Why Working in Circles Unlocks Collective Intelligence

Working with archetypes

My exploration has taken me through an interesting journey that often challenged my previously held perspectives, causing me to discard patterns of thought and behavior that no longer fit for me and my previous perspective of reality. I have met fascinating people around the world, and no matter what country I am in, I meet people who are also questing to find solutions for a sustainable, regenerative life nurturing existence. These many people have given me hope because there are so many who are in this quest and they seem to be located in every country.

We have learned the power of working with archetypes. An archetype is a pattern that all humans have some form of resonance with, almost as though it is in their lived memories even when it is not. When we lead our workshops, they are always led in a circle, with no tables or other barriers in between. In all countries, in all cultures, people thank us for bringing this format back to them and reminding them of their traditional way of working in a circle. The circle is a powerful archetype to assist people in remembering their wisdom. In the 1980’s, I entered into a deep exploration of the Medicine Wheel of the indigenous peoples of the world, sometimes called Medicine Wheel, sometimes given another name like Gratitude Hoop. In all indigenous cultures, there was a history of working in a circle divided up into four quadrants in the directions of north, east, south and west, also a powerful archetype. Whether as in ancient cave art or the later Medicine Wheel, this archetype was used to understand life and navigate to the unknown future as a community (organization) in order to develop an understanding of life, an understanding of community life, and agreed upon solutions to navigate to the desired future of the community.

The circle as an archetype is one of the reasons participatory meeting methods work as well as they do across cultures. When people sit in a circle with no barriers between them, something older than modern organizational structure activates. The wisdom that has always been there becomes accessible.