Emergence of wellbeing in community participation

This paper explores and reflects upon the literature and several mini case studies to recommend a change of focus for the linking management and development of community participants and community organisations. This change of focus looks at complexity and patterns that arise from the multitude of social interactions; the support and development of individuals and the effect this can have on an organisation’s wellbeing; and the effect a community organisation can have on that of the individual. To gain insight into wellbeing, people need to be aware of their mind, body and energy and how they affect others. There is evidence that terminally ill people who have found new beliefs have experienced a spontaneous remission of disease. Humanity evolves in the same way as we control our destiny. We can learn to love, respect, trust, and commit to each other and work in harmony, or we can foster disharmony resulting in failure and negative feelings. As the economy changes, community organisations are under threat of extinction. Just as species and humanity evolve, we suggest that community organisations need to evolve to ensure wellbeing

Social Network Analysis And Information Systems In Organisations: Highlighting The Need To Understand Human Information Sharing Behaviour

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the lack of importance given to understanding the users’ behaviour and context when it comes to developing IS in organisations. To also point out the value of social network analysis (SNA) in the study of organisations and IS in general and give a critical review on SNA as a method. The significance of SNA was demonstrated with a case study which shows in a little detail how it can help in understanding user behaviour and organisational context. This is a paper that is based mainly on information systems (IS) in organisations, so it does not make any claims outside of this context, and while there are alternatives to SNA in understanding organisations, the paper focuses on SNA because of the insight it gives on the social environment of the organisation. The paper helps provide a general understanding of SNA as a tool in studying user behaviour in organisations with a view to IS development and evaluation, and also makes an effort to link and show the importance of the study of user behaviour to developing IS that is more suited to the user

Exploring Mindsight via Email Communication in Learning Environment

This paper explores mindsight in virtual communication, examining problems people face while communicating in virtual spaces with a focusing on email communication. Many have documented the problems encountered when they are communicating with others on email. Face to face communication includes facial and interpersonal clues that enhances interaction. Other problems people face include misunderstanding in communication and information overload. These problems disrupt workflow, and can cause stress among workers, which in turn reduces job satisfaction and production. These problems are common in academic world, especially among people found in learning environment, who have to use email communicate continuously because of the nature of their job and activities. It is believed that every learning environment utilizes one form of email communication or the other on several levels and for different purposes. Scholars have put forward suggested technical solutions that are mainly software and policy inclined. This paper attempts to understand the human in-depth factors to the problem. Data collection for the study commenced by sending questionnaires to students to assess the levels of their communication in relation to their environment, personal tendencies, being understood and understanding others during email communication etc. Evidence in the data analysis suggested that most of the students found it difficult to retain attention while doing their emails and they were unable to understand how others felt. It was also discovered that people do not necessarily seek to be understood when they send email communication. Based on the findings, it was concluded, that an intervention, such as mindsight, might enable people to retain attention with some level of personal and environmental awareness that might enhance their ability to understand their feelings and that of others while communicating on email. Therefore, it is recommended that a more rigorous application of mindsight exercise should be explored by students who engage in virtual communication in learning environments

Ontology, epistemology and the complexity of human neurobiology

Certain ontology and epistemology perspectives are most relevant to human systems’ enquiry. These are derived from a synergy of insights from theories of autopoiesis, interpersonal neurobiology and complexity. Ontology has implications for our comprehension of the nature of human systems: 1/ Human systems are embodied and situated, exhibiting selforganising and emergent properties; 2/ Human experience is personal but not private, it is born in the interactions with the environment, and is validated by the human structure; 3/ Changes in human structure are necessarily subservient to conservation of autopoiesis, i.e. self-production and maintaining life. The epistemological implications deem ontology and epistemology as mutually informative in human enquiry; the thrust of this article. Our knowledge is limited by our capabilities of awareness. The quality of perception interlinks with cultivating awareness and intentionality for maintaining wellbeing, i.e. sustaining life-enhancing conditions. The concept of ‘wellbeing informatics’ is used to outline a tangible approach to evaluating wellbeing

MIKE: Management, Information and Knowledge Ecology

This paper takes an ecological perspective that views management systems and information systems as dimensions of the overall organizational platform. It views management as a process of learning. Learning is considered of critical importance in the current climate of swift changes and within the context of globalization and communication, opportunities and challenges presented by day-to-day advancements in information technologies. The purpose of this article is to explore and reflect on the meaning and practice of management as learning, and the role of information systems in this process. The objectives of the paper are to ground the exploration in systems theory, with reference to concepts of information, knowledge, context and learning, autopoiesis, viable systems as well as to reach for insight within the complexity, i.e. the importance of interaction focus and emergence, and the cognitive sciences, i.e. the importance of awareness and reflection

Leadership capability : an autopoietic perspective

There is a large body of literature by the Chilean biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, referred to as Autopoietic Theory. This theory describes the dynamics of living systems; dealing with cognition as a biological phenomenon. The theory, however, has found far wider application than may be suggested from its biological roots, to generate implications for epistemology, i.e. enactive view of cognition, communication and social systems theory. This paper presents key insights and explores their implication to understanding leadership capability from the perspective of an enactive view of cognition. Autopoiesis suggests that the quality of human experience, is determined by the interplay between the internal dynamics (biological processes) and the environment (social and other) of an active situated human agent, and thus offers an alternative perspective to interpreting and developing leadership capability. What is required is to foster an environment where awareness is actively developed, fragmentation of experience is avoided and language is used to promote creativity. A mini case study of the hearing aid manufacturer, Oticon A/S, is used for illustration

Assessment of the co-creative process

Co-creation in Design is a multi-disciplinary process where co-designers are not only trained professionals from different disciplines, but also members from the community with whom the co-design project is focused. Handling such multi-disciplinary, multi-personality and multi-cultural situations requires personal and professional development through reflective practice to understand one’s own experience. This technique has been traditionally called ‘the act of becoming aware’ (Schön, 1983). Experts in psychology, systems thinking, western and eastern medicine and design education were invited to share knowledge during workshops and a consequent review of inter-disciplinary literature resulted in a list of ‘inner values’, where the anticipation was that, when these inner values exist in a co-design team, they can lead to harmonious working and co-owned decisions during the co-design process (Vyas et.al., 2012) The inner values were then clearly defined using the inter- disciplinary literature and literature from positive psychology was used to convert the conceptual inner values into a practical research framework. This paper describes the application of the framework for research to generate empirical evidence that justifies the role and utility of the ‘inner values’ in the co-design process

An Exploratory Study of the Application of Mindsight in Email Communication

Research problem: Email communication is a type of virtual communication with specific characteristics: - it is a form of written communication; it is asynchronous, i.e. not occurring at the same time for the sender and recipients. Email does not include face to face communication and thus the capacity to develop a sense of connection, shared knowledge and trust are distorted due to the lack of interpersonal cues and may become a problem.Communication is a process where one mind affects another, and it is through the process of communication that individuals develop shared perceptions and coordinate their behaviours. This implies creating social worlds rather than disseminating information between people. The fact that communication is not a mere means of disseminating information but also a means of developing social entities for co-creation of understanding requires that individuals approach communication with a sense of awareness of themselves and others.Proposed solutions: In this article the theory of Mindsight is proposed as an approach of mindful observation of the act of communication resulting in deeper awareness, reflection and potential impact on behaviour. Although Mindsight has been extensively used in addressing self-awareness and communication in real spaces, there is a gap in the existing relevant literature about the application of Mindsight in virtual/email communication.Methods: A Mindsight Utility for Virtual Communication (MUVC) was developed for use in engaging with email. The MUVC is a set of exercises enabling users to identify and manage their email habits over a period of time. The utility was developed to engage users in experiencing self-awareness and awareness of others and provides an aid to formulate personal guidelines in email communication. It was implemented with nineteen participants as part of action research allowing each individual to develop their own guidelines grounded in the experience of using the observation practice. Data: Qualitative data was collected in the form of diaries for a period of 6 days from two group of participants: -university students; - employees of a social enterprise. Ethics approval was granted from Northumbria University prior to data collection. Thematic analysis was used.Results: The study uncovered potential problems and solution strategies, inhibitors and facilitators of communication. Problems with email were perceived as: not knowing one another, difficulties in connecting, lack of trust, lack of interpersonal clues, reduction in communication quality, emotional and psychological discomfort. Solution strategies included: open-mindedness, empathy, compassion, attention focus, clear language, awareness practice, addressing physical and emotional discomfort

A study to assess the influence of interprofessional point of care simulation training on safety culture in the operating theatre environment of a university teaching hospital.

Interprofessional point of care or in situ simulation is used as a training tool in our operating theatre directorate with the aim of improving crisis behaviours. This study aimed to assess the impact of interprofessional point of care simulation on the safety culture of operating theatres. A validated Safety Attitude Questionnaire was administered to staff members before each simulation scenario and then re-administered to the same staff members after 6-12 months. Pre- and post-training Safety Attitude Questionnaire-Operating Room (SAQ-OR) scores were compared using paired sample t-tests. Analysis revealed a statistically significant perceived improvement in both safety (p < 0.001) and teamwork (p = 0.013) climate scores (components of safety culture) 6-12 months after interprofessional simulation training. A growing body of literature suggests that a positive safety culture is associated with improved patient outcomes. Our study supports the implementation of point of care simulation as a useful intervention to improve safety culture in theatres

Online Screening of X-System Music Playlists Using an Integrative Wellbeing Model Informed by the Theory of Autopoiesis

Research suggests that music has a powerful effect on the human mind and body. This article explores the impact of music as an intervention. For this purpose, the X-System technology is used to curate relaxing and enlivening music playlists designed to positively impact wellbeing and emotional state during the COVID-19 pandemic. A wellbeing model grounded in autopoietic theory of self-organisation in living systems is developed to inform the evaluation of the impact of the intervention and ensure the reliability of the data. More specifically, data quality is enhanced by focusing the participants’ awareness on their immediate embodied experience of physical, emotional and relational wellbeing and sense of pleasure/displeasure prior to and after listening to a preferred playlist. The statistical analysis shows significant positive changes in emotional wellbeing, valence and sense of meaning ( p<0.001 ) with a medium effect size. It also reveals a statistically significant change for physical wellbeing ( p=0.009 ) with a small effect size. With the relaxing playlists leading to decrease in arousal levels and the enlivening playlists to an increase in activation, it is also concluded that appropriately curated playlists may be able to lead the listener to positive relaxation or activation states or indeed to positive mood change that may have health benefits