Arturo J. Bencosme, PhD

www.epic-spirit.com

Peter Senge’s learning organization paradigmin “The Fifth Discipline, The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization“has signified a leap forward in the fields of organizational development and management.

“…organizations where people continually expand their capacityto create the results they truly desire,where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured,where collective aspiration is set free,and where people are continually learning to see the whole together.”

“…such organizations are better prepared than others to survive in modern situations of rapid change…”

“…only those organizations that are capable of fast learning will survive and excel.”

Senge suggests cultivating five interdependent disciplines to become a learning organization:

developing personal mastery, sharing a vision,

managing mental models, team learning,

systems thinking.

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Individuals within a learning organization

might choose collectively to share a commitment to an epic intent:

this organization will then enhance the its learning capabilities

and will be poised to tread an extraordinary path

akin to mythological endeavors…

… thus becoming an

Epic Learning Organization.

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The journeys of learning organizations always start at the personal level.

Thus a first step in the direction of capturing

what an epic path entails for a learning organization,

consists of extending the discipline of Personal Mastery

into embodying the Hero’s Journey that is,

making the choice to become the hero in one’s own life.

Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline

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A hero is anyone who leaves the world as usualto go on a journey to an extraordinary world …

… where trials, challenges and fears are overcome to secure a treasurewhich is shared with others in the community at the return from the journey.

Adapted from Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces

The Hero’s Journey archetype is a part of the collective unconscious (universal pattern) suggested by Jungian psychology. It is a cycle that goes through three parts:

• Departure/Preparation, • Initiation/Passage/Transformation and,• Return/Celebration.

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… A good life is one hero journey after another.

Over and over again,you are called into the realm of adventure,

you are called to new horizons.

Each time, there is the same problem: Do I dare?

And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco.

There is always the possibility of a fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss.

Excerpt from Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss

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It can offer guidance allowing to re-frame one’s life path

into an epic perspective:

see where one is currently,

where one has come from, where one is headed,

what challenges and rewards are involved,

and the meaning of it all.

Such a construct can be used to understand further one’s personal becoming,

much as navigational devices help in comprehending the route being followed

when traveling across the oceans.

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Each of the three parts of the hero’s journey pattern might encompass several stages:

Campbell suggested 17 possible stages in “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”.

The stages might be different for each individual, culture and time:the overall pattern is what matters.

An illustrative 8 stage patternwill be used here.

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CALL TO ADVENTURE

Awakening, Awareness, Envisioning, and Readiness.

ABYSS – SUPREME CHALLENGE

Death & Rebirth. Acknowledging that what most frightens us is our inner light.

CLAIMING THE TREASURE

Thriving in discovery & fulfillment.

CONVERGENCE WITH THE TRUE SELF:

At-Onement: Acceptance, cooperation, understanding and enthusiasm.

THE WORLD AS

USUAL

THE GATE KEEPER: Dealing with fears & concerns. Re-commitment to the vision.

DEPARTURE: Commitment, guidance, aides & opponents, challenges to overcome.

ENDURANCE TRIALS: Utilizing everything to learn, grow & advance.

1st THRESHOLDEntering the extraordinary world

of healing & transformation.

PREPARING TO RETURN: Owning the journey. Being grateful. Recovering from inner wounds.

ARRIVAL & CELEBRATION: Master of two worlds. Sharing the learning, contributing to society.

2nd THRESHOLDStarting on the Way Back

to the World as Usual.

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Those who attain a high level of personal mastery, continuously expand:

their capacity to clarify their personal vision,

their ability to source and apply the means to materialize it,

and their understanding of the purpose of their path as they embody the hero in their own life.

They rely both on intuitive and intellectual learning;

develop a heightened state of mindfulness and become contemplatives in action;

utilize self-enquiry, build on their inner alignment of mind, body & spirit;

and thrive in their awareness of their interconnection with everything and everyone.

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An organization -as a whole- can too follow the Hero’s Journey. Doing so consciously will make a transcendental navigational system available for the members of the entire organization, inspiriting them to learn about their subjective experiences involved in treading such an epic path ~ just as in the personal case .~

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THE

WORLD

AS

USUAL

This is the mental place where things that are known to the organization dwell, including culture, image, reputation, core skills, and so forth.

from events such as the awareness of a major challenge, to a strategic planning process,

to a shift in the organizational culture,or a disruption in the market

or …

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• Focusing on the organization’s compass -purpose & values-while committing to the required transformations.

• Searching for guidance and Identifying probable aides & opponents.

• Resolving & strategizing to overcome the challenges involved: transforming adversities into possibilities and making the most of the advantages.

KEY: Know Who We Are.

• Clarifying & and re-confirming the organization’s shared vision and sense of purpose.

• Dealing with fears & uncertainty, and facing concerns & doubts.

• Figuring how to manage the uncertain future affairs.

KEY: Only those who dream can create realities.

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• Trusting the power of teams

• Resolving to utilize everything for learning & advancing collectively.

• Deepening the sense of purpose.

Key: “The event is not important, the response to the event is everything.”

(From the I Ching)

Acknowledging that: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

~ Marianne Williamson

Key: We have being preparing for this all along.

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• Re-living the journey’s underlying purpose.

• Rejoycing on having attained the goals set forth for thejourney

• Seeing the call to adventure in restropective.

KEY: Thrive in discovery & fulfillment.

• Deepening, strengthening, experiencing and owningcollectively the organization’s alignment with its corebeliefs:.

• Building a shared consciousness of fulfillment, acknowledging the success.

KEY: Embody the organization´s success.

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• Striving to utilize the claimed treasurefor improving society and the challenges involved.

• Re-Assessing the journey’s original motives.

• Owning the journey, being grateful and preparing for pursuing further progress.

KEY: Be intent on thriving in the cycle of giving & receiving.

• Sharing the learning.

• Being free from fear and driven into the futureby a passion for contributing to a better world.

KEY: It is time to celebrate & reciprocate.

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THE EXPANDEDWORLD AS

USUAL

• The experience of having gone through a transformational journey results in an expanded comfort zone that is, a larger “World as Usual” .

• Having mastered the ordinary and the extraordinary worlds brings an escalated potential for contributing to society.

• Such a potential prompts the organization to pursue further journeys and thus continue creating its epic myth.

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THE WORLD AS

USUAL

CALL TO ADVENTURE

Committingto the organization’sshared epic intent. DEPARTURE:

Building-up commitment, guidance, aides & opponents,

and awareness of challenges ahead.

THE GATE KEEPER:Dealing with fears & concerns. Re-commitment to the vision.

ENDURANCE TRIALS:Utilizing everythingto learn & advance.

ABYSS –SUPREME CHALLENGEGoing beyond survival and into

transcendence.

CLAIMING THE TREASUREThriving in discovery & fulfillment.

CONVERGENCE WITH THE TRUE SELF:Building a shared consciousness

of purposeful alignment.

PREPARING TO RETURN:

Owning the journey,

being grateful & abundant.

ARRIVAL & CELEBRATION:Letting the passionfor contributing to a better worlddrive the organization’s future.

1st THRESHOLDEntering the extraordinary world of organizational transformation.

2nd THRESHOLDLeaving the extraordinary world of organizational transformation

--- Reconnecting to Society

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They do this through learning at a transcendental level: they cultivate the ability to reframe the organization’s path

into a hero’s journey pattern.

The members of these organizations heed to the call to go on a collective adventure into a challenging world where they overcome challenges to claim treasures

~ such as developing knowledge, improving efficiency, technology, new goods or services ~

and then purposely bring them in such a way as to benefit society as a whole.

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PERSONAL CONSCIOUSNESS

PERSONAL UNCONSCIOUS

CONSCIOUS ORGANIZATION:THE “WHAT”

ORGANIZATIONAL UNCONSCIOUS: THE “WHY”

Adapted from Corlett & Pearson (2003)Mapping the Organizational Psyche

Public face / Branding

Center of Consciousness: Potential for Org. Learning

Archetypes & Instincts

Complexes:Work Processes

OrganizationalShadow

Participation Mystique:Mutual & Collective Projective Identification

Archetype of Organization:Drive for Wholeness

Persona / Mask

Ego: Sensing & Discerning

Archetypes & Instincts

Complexes:Ways of Doing

Personal Shadow

Archetypical Self:Drive for Wholeness

Participation Mystique:Projective Identification with Objects

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Mankind’s natural tendency to create organizations is a universal pattern, the Archetype of Organization which drives for wholeness through synergizing and balancing its four archetypical life energies: Stability, Learning, People, and Results.

When the organization’s Center of Consciousness (analogous to the personal EGO) connects with the Archetype of Organization in a quest for wholeness, organizational learning takes place.

ORGANIZATIONAL

WHOLENESS

Adapted from Corlett & Pearson (2003)Mapping the Organizational Psyche

Each life energy in the Center of Consciousness comprises additional archetypes that offer specific energies:

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• Explorer• Destroyer

• Lover• Creator

INITIATION / PASSAGE / TRANSFORMATION

• Innocent• Orphan• Warrior• Altruist

DEPARTURE /

PREPARATION

A learning organization in pursuit of an epic intent is akin to the person going on a hero’s journey: the Archetype of Organization (analogous to the individual’s Archetypical Self) strives for wholeness

and transcendence, and aims at materializing a meaningful purpose. Its additional archetypes can be summoned to function appropriately along the path toward greatness.

The organization effectively becomes an Epic Learning Organization.

• Ruler• Magician• Sage• Jester

RETURN /

CELEBRATION

Adapted from Pearson, C.S. (1991)Awakening the Heroes Within

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• Innocent: To gain loyalty & discernment.• Orphan: To feel & process pain.• Warrior: To fight for what really matters.• Altruist: To give without maiming.

DEPARTURE /

PREPARATION

• Ruler: To energize and be responsible. • Magician: To align with the cosmos.• Sage: To attain enlightment.• Jester: To trust & enjoy becoming.

RETURN /

CELEBRATION

Adapted from Pearson, C.S. (1991)Awakening the Heroes Within

The Archetype of Organization ‘s life forces become activated accordingly, and transcendental organizational learning proceeds.

• Explorer: To remain true to the Self.• Destroyer: To let go of that which does not work.

• Lover: To commit to that which is loved.• Creator: To self-create & self-accept.

INITIATION / PASSAGE / TRANSFORMATION

ORGANIZATIONAL

WHOLENESS

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II - Building a shared vision of the organization’s epic path

I - Developing personal mastery to become an everyday hero

V - Systems thinking to understand & leverage the organization’s epic

IV - Team learning to tread an epic path together

III - Managing mental models within a perspective of journeying toward greatness

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Foundational elements: • Developing a community of transcendence, and fostering mindfulness • Emotional alignment with the organization’s epic path.

Principles: • The hero’s journey monomyth• Direct,–unitarian- perception • Synchronicity / Presencing• Paths as labyrinths – not mazes.

Practices and methods:• Contemplative practices done collectively. • Behaving as fellow travelers and as a team of aides for the journey.• Managing the organizational climate to harness emotional energy

and attune it to the stage in the journey. • Organizational epic storytelling to help bring the minds and hearts

together, in one accord.

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DEVELOPINGPERSONAL MASTERY

BUILDINGA SHARED VISION

MANAGINGMENTAL MODELS

TEAMLEARNING

SYSTEMSTHINKING

Develops capabilities for joiningothers in a collective heroic journey

Provides a common context

for the individuals’epic journeys.

Dialog skills forgrasping meaning fromthe organization’s epic path.

Builds momentum tounderstanding collectively

the organization’s path.

Holographically see the epic path ofthe organization

Builds a transcendental map for materializingthe shared vision.

Interconnects systemarchetypes along the organization’s path.

Builds understanding to leveragethe structures driving epic patterns.

Epic framing for the organization’spath.

Utilizes the Hero’s Journey

as a source of meaning

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IIBUILDING

A SHARED VISIONOF THE

ORGANIZATION’SEPIC PATH

IDEVELOPING

PERSONAL MASTERYTO BECOME

AN EVERYDAY HERO

VSYSTEMS THINKING

TO UNDERSTAND & LEVERAGETHE ORGANIZATION’S EPIC

IVTEAM LEARNING

TO FOLLOW AN EPIC PATH

III MANAGING

MENTAL MODELSWITHIN A PERSPECTIVE

OF ACHIEVING GREATNESS

VICOMMITTING TO

A SHARED EPIC INTENT

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IIBUILDING

A SHARED VISIONOF THE

ORGANIZATION’SEPIC PATH

IDEVELOPING

PERSONAL MASTERYTO BECOME

AN EVERYDAY HERO

VSYSTEMS THINKING

TO UNDERSTAND & LEVERAGETHE ORGANIZATION’S EPIC

IVTEAM LEARNING

TO FOLLOW AN EPIC PATH

III MANAGING

MENTAL MODELSWITHIN A PERSPECTIVE

OF ACHIEVING GREATNESS

VICOMMITTING TO

A SHAREDEPIC INTENT

DRIVEN TO BE OF SERVICE

FOR THE HIGHEST GOOD OF ALL CONCERNED

WITHIN & WITHOUT THE ORGANIZATION

EVERY MEMBER OF

THE ORGANIZATION

EMBODIES

A MYTH ABOUT SELF

BOTH PERSONALLY

AND

AT THE WORK PLACE

HOLOGRAPHICALLY

CLARIFY & SHARE

THE ORGANIZATION’S EPIC PATH

VISUALIZING INTERCONNECTIONS

IN THE CONTEXT

OF THE EPIC PATH BEEN FOLLOWED

UNITARIAN

PERCEPTION OF REALITY, &

EMERGING FUTURE PRESENCING

COLLECTIVELY TAP

IINTUITION TO ENRICH THE

DIALOG / DISCUSSION BALANCE

WIDE-SPREAD SENSE OF SHARING A

PURPOSEFUL PATH THAT

ENERGIZES & DIRECTS THE

ORGANIZATION

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Activate key organizational development thrusts to enrollthe whole organization in an integrated epic learning processs.

Expand organizational learning disciplines & epic generative leadership competencies.

Change, obstacles, opportunities and the relationship with society and the environment are handled within the context of traveling together on a path toward greatness.

Enrich the organization’s archetypical story by adding new symbols and new perspectives.

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IIBUILDING

A SHARED VISIONOF THE

ORGANIZATION’SEPIC PATH

IDEVELOPING

PERSONAL MASTERYTO BECOME

AN EVERYDAY HERO

VSYSTEMS THINKING

TO UNDERSTAND & LEVERAGETHE ORGANIZATION’S EPIC

IVTEAM LEARNING

TO FOLLOW AN EPIC PATH

III MANAGING

MENTAL MODELSWITHIN A PERSPECTIVE

OF ACHIEVING GREATNESS

VICOMMITTING TO

A SHAREDEPIC INTENT

1.START THE PROCESS : WE ARE GOING ON AN EPIC JOURNEY

INSPIRE & STEWARD

ORGANIZATIONAL

TRANSCENDENCE

DEVELOP A MINDSET

OF INTERLOCKING RESPONSIBILITY

RELATIVE TO ADVANCE ON THE SHARED EPIC PATH

FOSTER

ORGANIZATIONAL

MINDFULNESS

ORCHESTRATE A SHARED

UNDERSTANDING

OF THE ORGANIZATION’S PATH

PROMOTE CHANGE READINESS

AND PRO-EPIC ATTITUDES

SECURE ORGANIZATION-WIDE

STRATEGIC READINESS

TO MOVE ALONG THE EPIC PATH

PROMOTE HIGHER LEVEL

LEARNING IN CONNECTION WITH

PURPOSE AND VALUES

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IIBUILDING

A SHARED VISIONOF THE

ORGANIZATION’SEPIC PATH

IDEVELOPING

PERSONAL MASTERYTO BECOME

AN EVERYDAY HERO

VSYSTEMS THINKING

TO UNDERSTAND & LEVERAGETHE ORGANIZATION’S EPIC

IVTEAM LEARNING

TO FOLLOW AN EPIC PATH

III MANAGING

MENTAL MODELSWITHIN A PERSPECTIVE

OF ACHIEVING GREATNESS

VICOMMITTING TO

A SHAREDEPIC INTENT

GROUP CONTEMPLATIVENESS AND HIGHER LEVELS OF LEARNING

COLLECTIVE CAPACITY FOR PURSUING THE AMBITIONED FUTURE AND FOR DEVELOPING AN EPIC CONSCIOUSNESS

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING SKILLS FOR BECOMING AN EVERYDAY HERO AT THE WORK PLACE.

ABILITY TO REFRAME STRATEGIY & ALIGNMENT INTO THE ORGANIZATION’S EPIC PATH

DEVELOP ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES THAT SUPPORT LEARNING & TRANSCENDENCE

SKILLS TO THINK, ANALYZE & DECIDECRITICALLY AND SYSTEMICALLY, AND IN CONNECTION TO THE HERO’S JOURNEY ARCHETYPE.

DISPOSITION & ABILITY TO OWN THE EVENTS AND TO REFRAME THEM INTO A HERO’S JOURNEY PATTERN

2. DEVELOP THE SKILLS

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IIBUILDING

A SHARED VISIONOF THE

ORGANIZATION’SEPIC PATH

IDEVELOPING

PERSONAL MASTERYTO BECOME

AN EVERYDAY HERO

VSYSTEMS THINKING

TO UNDERSTAND & LEVERAGETHE ORGANIZATION’S EPIC

IVTEAM LEARNING

TO FOLLOW AN EPIC PATH

III MANAGING

MENTAL MODELSWITHIN A PERSPECTIVE

OF ACHIEVING GREATNESS

VICOMMITTING TO

A SHAREDEPIC INTENT3.TRAVEL THE EPIC PATH

CONTINUOUS ADVANCEMENT

IN CONTEMPLATIVENESS

& WISDOM.

DEEPLY SET

EPIC ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

PARADIGM

OVERALL ALIGNMENT

WITH THE CHOSEN EPIC PATH

SKILLS FOR TURNING OBSTACLES

INTO OPPORTUNITIES

TO MOVE FORWARD COLLECTIVELY

ALONG THE ORGANIZATION’S PATH

DEEP – ROOTED

SENSE OF BELONGING

TO THE ORGANIZATION- WIDE EPIC

EFFORT

UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS

THAT DRIVE PROGRESS

ALONG THE EPIC PATH

AND ABILITY TO UTILIZE SYSTEMS

LEVERAGE TO FURTHER IT

PROFOUND SENSE OF

SHARING

THE ORGANIZATION-WIDE

EPIC EFFORT

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Acknowledge challenges, successes and failures.

Emphasize the journey.

Reconnect with the organization’s core purpose.

Utilize new archetypical characters as needed to represent events.

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Collective and personal enquiring are promoted to continuously clarify the ultimate WHY for the organization thus building a deep sense of shared purpose, and strengthening the connection to the Archetype of Organization.

Tacit knowledge, symbols and archetypes are surfaced within the context of the organization’s future path.

Systems thinking is engaged to better understand the organization’s psyche and the future epic path.

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Clarifying the core beliefs and sharing an inspiring visionary narrative.

Describing current reality (SWOT analysis) relative to the vision and the challenges (SO-WHAT analysis) involved under several future scenarios.

Developing the strategy: a set of mutually supporting strategic thrusts plus key enablers and initiatives to overcome such challenges.

Aligning the organization (the meeting of the minds) for implementing the strategy.

Developing and using a measurement system to channel feedback to the process.

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Most traditional planning steps occur in the preparation stages of the hero’s journey.

The focus is on the WHY that is, the organization’s sense of purpose.

Strategy aims at overcoming the journey’s challenges.

The time frame is seen in terms of the hero’s journey stages.

The vision expands to become a story about the epic journey ahead stewarding a fellowship of travelers within the organization.

Organizational alignment builds on individual and collective transformation, and on connecting to the heroic archetypes.

Strategy implementation is about moving intelligently along the path.

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Engaging the organization’s main stakeholders.

Undertaking marketing & branding efforts that connect deeply with clients.

Developing work teams and strengthening the organization’s morale.

Visualizing the future of the organization within a coherent time dimension.

Aligning with end results in internal transformational processes such as reengineering, redesigning, reorganizing and so forth.

Capturing and spreading tacit knowledge within and without the organization.

Exerting leadership based on the meeting of the minds and hearts of all involved.

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• Framing the organization’s past efforts in overcoming challenges as a heroic journey brings a heightened understanding of the past, as exemplified in the hero’s journey-style story of BP’s Refinery at Lima, Ohio by Ledet, W. (2202), Making the Move Toward a Learning Organization: A Classic Journey of Change.

• Wahlstrom, T.L. (1999) illustrates the applicability of the hero’s journey to organizations –with the Coca-Cola company case study -in Psychological Applications to Management: The Hero’s Journey . (Dr. of Management dissertation submitted at the Colorado Tech. U.)

PAST

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• The conscious practice of the six disciplines of the Epic Learning Organizations can be directed to articulating a script for a narrative about the future journey(s) to be undertaken.

• Such a forward looking orientation will give an expanded context to the organization’s change management, strategic planning, leadership, and other organizational endeavors.

• The organization’s core ideas, especially the vision, will become ever more engaging as they inform the epic story of the aspired future of the organization.

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The starting point is the organization’s “World as Usual” described in terms of the S.W.O.T. analysis and challenge clarification.

The organization’s purpose and the aspired visionary objectives translate into the “Call to Adventure”.

Preparing for the journey includes engaging helpers and becoming aware of opponents.

Overcoming the challenges, attaining the organization’s objectives and owning the success occur in the Initiation / Passage / Transformation stages.

The return / celebration stages highlight the fulfillment of the organization’s purpose in a inspiring description of the “Expanded World as Usual”: living the organization’s legend.

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Scenario construction during the strategic planning process lays the ground for the story: uncertainty and possible futures.

The results from S.W.O.T. analysis and the corresponding challenges specify the organizational setting in its current and foreseeable reality.

The readiness required from the organization to succeed in each scenario constitutes a focal element in the story setting.

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Such an epic script will help guide the development & maintenance of the organizational energy appropriate for each stage: emotions in the story bring it to life and generates widespread engagement.

The organization’s story should honor the conscious and unconscious of the organization striving for meaning, the core drive of the Archetype of Organization.

• Awe• Appreciation

• Love• Surprise

INITIATION / PASSAGE / TRANSFORMATION

• Trust• Serenity• Resolve• Compassion

DEPARTURE /

PREPARATION

• Enthusiasm• Celebration• Gratitude• Joy

RETURN /

CELEBRATION

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Hero Main protagonist - The organization itself.

Allies & Villains Helpers & opponents.

Mentors Sources of sense of purpose, values, and other drivers to learn along the journey.

Threshold Guardians Ensurers of organizational readiness to move forward at every stage of the journey.

Heralds Organization intelligence, sources of information & feedback.

Shapeshifters Sources of dazzle, confusion, mistakes and delays

Shadow Dark, repressed side of the organization, weaknesses & limitations.

Tricksters Sources of lightness & enjoyment, and drivers for subduing egotistic behaviors.

(-- Others as Needed --) -----------------

Vogler, C. (2007) The Writer’s Journey – Mythic Structure for Writers.

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Enhancing organizational wholeness is a key role for these leaders:

Encouraging the search for meaning in every aspect of the organization’s reality.

Inspiriting all four organizational subsystems -production, human community, materials and learning-and connecting them to the corresponding life forces in the archetype of organization -results, people, stability, learning-.

Managing the creative tension between sub-system opposites and dwelling in the significance of their role in the organization’s archetypical story.

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They instill a conscious connection to the Hero’s Journey archetype to set the organization in movement along an epic path through the practice of the six disciplines of the epic learning organizations.

They model learning to become a hero in their own lives, relate authentically to the organization’s epic and propitiate bringing out the heroes within their followers.

They commit to the heroic journey of their organizations, and engage the minds and the hearts of their followers around it by empowering them join the organization’s heroic participation mystique.

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Continuously deepen the connection between the organization’s legend and its values and purpose.

Develop and steward the organization’s legend, to support s purposeful organizational culture; and through the hero’s journey archetypical pattern, make sense of the organization’s past, present and future.

Transmit the legend through storytelling and through distributed leadership in all levels of the organization, impel the self-replication of the legend.

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Manifest a high level of heroic personal mastery, with contemplative self-enquire at its core.

Take on the role of “chief learning officer” to bring about structures appropriate for epic organizational learning.

Impel collaborative learning throughout the organization with a deep sense of belonging to a traveler fellowship.

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Promote personal mastery in the members of the organization including the embodiment of the personal hero’s journey.

Adopt a transformational & servant leadership style with an emphasis on building community.

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Will reinforce their personal epic through evoking the drive

to be a part of something greater than self

that exists in every person.

Will feel the thrill to in fulfilling the organization’s purpose

driven by and actively engaged

in the organization’s participation mystique.

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Epic organizational learning is to organizations what being the hero in their own lives is to individuals that strive to live a life that matters.

Through focusing on fulfilling a long-term, transcendental purpose, epic learning organizations can provide a workplace that is also long term oriented. This contrasts with short term, opportunistic views on employment tenure that at their best resemble a tour of duty.

Leaders can summon the self awareness, ingenuity, appreciation and heroism necessary to overcome the complex challenges of today’s world, such as attaining whole system sustainability, by making the latter the destination of the organization’s epic journey.

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ELO

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