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Presented to OSS ’04, 16 April 2004.
Beyond Intelligence Reform
Shifting from Intelligence to Co-Intelligence
by
Tom Atlee
I would like to invite advocates of Open Source Intelligence to consider several further forward movements on the journey you have begun together. I offer this invitation in the belief that you are not merely promoting the reform of intelligence, but are exploring a new territory entirely, one that will call you further and further along the journey you began. Here are a number of those movements that I see as natural on that journey.
From collecting intelligence to collective intelligence - We use the word intelligence to mean both strategically useful information AND the capacity to think productively. We have heretofore relegated productive thinking capacities to individuals. We now must tap collective thinking capacities -- i.e., collective intelligence. These capacities include and go beyond collective perception (i.e., the gathering of useful information by and for the collective). Arguably the most important collective intelligence capacities are shared deliberation and reflection. Thus we get the next shift:
From data and analysis to reflection and wisdom - Data and analysis can tell us what's going on and about possible consequences and trade-offs of various options, but they can't tell us what to do. In times of radical change and complexity, when tradition and authority no longer are able to dependably guide us, guidance about what to do -- help with our choices -- comes from our values, from our hearts, from whatever connection we have to spirit, from intuition. We need to learn to consult these things together, to co-sense into the realities we face. The more diverse voices we can bring together through this process, the wiser our collective reflections will be. Interestingly, open source intelligence, with its focus on making sense of diverse sources of information, can greatly serve the generation of wisdom -- but only in the context of the other shifts described here.
From impressive but unmanageable quantity to holistically relevant quality - "Holistic" denotes more than the integration of multiple agencies and sources of strategic intelligence. "Holistic" means characteristic of or serving The Whole -- or wholeness, itself. "Wholeness" includes health, wholesomeness, healing, the sacred ("holy"), the Big Picture and all that goes with it. The Whole can be the whole organization, group, community or country, but is now best viewed as the whole world. What forms of intelligence are relevant to the deep, long-term health of the whole world? THAT is quality intelligence, which can be of, by and for the whole. A small amount of that is worth untold millions of bits of data that don't help heal and transform the world.
From the competitive edge to the co-evolutionary edge - Co-evolution is where we all are, even when we think we're not. The co-evolutionary edge is not choosy: It includes competition, cooperation, separation, merging, and all other modes of operation. We are co-creating the world with each other no matter what we're doing or not doing, and the world and the rest of us are all evolving together as a consequence. When I say we need to move from the competitive edge, I'm not promoting loosey-goosey "let's all be nice to each other" cooperation. I'm talking about being awake, aware, conscious and proactive in our co-creativity and co-learning. That awakeness serves both our survival AND the meaning and quality of our lives.
From secrecy to openness - This is a big strength of OSI, but it has an enhanced importance when seen through the co-intelligence lens. Quite simply, secrecy impedes dialogue and the flow of information, without which collective intelligence of any type is impossible. Unnecessary secrecy will prove to be the security bars on the window that prevent us from escaping the burning house (I got this metaphor from a news story about a family that burned to death in Oakland, CA, because of exactly that).
From national security to glocal security - Our destiny is bound up with the world's and unfolds in a million locales. "Glocal" means both global and local, seen within each other's context (the local within the context of the global; the global within the context of the local). All intermediate levels of governance, activity and awareness -- state, national, regional, etc. -- must handle the affairs appropriate to their level within the glocal perspective. In today's world, "national security," itself, is potentially counter-productive unless undertaken within a glocal perspective embracing local and global security. In particular, we must carefully review programs that focus on America's ability to project "global reach and striking power" and "economic competitiveness" as potentially dangerous for the security of average Americans in an interconnected world. This relates to the final shift:
From elite rule and responsibility to We the People rule and responsibility - Centralized systems cannot handle complexity and chaos, and wide disparities of wealth and power are explosively unsustainable. The proper role of leadership now is to enable complex chaotic human systems to govern themselves well, by design and nurturance. The democratic ideal of a deliberative We the People collectively generating the intelligence and wisdom needed to guide our collective affairs is now more possible -- and needed -- than ever before. In articles listed on CIdemocracypolitics_theory.html -- especially "Using Citizen Deliberative Councils to Make Democracy More Potent and Awake"-- I describe ways to engage diverse citizens in powerful informed deliberations that could guide society. These deliberative innovations provide a potent complement to the Open Source Intelligence vision of websites where citizens can find the intelligence they need to decide about public issues. Citizen Deliberative Councils could productively use the information on such websites for powerful democratic ends. And those Councils would, in return, generate findings and recommendations that would be invaluable additions to the citizen intelligence found on such sites. Which brings us full circle to our first shift -- from collecting intelligence to collective intelligence: The collecting of intelligence can be woven into this sophisticated, emerging democratic culture of informed dialogue and deliberation to produce an unprecedented level of collective intelligence and wisdom, enabling us to flourish -- globally, nationally and locally -- in the 21st Century.
Tom Atlee
April 2004
Tom Atlee • • Co-Intelligence Institute • PO Box 493 • Eugene, OR 97403 • co-intelligence.org