OUR PHILOSOPHY – OBSERVING DIFFERENTLY

The work of Newfield Institute is based on the new discipline Ontology of the Human Observer. Ontology is the study of being, and an ontological approach to change focuses on Way of Being. Working with Way of Being gets to the heart of how people function, learn and improve in their personal and professional lives.

Ontology of the Human Observer
The discipline Ontology of the Human Observer has emerged from significant developments in philosophy and biology in the latter part of the 20th century, which have provided a powerful new practical understanding of human beings and the nature of human communication. This new understanding forms the basis for:

• A specific coaching methodology, called Ontological Coaching, which is an innovative, highly effective and more far-reaching approach to coaching than other approaches.
• A specific technology for transforming organisational culture by leveraging the power of workplace conversations and relationships as a core business process and the fundamental means by which work is done and improvement occurs (see Newfield Conversational Technology)

The notion of The Observer
The essence of the Newfield Institute philosophy is captured in the notion of The Observer. This is a deceptively simple, yet elegant and powerful concept.

We can only participate and act in a world that we can observe. The world we observe is not only the world of actuality (i.e. objects and people that we can identify and interact with). We also live in a world of meaning, which especially includes a world of possibility. Who each of us is as an Observer is shaped by the meaning we live in, much of which is multi-layered and not always accessible to us. Expanding possibilities in life and taking more effective action is more than learning new skills and strategies – it is about expanding how we are as an Observer.

Expanding how we are as an Observer opens up new ways of being and new worlds of participation. This is fundamentally an issue of learning. Organisational learning specialist Peter Senge has written, "Real learning gets to the heart of what it means to be human. Through learning we re-create ourselves." This statement captures the essence of an ontological approach to coaching and organisational transformation, for Ontology of the Human Observer focuses on what it means to be human and how this impacts on our daily personal and professional lives, individually and collectively.

Ontological Learning
Newfield Institute focuses on the power of Ontological Learning as a means to a richer, fuller, more effective and more meaningful life.
Problems, possibilities and solutions exist in the "eye of the beholder". Ontological Learning is about becoming a different and more powerful Observer (with power being defined as the capacity for effective action). Becoming a different and more powerful Observer means shifting into realities that provide significantly new and more effective means for taking action.
By enabling people to observe the realities they live in, Ontological Learning provides the means for people to observe the very process of how they observe the world. In other words, Ontological Learning focuses on the observational process itself. We cannot change what we do not notice, and this has been beautifully expressed by R. D. Laing.

Ontological Learning is about learning that is self-generating. By observing how we observe, ie, observing The Observer, we enrich our capacity to make shifts in our perception and behaviour for the benefit of ourselves and others.

Way of Being
The essence of Ontological Learning is contained in the model Way of Being, which is introduced in the section on Ontological Coaching.

For more information on the applications of Ontology for Coaching, Leadership Development and Organisational Transformation see Articles and Papers

For further information, email info@newfieldinstitute.com.au or phone:

Melbourne: +61 3 9878 5501
Sydney: +61 417 668 238
Brisbane: +61 7 3367 1530