Organizing Principles Applied

The overarching organizing principles of unity, love, and justice guide us in our individual and collective investigation of reality 1 within whichever social system we find ourselves. In effect, they frame topics for consultation 2 among us about their implications in organization design and applications to change management practices.

As we act upon the outcomes of our consultations, organizational structures and processes gain “energy efficiency” 3 and the social system that bounds them becomes more integrative and adaptive. Experience and learning acquired over time augments our “inclusivity skills” which we then use to expand the boundaries of our social systems and tap into the additional energy efficiency that comes with it. In the long term, as we near “universal participation” 4 within a global social system, we reach a profound and pervasive understanding that …

Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. 5

And an entirely new social system—one characterized by the Most Great Peace 6—prevails!

  1. “If learning in action is to be the primary mode of operation in the area of social and economic development, the Bahá’í principle of consultation needs to be fully appreciated. Whether concerned with analysing a specific problem, attaining higher degrees of understanding on a given issue, or exploring possible courses of action, consultation may be seen as collective search for truth. Participants in a consultative process see reality from different points of view, and as these views are examined and understood, clarity is achieved. In this conception of the collective investigation of reality, truth is not a compromise between opposing interest groups. Nor does the desire to exercise power over one another animate participants in the consultative process. What they seek, rather, is the power of unified thought and action.”
    Universal House of Justice. “26 November 2012 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library, https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20121126001/1#778392111. Accessed 18 June 2021. ↩
  2. “The heaven of divine wisdom is illumined with the two luminaries of consultation and compassion. Take ye counsel together in all matters, inasmuch as consultation is the lamp of guidance which leadeth the way, and is the bestower of understanding.“
    Baháʾuʾlláh. Tablets of Baháʼuʼlláh, Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Translated by Habib Taherzadeh. 1st ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978, 168. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/tablets-bahaullah/5#545364905 ↩
  3. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 60.https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/3#470126563 ↩
  4. “Access to knowledge is the right of every human being, and participation in its generation, application and diffusion a responsibility that all must shoulder in the great enterprise of building a prosperous world civilization—each individual according to his or her talents and abilities. Justice demands universal participation.”
    Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library, https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421001/1#977686651. Accessed 18 June 2021. ↩
  5. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 372. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/27#628985716 ↩
  6. “Trust all to God. The lights of God are resplendent. The blessed Epistles are spreading. The blessed teachings are promulgated throughout the East and West. Soon you will see that the heavenly Words have established the oneness of the world of humanity. The banner of the Most Great Peace has been unfurled, and the great community is appearing.”
    ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 28-29. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/1#820079356. ↩