Transpersonal Management: lessons from the Matrix trilogy
Julio Francisco Dantas de Rezende
The Third Millennium
will be marked by profound transformations that are already underway and that
will be moving us toward the affirmation of the supremacy of an organizational
society with the ever increasing presence of technology as an instrument for
the construction of a Brave New World. These transformations demand
that we reflect on the role of management in this process. At the same time,
it will also be increasingly necessary for individuals to be aware of each others
role within this scenario.
In whatever part
of the world you might examine, organizations will be increasingly important
components of the social fabric, with some serving as guides for the development
of a sense of identity within specific societies. Organizations are a necessity,
just as food, water, electrical energy and technology. This is indicative of
the need to understand the operation of these organisms to understand reality.
The Matrix,
to some degree, registers the importance of organizations, as there are a variety
of examples that figure into the plot. Cinema is the art form which can, consciously
and unconsciously, best express and register the influence of organizations
in the construction of reality by repeating plot treatments of situations in
various organizational and work environments. Moreover, this organizational
universe, which the cinema displays, is erected on a base of complex relationships
between individuals and technology. In this way, a symbiosis is created among
organizational elements, technology and the individual. The dimensions are not
always balanced, however, and require adjustments, primarily through greater
participation of the individual which questions the role of humanity in these
relationships that are marked by greater technical and organizational autonomy.
The film industry
favors technology, and its advances are investigated in the science fiction
genre. Films portray the unquantifiable impact of technology on daily life,
illustrating a certain inability of society to cope with all the implications
this entails. This genre also shows the confusion between the rapid development
of human values, ethics and environmental questions in relation to the dynamics
of their functions in the development of technology.
The consequences
of this disorder resuscitate the need for investigations about the influence
of technology on the social sphere, for the purpose of establishing guidelines
for the maintenance of a better equilibrium between human relations and technology.
Management would
thus be the field of knowledge pertinent to the understanding of organizations
and their power relationships would be the core of the conceptual construction
proposed in this book. Moreover, this field of knowledge, investigated by universities
and practiced in organizations, deserves to be re-evaluated, on a cyclical basis,
in regard to its content and praxis. The innovation of this study of management
is in the analysis of it as a whole as philosopher Ken Wilber suggests
we need to verify organizations as a locus for the experience of states
of consciousness in which various forms of knowledge must be taken into account.
The integral approach
in The Matrix trilogy is understood when the philosophical questions
presented are at the same time metaphysical (What is reality? What is the nature
of reality?), epistemological (How can we know what reality is?) and ethical
(What should I do?). It proposes a broader reflection on organizations, in an
attempt to understand how those questions sound in the organizational environment.
Guidelines have
been established for the type of design we should have in order to confront
present and future challenges, encompassing the interaction among the management
knowledge, the understanding of states of consciousness, and
technology to further the present analysis. This body of knowledge,
seen in an integral way, allows for new readings of reality due to the fact
that it is present in the formation of the individuals who work in or interact
with the organizations and those interested in understanding what their role
is at present and future.
The understanding
of these states of consciousness would encompass areas of psychology associated
with phenomenology, as being necessary for inquiries into the understanding
of how to motivate individuals. This perspective allows for a better examination
of the production of technology and the impact of these constructs on society,
on the economy and on the environment.
When studying
states of consciousness one traces an action that is initially associated with
an understanding of what is human. The appropriation of this concept is proposed
for the study of organizations. This practical application should be relevant
and all-compassing, as a way of seeing organizations as phenomena and examples
of human transcendence and the locus for the manifestation of states of consciousness.
The technologies
would be those constructs developed based on mathematics and physics, which
now is grouped with biology and other scientific fields, in multiple possibilities
of combinations, generating new fields of knowledge, such as bio-technology,
computers, nanotechnology and robotics, with impressive developments established
along their management.
Therefore, starting
with The Matrix trilogy, it is possible to affirm the possibility of
examining organizations with a broader vision, including the understanding of
new human and technological paradigms.
One searches for
lessons from The Matrix trilogy, transforming them into guidelines for
the conduct of active organizations in a complex challenging environment. However,
at the same time, admittedly, there is a certain human inability to grasp their
consequences.
To understand
the history of The Matrix, various other products, besides the trilogy
itself, were distributed by Warner Home Video such as the collection of short
feature films, The Animatrix, the documentary Revolutions Recalibrated
on the DVD of The Matrix Revolutions, the commentaries of philosopher
Ken Wilber and Cornell West about the trilogy and the collection The Ultimate
Matrix Collection that includes the documentary The Roots of the Matrix,
highlighting philosophical and scientific reflections about the film. The episodes
The Second Renewal Part I and Part II, presented in the The
Animatrix collection illustrates in a basic way how life was before the
Matrix was established as a tool for controlling humanity.
Among these resources
used to form the reflections of the present book, The Animatrix illustrates
the crisis of humanity in failing to manage its own constructs, in this case,
the robots, the androids and Artificial Intelligence. It was this lack of a
greater reflection regarding the impact of technological innovations on the
future of society, which culminated in the creation of an undesirable situation.
In the film, mans answer to this scenario is immature to the point of
the characters believing that the destruction of the robots would be a
sufficient political response to the invasion of technology into home and into
the organizational work place.
The message of
the films can then be interpreted as a suggestion to take on a broad discussion
about the impact of technology on daily life and to talk about how, paradoxically,
technology can be a mediator and instigator of a process of psychological development.
Hence, Matrix
signals a future proclaimed by an overlapping relationship between man and technology
that is currently operative to some extent. Meanwhile, exceptions are made to
ignore the importance of technology and also to unabashedly glorify it, neglecting
the question of human beings entirely. This tenuous equilibrium presents itself
as a difficult challenge for society and the organizations of this new millennium.
These reflections
help to extract new possibilities out of organizational research, proposing
guidelines on how to be more prepared to interact in an increasingly complex
society.
In some ways, technology is marvelous and seductive, producing results that
were unimaginable a few years ago. Today it is possible to access the internet
from anywhere: inside a car, a plane, sitting on the beach, or going to work
on the subway. The interaction between internet technologies and virtual reality
and the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in robots promises a revolution
in the relationship of man to machine in years to come.
These advances
in technology have impressed, surprised and seduced the world for a long time,
at least for several generations. In some ways, technology, or that which is
technological, has been turned into a new example of perfection,
i.e,, a new model or a new symbol of what is ideal.
This discourse
denotes a certain assumption that everything answers to human expectations instantly,
giving immediate responses like you get when you go to a chat room, or use programs
such as Microsoft Messenger, or calculate financial data in spreadsheets using
programs such as Microsoft Excel, which are only a few examples. To apply this
logic to humans does not always work; rather it is necessary to think in terms
of models that can serve as better guides to human action.
The use of technology
that drives new organizational models demands a deeper investigation of organizations.
We need to be able to use technology as partners and not be subjugated to it.
In some ways, technology is also fundamental to healthy competition between
organizations as well as being responsible for their survival. There is no denying,
however, the importance of technology. On the contrary, it defends the incorporation
of organizational strategies. These are the fine points that we use to embrace
the complexity of the phenomena that The Matrix invites one to think about.
The development
of this critical view of reality should be the responsibility of even one, giving
the organization the role of inducing the collaborators to awaken their capacities,
if they want leadership that embraces diversity and complexity.
However, in this
discussion of The Matrix we are given the possibility of perceiving the
One as one who: assumes responsibility for understanding reality;
one who develops a perception that transcends the vision of a world permeated
by technology today and goes toward a humanist view. This One is the one who
can find the answers in a place beyond the technological organizational world,
in the totality of himself.
This is what Trinity attempts to do in the beginning of the first film of the Matrix Trilogy: to invite Neo to a meeting, to challenge him and make him question whether he really wants to know the nature of reality. Trinity gives him a warning. She tells him just how necessary it is to live with a new view of reality interpreted here as encompassing organizational phenomena. Trinitys invitation is extended to each reader of this book. Welcome to the universe of the Matrix.
Julio F. D. Rezende