The Future of Humanity

Alyssa Limbag
BIS 340: The Future of Humanity: Dialogue in the Workplace
Dr. Michael Pryzdia
November 29th,2018
Total Word Count: 2338
 Part One: Seven Questions for Consideration

1. When learning disabilities go undetected within an organization, will the organization fail

rapidly?

2. Will society ever come to terms that thought has created all these social norms?

3. How do we start a dialogue with the older generation, such as the baby boomer

generation, when this generation is mostly set on their opinions?

4. Different cultures have different beliefs on thinking. What is the best way to approach a

variety of cultures all at the same time to fulfil a dialogue?

5. Will focusing on how thought functions eliminate all learning disabilities?

6. Would training your children to understand thought as a system help them or hinder them

in this generation?

7. Will “conflict” ever leave thought when practicing suspension?

 Part Two: Journal Entries

Entry 1
This week readings were very interesting and easy to grasp. “The Fifth Discipline” has
given me a lot of insight and much to ponder about how an individual fit into a whole. The
statement Senge states about the beer game, “Leverage often comes from new ways of thinking.
(P.40)”. This lesson from the beer game really had me thinking of all the choices I made or
make. So many decisions and those decisions will show who I am. People have so much leverage
to enhance their decisions but, yet we only think of ourselves. My organization recently had a
meeting and one of the requirements was to make a commitment before leaving towards our
customers. A commitment that will show our ability to go above and beyond for each customer.
As a supervisor, I thought, I need to make a commitment and think of my other co-workers. I
thought this because as a leader we are showing others how to lead and make decisions that will
fit the group to show them we are all part of the whole. I made the commitment to enhance my
decisions and always understand that my decisions will always affect someone else. We have an
acronym model called A.C.T. which means to asses a situation, consider your actions, and take
an action. This has helped me tremendously to enhance my decisions and make sure I understand
actions. When reading the title of chapter two, “Does your organization have a learning disability
(P.17)”, the first thought that comes to mind is how can it not and which organization is so
perfect that it wouldn’t have a learning disability? For instance, “I am my position”, I have notice
that people in the same position for many years are simply stuck. I know two different people, in
two different positions at Starbucks, each have been with the company well over fifteen years. I
ask, “Why haven’t you moved up or left the company?” Their response, “This is me”. I believe
this would be fine and not be considered a learning disability if they were happy.

Entry 2
This week course material was a complete turnaround for me. I did not understand why
we were learning about quantum physics. I was completely confused and needed to reread the
material quite a few times to understand. Even the videos that were suggested were a bit hard to
grasp. David Bohm seems like a very interesting and intelligent man. He talks about space and
time in a way most individuals would not. For me to grasp what was being taught, I had to take a
step back and ask myself why was this necessary. There had to be a reason why we were
learning about David Bohm. As I read the material I understood that Bohm wrote many books
and “On dialogue” was one. I did some of my own research about all his material to make sense
of it all. I concluded that this man must be important for the future material to come and has lots
to say about thought. I also went around asking friends and family if they have heard about
David Bohm, but unfortunately, they did not. I even asked one of my clients who is a professor,
but he as well did not who David Bohm is. Asking these people about David Bohm did bring up
the topic who David Bohm is, and we did have more conversation about thought. This helped me
to collect other people’s thoughts on the matter of thought. Hopefully the next module will help
tie David Bohm to the rest of the module. I have high hopes for this class and the modules to
come.

Entry 3
This week course content was a lot easier to follow and understand. I very much enjoyed
reading about the H.E.A.R. model. I believe if everyone can actively listen then life or even work
will run smoothly. Actively listening could help a lot of situations and who knows it could
possibly avoid a fight. When using this model at work, it was a challenge in the beginning but as
I kept practicing I caught on to it quite well. I believe I was overthinking about all the steps I was
trying to follow. But using this model made the process easy and it worked quite well. Reading
the book about Dialogue was interesting and easy to follow. I like how Bohm discusses
communication and explains dialogue clearly. For us to have a dialogue we must be open minded
and not have assumptions. Everyone has an opinion and I believe we live by those opinions. Our
family teaches us those opinions and most of the time it is past down to our own family. I teach
my son many new things each day and it is exciting to see him grasp on to life the way he does. I
hope to teach him about everything I learn but I do want him to have his own thought as well.
Like Bohm suggests, we all defend our assumptions because we are programmed in such a way.
We are programmed in such a way that it is our life to go by what we believe. After reading
about dialogue, I believe I have a better grasp on how to have a dialogue with a group. The
question is, how do you start a dialogue with individuals who are stubborn and cannot have an
open mind even after you say please have an open mind? Getting through to people is a very
tough matter even if it is just exchanging information. Searching others’ mind and not bringing
in assumptions can be a difficult task to master. If we practice this more then maybe having more
dialogue with groups or even family members may be possible.

Entry 4
This week readings about thought was very descriptive. Reading “Thought as a System”
really put thought on a whole new level. David Bohm describes thought in so much detail. And
describing how thought controls us and we don’t control it, gives me more insight on how to
think. Within an organization, we work with many different types of people and each have their
own thought process. To be a leader, I believe having your thoughts in control will be a great
skill. But David Bohm states we do not control our thoughts. Thoughts need to be taken seriously
and we should always analyze our thoughts. I’ve always felt that I have a strong hold on my
thoughts within my organization but thoughts at home, those thoughts are very different. I
believe if someone says something that is close to your heart then you will think and react
immediately. This is where our assumptions come into play. We have created a whole world
where we believe this is rights because I was taught this is right. And we will defend what we
believe. I’ve always been told that I am very calm and do not get easily upset. Which I believe is
true. I try not to let my thoughts run to create unwanted emotions. I like how David Bohm
discusses how thought can create different emotions. For example, Bohm talks about how
someone keeps you waiting and you may get angry when really this person was late because of
the train. And instantly thought changes. We create these emotions from our thoughts. We begin
to overthink the whole situation when sometimes the situation can be so simple as someone was
late because of the train not because they wanted to treat you badly. Thought does control us, and
we must clearly understand thought to take back that control.

Entry 5
I have always heard about the movie “The Matrix”, but unfortunately, I have never seen
it. Watching the small clip about meeting the oracle and describing how it related to our
classwork was interesting. I wanted to know more about the clip we watched because I do like to
know the whole picture, but after excluding more about the movie and just focusing on that one
clip, I really analyzed it to the given material. I was able to process my thoughts and get more
into depth when writing my discussion board. Understanding that meeting the oracle was a great
step, just like us understanding thought will control us if we don’t take the time to understand it.
Taking a step back to take a step further. Bringing yourself to become the observer of your mind.
Why do people react so quickly to their thoughts instead of understanding their thoughts?
Recently I watched a tv program called “Senfield”. Jerry Senfield tells a joke, “Imagine if our
lives were a movie…you say for instance to a woman, awe how many months are you? The
director comes out and says ‘cut, cut, cut, redo that scene!’” This reminded me of how we can be
a director of our own movie if we pay attention to our thoughts. Instead of reacting so quickly,
take a step back and understand why you want to react so quickly. Understand the whole process
of your thought and analyze why you are thinking the way you are. Take control of your
thoughts to control your reactions and emotions that may come next.

Entry 6
In this module, learning how to become aware of our thoughts made me realize I am
always thinking. Sometimes I believe I think too much about a thought, but I want to analyze all
parts of the thought to understand the whole thought. Before this class I was already analyzing
my thoughts and always wonder why I did this. I would think something and stop myself before
saying the thought because I want to make sure what I say will be worth it. I believe at times I
might suppress a thought because I think it is a better choice, but I am now hoping I can master
to suspend the activity and unfold the understanding of the thought. I would like to believe I
don’t judge and make assumptions right away but after doing the activities for the class and
reading the material, I did notice my thoughts and feelings are completely different when I am at
work rather when I am at home. When dealing with topics with a loved one is more emotional. I
have noticed that emotions can change a thought in so many ways. I hope to really grasp my
thoughts more at home to really take control of my thoughts and react less by doing more
suspending. I believe this will take more time to master when I am at home because I may
become more emotional with a certain topic. For instance, how my son is to be raised, is always
a topic of discussion. I believe if I can suspend assumptions when talking with family members
and just do deep listening, I will be able to practice and hopefully become better at suspending
my assumptions. Through this whole process of each module has been a journey. It was a little
confusing in the beginning, but everything seems to be coming along together to fit a whole
purpose.

Entry 7
The process of this course was well worth the wait. In the beginning I was a bit confused
and wanted the whole grasp of everything right away. Learning everything in increments helped
me to better understand the whole purpose. Which now, in module seven, everything does tie all
together. The differences between dialogue and discussion was most interesting in this module.
To really grasp that dialogue is free, creative, and just deep listening can enhance the thought
process to another level. I believe dialogue will be a challenge to start. To stat with people who
may not have the same thought process as you do. Like David Bohm suggest, try explaining
what a dialogue is and how it will be facilitated. Which sounds easy right now as I write this
paper, but I believe this will be my ultimate challenge in life. It is a challenge worth giving
because if more people understand dialogue and can master suspending assumptions, well who
knows where life might go. The most challenging is suspending all assumptions. As for a
discussion, different views are presented but in this case one can defend their point and hopefully
all can come to a decision that is best for the discussion. Discussions are easy for everyone
because we all can defend our beliefs. These beliefs mold and shape who we are as of today.
With this whole course, I have learned to become more aware of my thoughts whether I am at
work or in my home setting. I believe this will help develop my leadership skills greatly. It will
still be a long journey to master but I believe with more practice I can learn to become better
each day. I don’t think I will ever stop trying to master the art of suspending because becoming
better each day is always a great opportunity that I want to have by my side.