Noetic Sciences - What is Noetic Science and Why is it Important to Change Management?

According to The Institute of Noetic Sciences - founded by former Apollo 14 astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell - Noetic Science is "the exploration into the nature and potentials of consciousness using multiple ways of knowing-including intuition, feeling, reason, and the senses."

Noetic science is all about the exploration of what can be called "the inner cosmos" of the mind [comprising consciousness, soul, spirit] and how it relates to "the outer cosmos" of the external material and physical world.

The origin of the word "noetic" is the ancient Greek "nous", for which there is no direct literal translation in English. It refers to what can be called "inner knowing," and as the Institute explains it is "a kind of intuitive consciousness-direct and immediate access to knowledge beyond what is available to our normal senses and the power of reason."

So this exploration is a science of discovery of the human mind. It is much wider and in scope than traditional psychology has been so far.

The importance of noetic science in relation to our understanding of change management

Clearly the insights, discoveries and paradigm shifts that result from these investigations and developments have profound implications for (a) the development of human knowledge and (b) a major shift in the relationship between human consciousness and human experience.

At the practical and pragmatic level of organisational change, there are, in my current perception, potentially significant implications and these can [currently] be summarised as:

# The power of the mind [both individually and collectively] to influence the manifestation of material phenomena - specifically in terms of what we experience.

# The role of consciousness and awareness - especially in leaders - in identifying possibilities, solutions and outcomes.

# The causal connection between beliefs and experience. Conventional thinking suggests that experiences shape our beliefs. Whilst that may be partially so it is not the whole picture. There is growing evidence from the noetic sciences and quantum physics that the reverse also occurs in that our beliefs shape our experience.

# The use of the intuitive faculty in arriving at rapid accurate diagnosis in business problem solving and decision making.

"Beyond positions, beyond beliefs, lies a place where the mind can truly open to the possibilities of any given moment."