May 11, 2007
Paris - Maison de la chimie
International Forum
THE EMERGENCE OF COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE

Competitive Intelligence

As co-founder of SoL having been part of the top management team of one of the largest petroleum companies in the world, Arie de Geus questions present decision taking practices. He considers that the association of even brilliant individual intelligences and their interaction in teams and in organisations do not necessarily produce the quality one would expect in the ability to perceive, to understand, to decide and to do what is right. Yet, the present threats and challenges are such that it becomes vital and urgent for organisations to optimize such a resource. Here lies the real source of competitive advantage. In order to achieve progress in this crucial domain, Arie de Geus has suggested bringing together the points of view of participants representing a very wide perspective. Thus will begin a work of reflection associating diverse disciplines, in the domain of life sciences as well as social sciences and management practices.

To bring together experts with different horizons and achievements is not a particularly difficult task. We would call this a pluri-disciplinary approach. To organize a dialogue between them is somewhat more difficult and would be termed an interdisciplinary process. More ambitions still is the idea that each participant representing a specific paradigm allows him / her self to not only speak for his / her “camp” and that, from such an exchange, there be more than just dissonance : we are now talking about a trans-disciplinary approach. Such a true exercise in collective intelligence is practised by the “Centre International de Recherches Transdisciplinaires”, promoted among others by physicist Basarab Nicolescu and, with him, Edgar Morin, Jacques Robin and our guest, Andreu Solé.

 

First steps in a multidisciplinary research program

During the Forum, specific exchanges among researchers will be organized, covering the state of progress of research work in the different fields of competency. Participants will present their work in the form of research papers. The exchanges will seek to identify research opportunities and guide-lines for a collaborative research program. If you wish to participate, please click on www.solfrance.org and on “Rencontre Internationale Emergence de l’Intelligence Collective”, then on “Research Conversations”. Second researchers meeting on Saturday May 12 from 9:00 to 12:00