Does an organization – and thus ultimately humanity - show some sort of consciousness or self-awareness? One might think so, at least in moments such as on the day when princess Diana died, or more recently, on the day when I was stuck at home in Cambridge while the Boston Marathon bomber was roaming at large in the neighborhood. In those intense moments we feel maybe not “collectively intelligent” but certainly “collectively aware” or “collectively conscious”. If we meet a stranger in those moments, we know what they are thinking, namely “it’s so sad Diana died,” or “where might the marathon bomber be hiding and hitting next”. Moments like these motivate an informal definition of “organizational consciousness”. It is analogous to the human body, where the brain is conscious of the toe, and will respond differently depending on whether a person hits her toe at the door, or somebody else steps on her toe. Extending this metaphor, a “collectively conscious” organization will respond...
