuals and groups will experience such enhanced capacities by stepping more fully and consciously into their deeper potentialities
The Institute for Strategic Clarity exists to support those who, in their striving to achieve greater harmonic vibrancy, are leading the way toward this goal
ecoSYnomics
From economic collapse, multiple wars, and deepening political divides to climate change, peak oil, healthcare costs, and extreme poverty, humanity is in the process of an economic, political, social, psychological, spiritual collapse. From one perspective, the way things are today is certainly not working
However, this can also be seen as an opportunity for great breakthroughs. As one system of agreements breaks down, another emerges. If indeed there are hundreds of thousands of collectives globally experimenting with new agreements based on new principles — as our research suggests — then it is time for a “naming.” That is, a naming of the details of what is now beginning to appear, so that it can be seen more clearly; so that the new, emerging rules can be described, and we can learn more readily from our successes and failures
Ecosynomics is a model of health that describes what people are learning about how to move from lower to higher harmony, vibrancy, and abundance. Harmony of interaction results in deep collaboration. Vibrancy of value experienced leads to deeper relationships. Abundance of resources sustains the life force of the group
There is a wealth of information on ecosynomics freely available for you
basic Concept
Across the globe, tens of thousands of groups, in business, government, and communities are achieving higher levels of harmonic co-existence, experimenting with agreements that guide their interactions in radically new ways
They are also demonstrating that these new agreements are much more sustainable, efficient, effective, and innovative than what had otherwise been possible
With ecosynomics, both a framework and a research tool, the Institute is studying and describing these new agreements
A Definition
Ecosynomics (pronounced "ee-co-si-nom-iks") is the social science of the principles of collaboration [The term comes from the rules (nomos) of relationship (eco) together (syn)]
Harmonic vibrancy is the overall quality of life people experience in their relationships with themselves, each other, and the various communities or collectives in which they participate
When harmonic vibrancy is high, they typically experience gratitude, joy, enthusiasm, creative capacities, trust, and social solidarity; when it is low, ingratitude, anxiety, apathy, mistrust, and anti-social competitiveness
In short, an experience of fundamental inner and outer Abundance as contrasted with one of all-pervasive Scarcity. This is so universal and basic, everyone knows when he or she is experiencing greater or lesser harmonic vibrancy, whether alone or in a group
A Framework
Ecosynomics provides a framework for understanding human agreements; agreements people have with their own selves, with others, with a group, with nature, and with spirit. Ecosynomics explains the relationship between the level of harmonic vibrancy experienced in these relationships and the level of scarcity or abundance experienced in a group
As a framework, ecosynomics provides a set of four fundamental assumptions from which the experienced continuum from scarcity to abundance and the levels of agreements can be explained. In this framework, ecosynomics shows how these assumptions and agreements explain the extraordinary outcomes being experienced in thousands of groups globally, where these groups are operating with a completely new and emerging paradigm, based on abundance, not scarcity
A Research Tool
As a research tool, ecosynomics suggests, therefore, how to identify groups experimenting with new abundance-based agreements, so we can discover how their innovations are leading to much greater and sustainable efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation
a brief History
The work of the Institute for Strategic Clarity (ISC) began in 1993 in Mexico City, where ISC founder, Jim Ritchie-Dunham, formed a team to explore the social dynamics of complex organizations through system dynamics simulation, as described in the 1999 System Dynamics Review paper on dengue in Mexico
This work evolved into a strategic systems framework applied in dozens of organizations in over twenty countries, which is described in the 2001 Wiley & Sons book Managing from Clarity and the 2008 Long Range Planning article "Strategic Clarity"
ISC was formally incorporated in the USA in 2003 as a 501(c)(3) research and education non-profit organization, focused on developing participatory processes and systemic methodologies for transforming people's capacity to address complex societal issues and realize their highest aspirations for a greater social good
An example of this work was described in the 2008 chapter in Alleviating Poverty through Business Strategy on ISC's action-research project in Guatemala
ISC's work shifted in 2009 to focus on the emergence of Ecosynomics as a new form of human agreements, integrating previous forms of socio-psycho-economic frameworks