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Master of Science in Management

Antioch University Seattle

1998

Reviewing committee:

Jill Bamburg, MBA, GMP Faculty PEP advisor

Antioch University Seattle

Jed Selter, Senior Manager, GMP mentor

The Boeing Company

Copyright 1998 @ Seattle, Washington. All rights reserved.

Abstract

Exploring Prediction and meaning Through the I Ching Oracle

An intuitive approach to understanding future events and the meanings associated with every day occurrence, using the I Ching oracle as described in the Wilhelm I Ching. A set of questions are asked of the oracle prior to and after weekend modules associated with the Antioch University Graduate Management Program 1998 (GMP 98) cohort during the period of September 1997 to November 1997. Answers from the oracle are recorded and examined for patterns of prediction and meaning within the GMP 98 cohort. An examination of some traditional Western scientific methods which approximate the ideas of the I Ching are explored prior to the question and answer period, and which suggest a basis for belief in and application of the oracle method. Conclusions are drawn during and after the question and answer period as related to the GMP 98 cohort which result in five applications of the I Ching oracle in a business setting. Four arguments are offered in support of the empirical validity of the I Ching oracle as a tool for predicting and understanding events.

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Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 The Project and the I Ching

Chapter 2 The I Ching Oracle and Western Thought

Chapter 3 The Study Period

Chapter 4 September - Seabeck Retreat

Chapter 5 October - The Twilight Zone

Chapter 6 November - The Social Order

Chapter 7 Predictive and Interpretive Value of the I Ching

Closing Comments on this Paper

Bibliography

Appendix A The Yarrow Stalk Method

Appendix B Antioch Learning Vision

Appendix C Convention for Recording I Ching Oracles

Appendix D Negotiated Agreements from Seabeck Fall 1997

Appendix E Possible Actions to Develop Our Community of Learners

Appendix F Probability of Observed Oracle Patterns

Appendix G Sample Reflective Essay Using Oracle Method

Appendix H Sample Reflective Essay Without Oracle Method

Appendix I Oracle Spreadsheets

This a paper without beginning and without ending. The form that will result has always been - it simply awaits discovery - and, will forever change - as the next discovery emerges.

At the gut level what we’re really about is answering a question about prediction and meaning: Prediction of future events and meaning of current events.

What we will explore is whether there is any distinction between these two. Are current events future events? Is the meaning of an occurrence that is happening now relevant and predictive of an occurrence that will, or could or may happen in the future?

The tool we will use in this journey is the ancient oracle of the I Ching as described and translated by Richard Wilhelm and documented with additional references by the author Wu Wei on the World Wide Web.

The oracle of the I Ching has been a companion to me since about 1979 when I was first introduced to it while studying tai ji. My early ventures with the tool were the idle curiosity accorded most fortune-telling methods such as tarot cards or astrology. I would occasionally ask questions of the oracle "just to see" and was regularly impressed by what seemed very revealing occurrences of oracle readings. I began to record these readings in various notebooks. In about 1990 I entered an intense period of inquiry with the oracle. At this time I began to record in my Wilhelm text the dates I received a particular oracle reading. I thought perhaps some sort of patterns would emerge as the different readings appeared. Nothing much revealed itself in the way of patterns, but I did become quite familiar with the oracles and their texts, and the revealing nature of the answers continued to be a source of growing curiosity. When it came time to design a Personal Excellence Project in association with my graduate studies the project which this paper entails revealed itself.

As our guide for the journey in this paper will be the oracle of the I Ching it seems only natural before even beginning to ask of the oracle what it thinks of being called to this task. In this way we can begin with both information of what we can expect - as explained by the oracle - and also take a brief tour of the structure of the I Ching as we will come to see it later.

The first step in such an inquiry is to ask a question. I framed this question to ask what the oracle thought of this project. In asking this question my intent was to begin the journey of discovery that may lead to development of this tool as a predictor and provider of meaning to everyday events. If the oracle provides an answer that makes sense to the question a first step is taken down this road.

So, the question I wrote down, on June 17, 1997, was: What of this experiment? What have you to say about it? I Ching, what is your answer?

I then consulted the oracle using the yarrow stalk method of inquiry and received the following hexagram/answer:

-------o-------

------ -------

------ -------

-------o-------

------ x ------

------ ------

This hexagram is one of the eight hexagrams made up of the same trigram repeating both on the top and bottom. Hence its name is the name of the trigram formed by these three lines:

 ---------------

------ -------

------ -------

 Keeping Still, Mountain. Keeping Still, Mountain is a trigram rooted in the earth. It stands strong and heavy, fixed and determined. It has a masculine gender by virtue of the solid/strong line that has joined with the two broken/weak lines and represents the youngest son of earth whose trigram is made up of three broken lines. 

The "o" in the third and top lines; and the "x" in the second line indicate that these lines of the hexagram are changing to their opposite form. While it is now Keeping Still, it is not stable, there is more to be learned as it changes to:

----- -----

----- -----

----- -----

----- -----

------------

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Now the top and third lines are replaced with broken lines and the second line is replaced with a solid line. The upper trigram

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is The Receptive, Earth. The mother of the I Ching.

The lower trigram

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is The Abysmal, Water. The middle son, flowing onward. Filling up everything in its path as it seeks it path to the ocean.

Without consulting the I Ching text I wrote as follows: "Standstill changes to an Army. The youngest sons together, when their mother arrives, one is gone. The higher leaves the lower remains. Leaving behind the mother and her middle son - The Army.

Upon consulting the I Ching text on the initial hexagram Keeping Still the judgment says:

Keeping Still. Keeping his back still

So that he no longer feels his body.

He goes into his courtyard

And does not see his people.

No blame.

Here is the first piece of the answer to my question. The I Ching seems to be describing me as one seeking a quiet heart. This is right in line with the first of my core values - Inner Peace - stated in my Antioch Learning Vision and I can see the judgment fitting my mission in this PEP. I am seeking a quiet heart, in fact, I’m beginning to achieve a quiet heart. So perhaps the answer lies in validating this project as another step in my path.

The text continues with the following image:

Mountains standing close together:

The image of Keeping Still.

Thus the superior man

Does not permit his thoughts

To go beyond his situation.

The second piece of the answer. I have images of how this project could be. I’ve been counseled on what this project should be. The advice of the oracle is to allow the natural process of creation to bring the project to what it will be.

The I Ching text is now consulted on the three changing lines of the initial hexagram Keeping Still.

Six in second place means:

Keeping his calves still.

He cannot rescue him whom he follows.

His heart is not glad.

I wonder if this is Jill Bamburg, my PEP advisor. Jill will determine the fate of my PEP and will decide on its merit or not-merit as deserving of credit toward my degree after expressing skepticism in the method of inquiry.

 Nine in third place means:

Keeping his hips still.

Making his sacrum stiff.

Dangerous. The heart suffocates.

The oracle now informs me of what I know. The quiet I seek, which I have, in my heart is there by conscious effort. For it to remain it must be natural, unforced, unconscious.

Nine at the top means:

* Noblehearted keeping still.

Good fortune.

The first hexagram ends on a positive note. Success must follow. In regards to this project it would seem I have chosen a good next step in the quest of my learning vision.

We now turn to the hexagram that is formed when the lines change as described above.

----- -----

----- -----

----- -----

----- -----

------------

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Introductory notes begin with general remarks about an army. An army is present in the people. Its strength is invisible except in times of war

In the change it seems the oracle has moved from describing me to describing the world in which I will conduct this project; i.e., GMP 98. It quite accurately picks up on dominate themes of our cohort: Search for authority. Lack of discipline and obedience. The desire for someone to stand up and show us the way! We have avoided war so far. Are justice and perseverance at play?

The final piece of the answer now arrives in the following:

Again the oracle captures the work of GMP in the first year. Toward building our emotional capital. Establishing the relationships between faculty and students. It points to success if we do our work well. 

So, we reach the end of our answer. What have we learned? What does

the I Ching oracle think of this project?

The first message received is one of encouragement that this is a good next step on my life mission as stated in my GMP Learning Objectives. The quest for a quiet heart and letting things be as they will is paramount among those things I hope to take away when I receive my degree. The oracle has observed this and counsels fair sailing in this quest, through this project and beyond.

The second message is one of caution. The changing six in Keeping Still if it does refer to Jill will be a challenge. The oracle seems to be predicting a conflict of some sort between the direction I will take in this project and the direction she may wish me to take. This conflict was even hinted at when Jill and I met for the first time to go over our advising relationship. She was very concerned that what resulted from my work might not meet her standards and that I would perceive this as unfair treatment. That the oracle has picked up on this theme is strong evidence for me of the meaning explaining ability of the oracle. In that sense it validates my going forward with the project. If the wrongdoing proclaimed is withholding credit however, this is a very auspicious way to begin such a project. It leads to a paradox where I would succeed in my PEP (for what I seek) while failing to receive credit for that success. The oracle gives no advice on this matter. It simply informs the project with a condition to consider as it is conducted.

The final message is one of the environment. I find the image of The Army and its attendant descriptions so revealing of the GMP 98 cohort as to once again confirm the ability of the oracle to provide meaning and enlightenment to everyday events. As it impacts this project it confirms the nature of the group upon which the project will be conducted. It goes even further, in that it also provides a clue as to how to be more successful in our coming year; by building a bond between the faculty (government) and students (people). Interestingly enough that is also the advertised theme of our second year of study: working across the boundaries of authority.

We are now ready to begin. We’ve seen the I Ching in action and a preview of the project to be described in Chapter 3. We’ve seen validation (at least I have) that the I Ching can provide meaningful answers to questions posed to it. We’ve seen the I Ching pick up on the meanings and themes present in the GMP cohort. And we’ve even received a first prediction: A potential for conflict between me and Jill as we put this paper together.

Hang on tight, we’ve only just begun!

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 I have read many books and most often race through or ignored the acknowledgments sections. With the completion of this paper I can now more fully recognize why an author feels the need to include this section. For myself anyway, this paper would be so incomplete without an acknowledgment of those who helped me as to be nearly meaningless, not to mention ungrateful of advice and counsel, without which, this paper would be only random thoughts and drivel.

My first acknowledgments are to the two people who made up the review committee of this project: Jill Bamburg and Jed Selter. Together they provided the perfect yin and yang for this project. They challenged and supported my assumptions and conclusions as needed. They kept my enthusiasm in check when it got out of hand and boosted it when I got down. Without their continued presence and interest this paper may never have completed.

I would like to thank Ed Maher, organizational consultant to The Boeing Company, and Dr. Robert Spitzer, professor of Philosophy at Seattle University, for their help and thoughts in preparing the introduction to this project. Dr. Spitzer provided a wonderful depth of reasoning and context to the scientific literature I reviewed, while Mr. Maher helped point me at contemporary sources which suggest that there is no such thing as coincidence.

My appreciation goes out to Chris Prentiss, who as an author under the pseudonym wu wei maintains the home page from which I took, with his permission, the description of the I Ching oracle in Chapter 1 and the yarrow stalk method in Appendix A. Chris is a true believer and doesn’t need this project to know with certainty of the power of the I Ching oracle. He pointed me at a number of his books for additional reference and maintained an electronic dialogue with me throughout this project, which also helped keep me keep going when the doubts crept in.

To Emile Petrie, Director of the University of Washington Instructional Center, Stuart Anderson, a math instructor at the center and Dr. Don Comstock, Director of the Graduate Programs in Management at Antioch University Seattle, I owe the completion of the statistical and mathematical analysis provided in Chapter 7. Emile was kind enough to allow me time with one of his top math instructors. Stuart worked with me even though my lack of math knowledge must have been amusing at times. Don helped point out the weakness of the chi squared statistical approach and which led to a probability analysis from mathematical calculations provided by Stuart.

I would like to thank the cohort of GMP 98 in total. They are known here only as anonymous names, but they are the depth and breadth of this project, patiently providing the experiences for the I Ching oracle to interpret.

An odd bit of acknowledgment is due to the resource of the World Wide Web (WWW). As I came across questions needing research or areas where I could get help I found the WWW to be an incredible resource. I’ve already mentioned that the availability of published material by wu wei, I also found the Wilhelm text of the I Ching recorded on Rick Le Mon’s home page and a random number generator maintained by Professor Roger Brown of the University of Wisconsin-Madison which was used as a tool for one of my arguments of the validity of the I Ching oracle in Chapter 7. As I come to know more of the WWW, and as I use it more, I find myself thinking it will truly change the way we know our world, by opening up the possibility of these types of research projects to many more people with tools, contacts and information a button click away!

I would like to thank Gabe Hanzeli, a manager and friend at Boeing, and Dr. Myron Apilado, VP for Minority Affairs at the University of Washington. It was their recommendations which provided me entry to this program and without which I would not have come to write this paper.

My participation in this program would not have been possible without the support of my two direct superiors, Dick Wilk and Mike Riddell. The Boeing Company provides the encouragement and programs for continuing educational opportunities. Without the support of my bosses, however, opportunity could not be actualized.

To my two sons, Isaac, 12, and Aaron, 9, I owe my time. It is a great curiosity to them why their father is once again a student. At their age school isn’t the first place they would choose and why one would go back is a mystery they’ll have to come to understand in a later time. They gave me the time, however, to complete this paper, and demonstrated a patience with their dad as he did so that was far beyond their years.

And finally, I must remember a lifetime friend, Joe Hamann. He introduced me to tai ji some twenty years ago, and from there to tao and I Ching. He gave me the first step of the thousand mile journey that is now this paper and will continue forever.

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 In the coming century the influence of Eastern society will increase dramatically with the emergence of China and other Pacific Rim economies. This project explores the value and usefulness of the I Ching as an intuitive tool to predict and explain meaning in everyday events. The project further asks if a systematic use of the I Ching oracle in a study setting will enhance the ability of Western society to understand and engage more effectively in working with Eastern society especially as it relates to the Western business model.

The I Ching has been the foundation of thought and belief in Eastern culture for over 2600 years. The tool of I Ching discovery is the oracle - either coins, yarrow stalk or other inanimate objects - which when manipulated are said to relate to everyday events with predictive and explanatory powers as interpreted through one of 64 patterns of broken and unbroken lines which form the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. It is difficult to understand how the random occurrence of lines generated by the I Ching oracle could be believed to have predictive and explanatory powers, yet over 3 billion people hold some degree of belief with this notion. As business begins to interact on a regular basis with a society grounded in this belief system it is important to begin to explore this model for relevance and application in Western society and business

Our project will use the setting of GMP 98 as a study group to explore the intuitive power that may be available to predict and explain meaning through the use of the I Ching oracle.

What is proposed is to use the yarrow stalk oracle prior to and immediately after each GMP module from September 1997 through November 1997. By examining the readings associated with this method we will hope to see if the oracle can open up intuitive predictive channels prior to the GMP module events and what insights may be gained through the oracle after the GMP module events.

At the suggestion of Ed Maher an organizational consultant in Systems Theory this examination will be informed by other theories on metaphysical thought. He has suggested an examination of Carl Jung, DeePak Chopra and Neale Walsch as they relate to explaining apparent coincidence as not coincidence at all.

At the suggestion of Dr. Robert Spitzer, Professor of Philosophy at Seattle University, the relevance of this project will be framed around two possible areas of exploration.

First is the possibility of beginning to understand the connection between Eastern and Western thinking in light of the increased interaction the two will have as we enter the 21st century.

Second will be to see where and if the influence of Eastern thinking can provide benefit to Western thought processes, and where and if Western thinking can provide benefit to Eastern thought processes.

Both these areas of inquiry will be explored as they relate to the GMP 98 cohort in the specific instance of this project and an attempt will be made to extrapolate conclusions for general use and benefit to a Western business model.

To attempt to get at these questions the project as described above will be conducted after providing in this introductory material a rational of the I Ching method and comparing it to approximate models suggested in traditional Western literature in physics and psychology.

The I Ching method will be explored as an intuitive method in the two areas it purports to provide enlightenment: Prediction and meaning of events.

The Western models which will be described as close approximations of thought which approach the same conclusions as the I Ching are: quantum physics, the collective unconscious of cognitive psychology and synchronicity.

In describing the I Ching and each of the approximate models we will seek to translate connections between each of the Western models and the I Ching. In this way we will suggest a validation of the method of the I Ching oracle within a context of Western thought and rationality.

The difficulty in this approach is that the whole notion of Eastern thought is one of indeterminate, nearly irrational acceptance of events as connected one to another without cause or effect. This flies directly into the face of accepted notions of determinate, cause and effect relationships predicted by traditional Western scientific methods.

Perhaps, in the final analysis, what we will discover is that both are correct. The I Ching after all supposes that everything is connected, true and a part of the whole. In this light the existence of Western determinism is also a part of that whole. That Western determinism appears to contradict the indeterminism of the I Ching method must be considered as an event to be understood in the whole system that contains the two opposing thoughts.

In other words what may be true is that Eastern thought is Western thought and Western thought is Eastern thought. The distinctions being only the vocabulary used to describe the same phenomenon.

"If you knew which of your actions would bring you good fortune and which misfortune, which actions would lead to your success and which to failure, would that knowledge not be better than gold and diamonds? Would it not allow you to achieve any goal? Have anything you desired? If you could transcend the barriers of time to look into the future, into the past, if you could see the road that led to happiness, the road to despair, would you not consider yourself fortunate indeed?"

"When you become adept in the use of the I Ching, you will be able to do those things and more. Open your mind to the words on the following pages; allow yourself the freedom to believe that all of the above is possible."

"We are part of the universe-as much a part as are the galaxies that whirl through space and, here on our little planet, as much a part as are the trees, the mountains, and the sky. We are no less a part of the universe than anything else is or was or ever can be. We are an integral part, made of the same stuff as the rest of the universe: universal matter."

"Everything that happens, happens within time. We like to think that time stretches illimitably forward into the future and illimitably back into the past while we exist on a hairline of time that separates the future from the past, the hairline we call, "now." Quite the reverse is true; all there is and was and ever can be is an endless now, within which change occurs. Within that endless now, we are eternal, as is everything else, all of us and everything simply going through endless change."

"Because we are a part of the universe and because time is a living, breathing entity that contains consciousness - may indeed be the consciousness of the universe, permeating everything, including ourselves - we can know everything that the universe knows; all we need is a key to unlock the fount of sublime wisdom and complete information. That there is a key is unquestionable; every time a new idea seems to arise spontaneously, we have used the key. Egotistically, we like to think that we created the idea, but actually what we did was no less noteworthy: we channeled the idea from the source; we used the key."

"That the key exists within each of us is the premise of all divination. Divination surmises that there is a part of us that is at one with everything, including time, and therefore knows what everything knows. The English root word of divination is divine. The Latin root word is divinus, meaning a deity, and also, to foretell."

"For us to be able to draw from the fount of universal wisdom, we must have a means to do so. Some people draw from the fount with prayer; some by talking with psychics or astrologers; others by manipulating objects such as coins, tarot cards, ruins, yarrow stalks, or any of a number of related objects; still others by meditating or interpreting dreams."  

"All of the systems work perfectly, up to the limits of the systems and the capability of the questioner. If, for instance, you ask a question and flip a coin to get an answer, you are limited to a yes or no answer. If you ask a question and select from a deck a card with several sentences of guidance printed on it, you can obtain counsel beyond yes or no. The more sophisticated the system, the more sophisticated the answer."

"If you and I decided to formulate a system to obtain answers to questions, we would put into that system as many answers as there are questions. One answer can be sufficient for many questions. For instance, all questions regarding the taking of action can be answered generally with counsel to take action, take no action, or delay taking action. Once the answers have been formulated, all that remains is to devise a method for determining which answer applies to which question."

"We would necessarily have to build into the system a means of preventing ourselves from intellectually tampering with the results, a means of allowing only the spiritual portion of ourselves to participate - that portion that is at one with everything else."

"In shaking coins in cupped hands and throwing them, in selecting a card from a deck whose faces cannot be seen, in choosing a stone from a pile of inscribed stones whose faces cannot be seen, or in following similar practices, the questioner exceeds his intellectual ability to determine the outcome because he cannot know how the coins will land, or which card was chosen until its face is seen, or which stone was chosen from the pile until the inscription on its face can be read. All such methods of choosing rely completely on the intuitive ability of the questioner, on his ability to draw upon his inner spiritual source that knows everything."  

"When all of our answers have been furnished and our method of selecting answers has been determined, we can proceed confidently to ask questions because there is that within each of us that knows all the answers we have written and that will guide us in choosing the correct answer to any question we ask. Fortunately, we do not have to create a system of answers. The I Ching masterfully fills that need."

"Fu Hsi (pronounced foo shee), the great Chinese sage to whom the I Ching system is attributed, constructed his answers in the form of sixty-four figures, the six linear lines stacked one above the other, either undivided, or divided, called kua.

----- ----- ------------ Undivided line and divided line.

The top three lines and the bottom three lines of each of the kua are called trigrams.

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------------ A kua is comprised of two trigrams."

"The two trigrams above that form the kua are called primary trigrams.

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------------ The complete kua is comprised of the six lines together.

Following the law of eternal change, the lines are always in motion, always moving upward. As a new line enters from the bottom, it pushes the five lines above it upward, thereby displacing the line at the top. The movement is always in time to the rhythm of the universal heartbeat, always mirroring the universe itself. Taken together, the kua and their lines represent every conceivable condition in heaven and on earth with all their states of change."

"Each of the sixty-four kua can change into one another through the movement of one or more of the six lines that form the kua. There are 4,096 possible combinations (64 x 64), which represent every possible condition in heaven and on earth."

"The hexagrams and trigrams are both called "kua" (pronounced "gwa," with the "a" sounded as in father), which means symbol. To avoid confusion, but to retain the flavor of the ancient text as much as possible, the six line figures will be referred to as "kua" and the three line figures as "trigrams.""

"Each of the sixty-four kua, with their combined total of 384 lines, represents a situation or condition. Each situation or condition contains the six stages of its own evolution:

1. about to come into being
2. beginning
3. expanding
4. approaching maximum potential
5. peaking
6. passing its peak and turning toward its opposite condition."

"The kua not only represent every conceivable situation and condition possible, but also include all their states of change. Fu Hsi's method for selecting the appropriate kua is unique: the manipulation of fifty yarrow stalks, one being laid aside as an observer stalk, the rest being divided and re-divided eighteen times."

"Does the system work? Yes. Does it work perfectly? Yes. Every time? Yes. Will it work perfectly for you? Yes, if you seek the truth with reverence and sincerity. Why? You are a divine being who is an integral part of an eternal universe, which is an inexhaustible wellspring of the divine, actually is the divine, from which you may freely draw. Can you draw from it correct answers to hurt another? No. Can you draw from it correct answers to gain an unfair advantage? No. Can you draw from it correct answers if you will misuse the information? No. All guidance given in the I Ching is virtuous, beneficial, and given with the intent of guiding you along the highest possible path for your greatest possible good. You will not be assisted by your higher self to commit acts harmful to yourself or another."

"Will frivolous questions be answered? Yes, frivolously. Will questions that imply doubt in the source of the answers be answered? Yes, but only in a way that will confirm the doubt in your mind; you cannot run a test on your divinity."

"How can you be certain the answers are correct? After you have received an answer to a vitally important question and feel everything within you resonating with the truth, wisdom, and guidance contained in the answer a resonance so pure and sweet that it brings joy to your heart, and sometimes tears to your eyes you will, at that moment, be certain that the question was perfectly answered, divinely answered. At those moments you can experience your oneness with All That Is. Having had the experience, you will never again wonder who it is or what it is answering your questions or whether the answers are correct."

"In the I Ching you can read that teaching is a holy task, to be withheld from no one. You can derive from that statement that the answers provided in the I Ching are given in the form of guidance, of teaching, which will not be withheld from you. Not only will you be provided with answers to questions, but you will also be given counsel concerning the way to proceed to obtain a particular result. Additionally, under certain conditions, you will be told what condition will replace the current condition. For the divine within you, which is you, time is not a barrier nor is distance."

"Fu Hsi discovered the laws of the universe and set them forth so that we could be guided, so that we could be free, so that we would no longer be subject to the tyranny of events, and so that each of us could be in charge of his own fate. He created the sixty-four kua so that we could know the operation of the universe and so that within the universe each of us could find his place. He spoke in terms of "good fortune" and "misfortune":"

"Fu Hsi spoke of the paths of life, calling the path that leads to good fortune "the way of the superior person" and the path that leads to misfortune "the way of the inferior person." He spoke in terms of "good" and "evil." In modern times we rarely hear these terms used, but for this present work they have been preserved because they impart a sense of who Fu Hsi was, and they retain the flavor of the ancient texts."

"We live in a perfect universe in which only perfect events can unfold; the universe will not tolerate anything else; if it could or would, it would be in danger of allowing its own destruction."

"One of the great truths that can be gained from a study of the I Ching is that the universe is slightly inclined in our favor; there is more of the good force than the bad that is why and how the universe persists and that is why you can always triumph over any evil force if you are good enough. The way to do that is not to combat evil directly thereby becoming an instrument of evil yourself, but to make energetic progress in the good: following Fu Hsi's path of the superior person."

Implication of the I Ching Oracle 

In the previous section the author Wu Wei describes the oracle from its purest form, without doubt as to its ability to predict future events and provide meaningful interpretation of the events of everyday life.

In the very first paragraph he describes the fascination that has led to my pursuit of the I Ching as I have wondered about it for a long time. It is almost as if I have been preparing to do this for nearly the past twenty years.

The implications of the I Ching oracle are profound. If true the oracle has the power to allow one to transcend time and space. To see the future. To understand the motivation and intent of all actions in the here and now. Properly used and understood it could be one of the greatest strategic advantages one could hold in the business world.

But how does one prove or disprove the notion of intuitive prediction and meaning? The author Wu Wei implies one must take on faith the power of the oracle. Faith is not something that comes easily to the analytical business and scientific methods employed in Western society.

In the following sections we will attempt to show that the intuitive notion of prediction and meaning are present in many accepted Western scientific methods as we explore the realms of quantum physics and psychology. We will see they in fact require us to accept intuition as being as factually relevant as objective and empirical observation.

By doing this we hope to lay the groundwork for acceptance of the intuitive method of the I Ching oracle in light of traditional science that requires the same intuition to be understood. We will then engage in our project as described in Chapter 3 with an understanding of why this intuitive method may be seen as a legitimate line of inquiry and any conclusions drawn accepted as applicable in Western society.

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We now turn to a survey of Western thought in quantum physics and psychology. In these two areas we will discover that many of the same realities suggested by the I Ching oracle have been described and understood by Western science. The references used from Ed Maher and Carl Jung in fact give credit and acceptance of the I Ching as a legitimate tool.

The first area of Western thought we will explore is the area of quantum physics. This is an appropriate starting point because at their core both the science of physics and the I Ching attempt to explain the same thing: the nature of how things are.

Physics is the "hardest" of the modern sciences, combining mathematics and rational thought to project and test hypothesis of how things work. At the essence of inquiry is the question of what rules govern the universe.

The father of modern physics Sir Isaac Newton described these rules in terms of a cause and effect relationship, much like the workings of a machine. He imagines a smooth flow of events with one action following that of another. From this basis of thought the modern Western world developed.

With a model of universe as machine it was easy to imagine that by breaking things down to cause and effect at smaller and smaller levels of matter that one would ultimately understand and discover the ultimate cause which had created the universe and thus have found the answer to the rules governing the working of the universe. It was assumed, naturally that this would be a rational, linear cause and effect model which played out down to the smallest units of matter 

But something happened. As physicists were able to observe ever smaller units of matter they discovered strange irrational occurrences which could not be explained by cause and effect or universe as machine. Because of the nature of the physicist’s inquiry as these anomalies occurred they needed a new theory to explain and test against.

Enter now the world of quantum physics. The study of physical matter at its smallest most elemental unit. At this level of the universe one could almost imagine that nothing exists at all except space as we see the atom - the basic building block of nature - with its proton/neutron core separated from orbiting electrons which exist as tendencies in time and who’s orbits are so distant as to leave the atom composed mostly of space with nothing of substance at all. In the movie Mindwalk it is described as if the proton/neutron core were a grain of sand with its nearest electron orbiting several hundred yards in the distance, the space in between being filled with nothing.

At this level of the universe we enter the world of paradox under three main headings.

The first paradox is that things move without following the laws of mechanical motion proposed by Newton. As quantum physicists viewed the atom they saw things move in disjointed or discontinuous manners. They "jumped" from one place to another, without regard for going between any space in between.

The second paradox involves scientists’ rational, reasonable belief that things can be observed objectively as one thing or another. This view is founded on the notion that whatever one observes as being out there really is out there. The idea that one cannot trust an objective measure would be abhorrent to any rational person, especially a scientist.

Yet at the quantum level it just isn’t so. What one observes is actually a creation of what the observer wants to see. The outcome of the observance not only depends on what you set out to see, it also depends on your frame of mind. Walk into the observation feeling angry and unconfident and the observation will leave you angry and unconfident. Walk into the observation feeling happy and confident and the observation will turn out happy and confident.

The latter part of this quantum world is difficult to fathom. The former is easily verified by the well know double slit experiment in physics. In this experiment a stream of single photons of light are directed toward a photon screen detector. When the experiment is set up with one slit the light photons appear as particles. When the experiment is set up with two slits the same photons appear as waves. Which are they? What is the nature of light? Wave or particle. In fact it is both, together and yet it cannot be measured or observed together. It depends on which state, we the observer, wish to see.

The third paradox has to do with this state of disorder itself. While it would seem that discontinuous indeterminate motion and things that are what the observer wants them to be would lead to an irrational universe of disorder and chaos. In fact, what actually appears is a well ordered universe. It just isn’t the order we expect. Instead it is an order that must also take into account the human mind and consider the effect the observer has on an outcome.

At this point don’t we begin to approach the world of the I Ching oracle? That is the conclusion arrived at by Mr. Maher as he examined this subject.

We can think of the I Ching oracle as an extension of our mind. As existing with the universe and helping to create the reality we desire. With a question in mind for prediction or meaning the act of manipulation and inquiry as described by the author Wu Wei becomes little more than a quantum experiment played out at the physical level of touchable matter.

When Wu Wei states:

Is he not simply saying the same thing as the quantum physicist? That we are a part of the experiment of life. That outcomes are determined by our frame of mind and the beliefs we bring to the table?

Synchronicity 

Turning now to the area of psychology we will examine two notions put forward by Carl Jung of synchronicity and the collective unconscious, beginning first with synchronicity. The two ideas are actually outgrowths one of the other with Jung’s work on the collective unconscious first appearing in 1934 and the work on synchronicity following in 1952.

Jung’s description of synchronicity as an acausal connecting principle comes from the definition he gives to the concept. Jung defines synchronicity as the meaningful connection of two events which happen in a time relationship to each other and which have no appearance of a cause and effect relationship:

One can also think of this as omens or signs. Where we conclude some event - good or bad - will occur as the result of the appearance of some object; e.g., the premonition of death associated with the appearance of a flock of birds at your door.

A detailed example of these types of events which began Jung’s early inquiry and subsequent acceptance of synchronicity as valid is described in passages describing his work in the mid-20’s while he was investigating the phenomena of the collective unconscious:

With his descriptions of these phenomena Jung goes on to continue his inquiry on the phenomena of acausal relationships. He conducts an experiment in astrology which demonstrates a scientific statistical basis for the acausal connection of birth with the coincident position of astronomical bodies. And in his conclusions actually comes to the I Ching oracle as forerunner of synchronicity.

So again we find ourselves describing a phenomena similar in nature to the I Ching oracle. If we think of the stars and other astronomical bodies as the yarrow stalk, and the I Ching as the astrologer/interpreter, is this not the same thing? If we consider that what the I Ching is suggesting is that the manipulation of the yarrow stalks is connected with and can explain what is happening in the rest of the universe by virtue of the oneness of the universe with everything in the universe, is this not the same as the scarab connection, in the event that was a driving force in bringing Jung to his conclusions on synchronicity?

Jung falls short of suggesting his investigation of synchronicity as a final proof of his views. He simply states:

It seems clear however that he may have personally believed he had discovered something beyond science and that it seemed to have been found far earlier in the body of work the I Ching.

The Collective Unconscious 

We now turn to the last of our formal areas of inquiry as we search for approximate models of Western science that approach the intuitive method of the I Ching oracle. We will examine the concept of the collective unconscious as proposed by Carl Jung as he describes a concept of deep thought patterns that seem to be resident with all human beings.

In Jung’s paper on the collective unconscious he defines the term as follows:

The term archetype introduced here refers to the existence of definite forms in the unconscious which seem to be present always and forever. The phenomena of archetypes is present in ancient motifs or mythologies and often can be discovered by examining common elements reported in dreams.

Going on with his thesis Jung states:

In laying out his definition and thesis Jung then goes on to ask whether there are in fact such unconscious, universal forms which can be discovered and seen across all individuals. Through a formal process of discovery and proof he answers the question in the affirmative.

One archetype, by way of example, is that of the motif of dual descent; i.e., descent from human and divine parents. He harkens to Greek mythology and Heracles who received immortality through being unwittingly adopted by Hera. He describes the ritual of the Pharaohs of Egypt who were thought of as both human and divine by nature. The nature of baptism as "second-birth" in Christian religions is also compared to this concept.

Jung goes on to say that the idea of a second birth is found at all times and in all places. That it has been a foundation of early medicine, a central idea in many religions mystical experience, a key idea in medieval occultism and finally, occurs in countless children who hold to a belief that their parents are not their real parents, but merely foster-parents who have adopted them.

This area of scientific inquiry - the collective unconscious - may be the most tenuous link to the method of the I Ching of the three we have discussed as it doesn’t explicitly contain the notion of prediction. Also, while we can derive an idea of meaning as related to the interpretation of common motifs that cross cultural and time boundaries, it is not an interpretation that lends itself to understanding the meaning to an individual of current events in their life as with the I Ching.

Perhaps the most relevant idea this area of inquiry opens up is the concept that somehow all individuals are linked with a common and universal truth about how things work. And that these universals present themselves at all times, to all people in common themes or archetypes that can be studied and understood as the basis for understanding people and the human condition.

This too is an I Ching concept; i.e., the universal search for truth and the meaning of the human condition. And while not an explicit intent in setting forth the project we will later describe it would seem if we discover some intuitive form of prediction and meaning ability in the I Ching, we would also discover some understanding of the human condition.

Further, the concept of every individual being connected with a common unconscious experience could be added evidence of the validity of the I Ching method. After all, one of the basic tenets of the I Ching oracle manipulation is that the manipulation is guided by the same forces that are acting on the universe at the time of the manipulation. And therefore conclusions can be drawn from the I Ching oracle as to what is happening for the individual if a key is provided to unlock the meaning and connections of the oracle to the individual.

If the motifs captured and preserved in the I Ching somehow tap the common unconscious experience of the human condition then perhaps from that foundation could come the intuitive power to understand what is happening on the individual level based on the I Ching manipulation. The concept of the collective unconscious thereby puts forth the supposition that we are all the same and are therefore actually having the same experience simply shaded by a conscious experience that the I Ching allows us to unveil down to the common experience we share at the level of the collective unconscious.

Some Other Related Models 

As with any research project once begun the outcome is unpredictable. Having put in our head to discover how quantum physics and psychology could approximate the I Ching method, other models will appear as if by magic. Interestingly, this too could be another concept to explore as an approximation of the I Ching oracle; i.e., the "magic" that occurs when we put an idea in our head and then "magically" answers appear to provide additional clarification.

In the Boeing seminar on people effectiveness this is described as magis thinking. The example being Archemedes who discovered how to weigh the king’s crown while relaxing in a bath with the question (and the weight of his death if he failed) on his mind. In psychology the same concept is selective perception and describes how the mind will find, see and connect to information that would otherwise be invisible except for the question or idea being present in the individual’s consciousness.

Of course, the I Ching would simply call this the connection of all to all. Any idea is connected to all ideas, so how could one fail to see answers? The questions themselves are the answers…waiting discovery.

In any case, several other models appeared during the research phase of this project which I will now touch on in passing.

In the work of Dr. Edward de Bono on creativity two very powerful tools are described that are almost I Ching in nature: Random entry and Provocation

Random entry is a creativity technique for coming up with new ideas for solving complex problems. The first step is to obtain a source of random words; a dictionary, magazine, book, the important things being it must be distant and apart from the problem at hand. A random word is then selected - nouns work best - and then you see what ideas the word generates against the problem stated. One will then find revealed a set of solutions that are better than any which before existed. As De Bono states: "It always works!" Why he goes on to explain, is that every idea, from a creative sense, is connected to every other idea. That, for me sounds an awful lot like the I Ching notion of connectedness. The randomness of the I Ching oracle manipulation compares quite favorably to the randomness of selecting a random word unrelated to a problem and always coming up with a good answer, a better answer in fact, than you could have otherwise.

Provocation as a creativity technique is characterized by the word po or provocative operation. In this technique one imagines an absurd or negative characterization of the problem at hand; e.g., square wheels on a car. Traditional inquiry would suggest these types of imagination should be rejected. Provocation says to accept the idea and see where it takes you. The square tire idea as an example led to the development of "smart" suspensions which smooth a car’s ride by adjusting to the bumps in the road by moving the car up and down to compensate for the road irregularities. The important thing about provocations are they create movement from the absurd idea to someplace else instead of a stop which occurs through rejection. Again, we find a corollary concept in the I Ching. Literally translated I Ching is Change Book or Book of Changes. The whole idea of the I Ching oracles is that they are constantly changing and moving to the next form.

Another idea that presented itself in approximation to the I Ching was the area of Systems Theory. Systems theory starts from the premise that everything operates as a system. A system is defined as a combination of individual parts which operate together and on each other, any one of which when alone, loses its properties if disassociated from the system. The example of the human body and its parts is provided. A hand can only be understood as a hand when it is connected to the body. Separate the hand from the body and the function of the hand can no longer be understood. The implications of systems theory is that to understand any system one must study the whole system at once and not its parts individually. This compares favorably to the I Ching premise of wholeness. When we receive an oracle it is a part of the system of life in the universe. It has naturally been acted on by this system. Therefore conclusions about an individual inquiry can be drawn by virtue of the question and the oracle being a part of the same system with the same forces acting upon both.

The final idea which presented itself, while not exactly Western in nature, comes from a Western trained medical doctor, DeePak Chopra. Dr. Chopra received his medical training in India. His father was a commissioned medical doctor in the British army and devoted his life to the study of modern medicine. He instilled in his son the scientific method in direct contradiction to the prevailing mystic beliefs of the Indian culture. After coming to America, Dr. Chopra - remembering back to boyhood memories of saints, gurus and Rishi - rediscovers the healing power of Ayurvedic healing. Ayurvedic healing relies on the power of the mind to create health. It asks patients to take control of their own health, to monitor how their body feels and to choose to feel good. As long as patients can report they are living a comfortable and peaceful existence, even during the process of dying, the intervention of medicines are resisted as the natural healing power of the mind is invoked. The parallel here to the I Ching is from the connection of the mind in creating reality, of being a part of knowing what the future will bring. When the Ayurvedic healer asks patients to choose health what is really happening is patients are creating a future based on a belief in their own ability to create a healthy body. The same is suggested by the author Wu Wei when he says: "we can proceed confidently to ask questions because there is that within each of us that knows all the answers we have written and that will guide us in choosing the correct answer to any question we ask."

Connections Between the Western Models and the I Ching 

In this chapter we have attempted to provide connections from traditional Western scientific sources that could be seen as approximations of the intuitive method of the I Ching oracle and which lend credibility to the idea of using the I Ching oracle as a legitimate tool in the Western business model.

As we have seen there are close approximations especially in the area of quantum physics that actually require an intuitive approach to understand. In the area of psychology the concept of synchronicity shows remarkable parallels to this intuitive approach and even helped Jung draw conclusions as to the I Ching’s validity.

Finally, even in this limited inquiry into the realm of physics and psychology, the I Ching concept of connectedness, the Greek concept of magis thinking and the psychological concept of selective perception all converged to bring even more ideas in the area of creativity, systems theory and the East/West blend of Ayurvedic healing which also shed light on the connection of the Western model with the I Ching.

Return to Table of Contents

Up to this point we have been examining and learning about the I Ching oracle and related Western models that approximate it. We have heard the author Wu Wei suggest that the I Ching is the key to understanding the future and understanding the hidden meaning of current events. We’ve seen parallels in physics, psychology and other accepted Western models that explain how things work in the world. It is now time to lay out the project to be engaged in. This project will form the major portion of our work in an attempt to discover the intuitive value of the I Ching oracle.

Our project involves the interaction of the I Ching oracle with the 1998 cohort of the Antioch Graduate Management Program (GMP 98). The GMP 98 is a group of nineteen mid-career business professionals plus faculty joined in a program of study leading to a Master of Science degree in management. I am a member of this cohort as a student when we come together once a month for three days of study in management and leadership during a weekend module. With the exception of the September module, which is structured as an off-site retreat, we are together from Friday through Sunday during the day with occasional evening work on Fridays or Saturdays. The September retreat is conducted at the Seabeck Conference Center and runs from Thursday evening through late Sunday afternoon.

What our project proposes is to use the yarrow stalk oracle described in Appendix A to ask the same question about the GMP 98 cohort before and after each weekend module that the group comes together for the three months from September of 1997 through November of 1997. Before the module a question of prediction will be asked. After the module a question of meaning will be asked. The I Ching oracles will be recorded similarly as in the preface to this paper.

The same question will be used for each pre-module oracle and for each post-module oracle to reduce as much as possible the bias the author could insert by having discretion to formulate different questions based on known events that will arise during the project. Further, the questions to be used will be formulated and recorded in this Chapter of our paper to assure control of the questions prior to beginning the project.

The pre-module oracle will be used to formulate intuitive predictions which will be observed for during the weekend module. These predictions will be as specific as possible and based on our interpretation of what the oracle is suggesting. The predictions will be recorded in this paper before each weekend module. After the module we will examine each prediction and see if and how many were accurate based on the weekend experience.

The post-module oracle will be used to seek additional meaning of the events of the weekend module. Again, the meaning will be drawn from our interpretation of what the oracle seems to suggest. These meanings will be recorded and examined over the course of the three month project to see if the patterns they suggest are played out in the observable behavior of the GMP 98 cohort.

Finally, after each weekend set of oracles, we will record monthly conclusions of the patterns or meanings that seem to be arising as applicable both to the GMP 98 cohort and to insertion into a Western business model.

At the end of the three month project we will consolidate our findings into conclusions about the GMP 98 cohort and examine the possibility of using the I Ching oracle as a tool in Western business.

The pre-module question to be asked:

In order to provide context this question will also be informed by a short summary of events leading up to the question. For example, prior to asking this question for the Seabeck Retreat in September a summary of the summer cohort activity will be provided.

The post-module question to be asked:

In order to provide context this question will also be informed by a short summary of significant events that occurred during the weekend module.

History of the Cohort 

In order to set the stage for the I Ching oracles that will follow in coming chapters we will now embark on a brief history and analysis of the GMP 98 experience from September 1996 through Summer 1997. Bear in mind, this is one story. There are as many other stories as there are people listed in the cohort and faculty sketches that follow later!

The GMP 98 began its time together with a week long retreat at the Seabeck Conference Center from September 8, 1996 to September 13, 1996 ( Friday the 13th?). This was generally perceived as an idyllic week of socializing and coming together to know each other in search of the GMP program objective: "a learning community". We wanted desperately to see each other as happy, content, and so good at working together as a team.

And so it seemed as we left this happy island of isolation. The surface apparentness was soon to disappear. It was an illusion from the beginning.

Part of the GMP experience is an online electronic conference which the cohort uses to conduct business and stay in touch between weekend modules. Almost from the beginning and certainly after we came back for our first weekend together in October of 1997, we began to surface many unexamined difficulties which were present even at Seabeck. The analogy of our group as being on a first date at Seabeck; i.e., on good behavior and overlooking bad behavior began to surface. We came to see we would be together for a long time and started to work at changing the behaviors of others that were being objectionable to us. We are still at that work, though the intensity is lessening and we’re beginning to understand how to accept differences without insisting on total change. This idea does, however, seem to underlie many of the major themes that have emerged during our time together.

There are three dominant themes that have emerged in our time as a cohort which I will now outline:

1. The question of acceptable rules of conduct of GMP 98 participants.
2. The question of leadership and authority.
3. A debate over content vs. process in our GMP experience.

The question of acceptable rules of conduct, or norms, was one of the first that appeared in the cohort. It first came into play at Seabeck on our second day together. At the time it was dismissed as an item that could wait until we got to know each other a little better. We were advised by our faculty team that there would be ample time later to work on this question. But, not only have we not found the time to work on this question, it has now become so explosive we can not even say the word "norms" without a specter of doom and angst entering the group.

The question of norms has now become wrapped up in an idea that if we agree to some rules it will somehow diminish us as individuals and limit our right of free expression. What happens though is that the lack of agreed on norms has led to pretty outrageous behavior in an attempt to show that norms are needed and to show that there are unspoken rules that are already in force. When this happens the violator falls back on a defense of "there’s no stated norms so how could I know?"

Perhaps the most ironic situation of all is we have lots of unstated and less than constructive norms. The dominant one being: "Do your own thing and don’t agree to anything in common." During one of our modules, this particular norm led to a comic/tragic debate as to whether we could agree to a shared learning vision for our cohort. After nearly three hours of gut wrenching dialogue we agreed to table the discussion until a later date (like we did with norms). The subject has yet to come up again, over five months later. When we approach it, it’s almost humorous to watch as the group engages in creative dialogue to deflect the conversation to a more comfortable topic. Consider, this in a group of people who originally came together with a stated common objective: "Create a learning community."

It appears until we deal with how we will commit to treat each other, this discomfort with subjects that require compromise of our personal goals will continue. Without a commitment to agreed norms that are checked for compliance and relevance, the atmosphere of trust needed to work through these types of subjects will not exist to allow the dialogues to achieve meaningful results. At this point the possibility we will ever get to an explicit statement of agreed on and shared norms seems remote. We have become comfortable with our unstated norms, some less than constructive, and the occasional outbursts that result will become a part of our accepted routine. There is hope of another outcome, however, as described below.

The theme of leadership and authority became prevalent beginning about November or December. We had begun to be very uncomfortable with the way we interacted (as a result of not creating norms?), and began to insist that some rules be established. The problem though, is that from the beginning of our studies, the faculty has explicitly stated that the rules are up to us, that the authority in the group is ours to lead and create our own environment. As noted above, to approach the subject of rules as a group would have led to the subject of norms. At the early stage of our group development, we had no capacity to authorize anyone to take on this task.

Lately though, the leadership and authority questions have begun to find slow resolution. As the group members have become more comfortable (maybe just tired of fighting?) with each other, the level of acceptance of personal differences has increased. This is resulting in people being able to take on leadership and authority in a less than perfect fashion. The cohort has begun to allow this. There is still a ways to go in this area, but unlike norms, it appears to be an area that may find resolution. Perhaps if this issue resolves itself early in our second year, the authority we grant ourselves will allow us to deal directly with the question of the less than constructive norms we now allow to disrupt our group cohesion.

The last theme, the debate over process vs. content, began to present itself after we had completed our module in Economics in November 1996 and became a roaring fire after the completion of our Finance module in January 1997. There was a momentary lull in this fire during the Marketing modules of February and March 1997, primarily due to the instruction coming from an experienced Antioch professor, Jill Bamburg, who understood the dynamics that play out in GMP cohorts.

Unfortunately, after experiencing a relative abundance of "good" content during the Marketing module, when confronted with the rambling, no agenda style of our Operations instructor for April and May 1997, the cohort turned brutal. The demands for some understanding of the content we were to be learning resulted in the cohort taking control of the agenda on the final day of instruction and insisting that the teaching follow some structure that led to a learning objective.

This, of course, was a key turning point in the development of the group leadership and authority capacity that was mentioned earlier. This capacity has increased to a promising point, with evidence coming prior to the June 1997 module ( our last of the first year). Before the module we developed a process for working with instructors prior to weekend modules with the goal of helping our instructors better fit teaching content to our individual learning desires.

But what was the debate about process vs. content all about? This debate represents a split in the desires of the group for what and where we want to devote our learning energy.

Most of the cohort came to the program believing they would receive some level of in-depth instruction in a traditional business curriculum. It became apparent very early on that what we would receive instead was a combination of general business concepts and overviews, and an in-depth analysis of the human group dynamics of leadership and authority that surround the business environment. This was the design of the program and as such the depth of study in the technical subjects of economics, finance, etc. was lacking for a large group of people. Complaints became loud and incessant that more depth and detail be provided.

For another group of people, however, something else happened. When it became apparent that the business content was less developed than the leadership and authority portion of the program (the process piece), they began to desire more time be devoted to the area of leadership and authority. The design of the program however gave over only one of the three days we were together to this area so this group began to clamor for more time to be devoted to this subject.

Naturally, the content group, already feeling unfulfilled, did not want to give up content time for process time, even though the content was less than desirable. And the process group seeing the content to be less than desirable began to insert process dialogue into the content sessions. The outcome is the raging debate we now find ourselves in as to what the proper mix is in the program for process vs. content.

This debate too, seems to be resolvable. We are beginning to understand our role in the learning environment of GMP 98. The move to develop a group authority and leadership is allowing this debate to slowly shape the overall program toward a mix of process and content that includes one in the other. That is to say, we are learning how to see the content portions of our learning as an opportunity to also explore process. And we are seeing the process portion of our learning as an opportunity to explore content.

This brings us up to date with where we now find ourselves during the Summer of 1997 as a GMP 98 cohort. The coming second year of study holds good promise in two of the three areas (the question of authority and the mix of content to process) that dominated our first year. And even in the third area (the question of norms) there is a glimmer of hope. Of course, with the new year may come new challenges and themes, all of which we will now begin seeing with the aid of our new guide...the I Ching oracle.

Cohort and Faculty Sketches 

A brief sketch of the members of the GMP 98 cohort and faculty will now be provided in order to set the stage for discussion of events involving the people of GMP 98 during this project. Student names have been changed to protect anonymity.

Aileen, student, is employed at a local biotech firm. She is responsible for documentation to the Federal regulatory bodies who approve the products of her company.

Annie, student, is employed at a local aerospace company. She leads a team responsible for the implementation of a part of a new deployment of computing systems for the design and control of airplane configurations.

Ashley, student, is employed at a local beer and wine distributor. She works in their Marketing department and coordinates events and publicity. During the course of this paper she took a new job with a firm providing assisted living units on the Washington coast.

Barbara, student, is employed at local software company. She manages vendor and customer relations in a technical support role.

Bill, student, is employed at a local aerospace company. He is responsible for managing relations with suppliers of parts to the airplane manufacturing process.

Cindy, student, is employed at a local cable television company. She manages a group of telephone customer service representatives. During the course of this paper she took a job as a Marketing Manager for a new high speed Internet access product being introduced by her company.

Claire, student, is employed at a national storage facility manager. She works in Human Resources with responsibility for national employment and recruiting.

Dan, student, is a stay at home father. His recent professional experience was as a country director in the one of our National service agencies.

Dick, student, is a partner in a private consulting group specializing in telecommunications. He is also our sole foreign student and resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Don Comstock, faculty and GMP Program Director, was the core faculty director for the first year of GMP 98. In June of 1997 he also assumed the role of director of the GMP with the resignation of the original program director and founder, Sally Fox.

Joe, student, is employed at a local aerospace company. He performs a program management function which integrates cost and process improvements in the airplane manufacturing process.

Keith, student, is employed at a local aerospace company. He is an editor in one of their publishing groups.

Larry, student, is a private consultant specializing in Human Resources. During the course of this paper he took a job in Florida working Organizational Development for a major airline.

Laura, student, is employed at a local software company. She is responsible for the product management of one of their application packages.

Peter Martynowich, faculty, was part of the core faculty for the first year of GMP 98. He specializes in the area of leadership development.

Roger, student, is a self employed building contractor and an elected member of the one of the local school board.

RoseAnn Stevenson, faculty, will be a member of the second year core faculty for the GMP 98. She was not involved in the first year of the program. She will be responsible for leading the study of personal and organizational change.

Sadruddin Boga, faculty, is a new hire to Antioch. His appointment was announced July 2, 1997. He will be providing instruction in systems, operations, learning organizations and multiculturalism.

Sally Fox, past GMP Program Director, was the original founder of the GMP at Antioch. Her involvement has been minimal in the first year. She is recorded here should the transition from her leadership to Don’s leadership come up in discussion.

Sarah , student, is employed at local non-profit counseling service center. She is responsible for coordination of volunteer activity in the counseling unit.

Sharon, student, is employed at a national educational book and material supplier to schools and businesses. She is the company’s director of Human Resources.

Tim, student, is employed at a national manufacturer of exercise equipment. He is responsible for data systems development and support.

Tony, student and author of this paper, is employed at a local aerospace company. He is responsible for the implementation of the data network to support one of their commercial space programs.

Vicky, student, is employed at a local aerospace company. She manages a group of computing professionals with responsibility for one of their line of business computing systems.

Gary Zimmerman, faculty, joined the GMP 98 core faculty in June 1997. He was not involved with the cohort up to that point. He will be the core faculty director for our second year of study after a transition period from Don Comstock during Fall quarter. Gary is returning from a sabbatical leave from Antioch after resigning the position of Provost to return to teaching.

A Question of Validity 

As this paper has come to this point a recurring question is likely occurring to the reader. The question of how a valid project of this nature can be designed when the conductor of the project will himself be a part of the project group upon which the project will be conducted. Such a question of course would be of common concern to a Western thinking population. And though I can not speak from experience, I would imagine it would be of less concern to an Eastern population.

To address this question lets consider the perspective of the I Ching and one of the scientific approaches mentioned in Chapter 2 - quantum physics.

The I Ching would naturally scoff at such a silly question. The idea of being able to separate a project conductor from a project is anathema to the entire notion of connectedness and wholeness. The I Ching would counter and say that since everything is connected to everything else, the Western notion of objective observation is what is really flawed. The Western idea that a project can be designed that does not include the observer in the observed data is impossible. By virtue of the observer observing, the data is not only altered, but in some sense actually created by the observer to form the conclusions the observer desires.

Interestingly this is the same conclusion the quantum physicist was drawn to in observing the way things work at the sub-atomic level of the universe. Recall the paradox from Chapter 2:

If this is the case at the quantum level then could it not occur at the level of human-scale physical observation? In fact our literature is filled with numerous phrases and saying which suggest exactly that; e.g. "we create the future we desire", or "what I believe I can achieve", to name just two.

If the above is not enough to dispel the doubt this question illicits, consider the purpose of the project. What we are attempting to discover is if the intuitive insight the I Ching oracle opens to us has useful application in the traditional business model. Though we’re examining that question from the general level, it is natural that if the idea is sound, it would ultimately be practiced at the individual level. At the individual level the person consulting the I Ching would always be a part of the prediction or meaning being inquired of. With this in mind, even if we believe the project to be flawed, we can at least say the project is being accurately conducted in a way that matches how the I Ching oracle would be used if the conclusions of this paper result in a tool for practical day to day use.

Are we ready?

It is now time to test the ideas set forth in these chapters so far. The remainder of this paper, up to Chapter 7, will be an exploration of discovery. Our guide will be the I Ching oracle and the human minds that bear witness to the universal connection we share!

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Background to the Oracle 

The cohort re-enters its face to face group learning environment with a weekend retreat at the Seabeck Conference Center. The retreat runs from the evening of Thursday, September 11 through the afternoon of Sunday, September 14, 1997.

The last time the group has been together formally was the June 1997 weekend module. A party was held in July which was attended by some, not all of the cohort. The group stayed in touch through its online conference, which had mixed participation, some did not participate at all.

Significant events known to the cohort from the online conversation over the summer:

• Larry got a new job in Florida after doing a consultancy in the area. He will continue with us and commute cross-country on a monthly basis.
• Ashley let us know of a new job opportunity she was offered and asked us for advice on whether to accept it before finally taking the job.
• Cindy accepted a major change in assignment at TCI. She is now the Seattle sales manager for the new @Home internet access service being offered to cable customers for high-speed internet access.
• There is disappointment at how the Seabeck retreat agenda was developed. It was to be a joint development with the faculty and it was put together by faculty alone. The cohort was assigned some limited responsibility without being consulted. When confronted with the disappointment it was not addressed directly and the cohort was advised the idea of joint development of the agenda was a misimpression on the cohort’s part.
• There is a conversation online about leadership integrity. It began as a series of questions about one of several splits we have in our group, with an example being one between the points of view of Sharon/Roger and Tony/Dick. There was a heated dialogue from Sharon about not wanting to be named as representing others or to be spoken for. This lead to a conversation about using "accountable language"; i.e., using "I" instead of "we" or "us" when describing what one is experiencing. Now a conversation is underway as to whether "accountable language" is an illusion and perhaps hurting out group development.
• Planning activity for the retreat events which are cohort responsibility was initiated by Sharon. Participation in this planning is mixed with most people on the side lines watching. One area - a box of welcome items from GMP 98 to GMP 99 - is the responsibility of Vicky who has not participated in the summer online dialogue. Other areas - a reconnect event for our cohort, a connect event with GMP 99 and a party on Saturday night - seem to be coming along okay, although we don’t know what the people on the side lines are thinking.
• New faculty assignments have been communicated to the cohort. Most of the faculty will be new with minimum continuity provided by Don Comstock through the Fall Quarter. There was initial concern raised online and not much developed in the online dialogue.
• The topic of developing support groups for PEPs is being communicated between various cohort members.
• The idea of working again at developing a "vision statement" for our cohort was introduced by Cindy. The beginning conversation is a description of norm statements of how we could treat each other.
• There is a suggestion to open up the GMP 98 online dialogue to the GMP 99 cohort which is entering in September.
• There is a proposal to employ a consulting group headed by Dick’s mentor to do a group assessment using a personality inventory tool. This came up via another online community which Tony was involved with - Berkana Conversations - where he met Dick’s mentor online.

The Oracle - September 9, 1997 

And so we begin…the first oracle!

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Before looking up the meanings and names of this hexagram in the I Ching I note my great excitement. This is a very positive hexagram formation. The lines of the I Ching hexagrams enter from the bottom and in this case the strong, solid line are pushing out the lone remaining weak and broken line that remains at the top. In addition, the changing lines - the nines in the fourth and fifth positions - will result in the hexagram of Peace where heaven and earth are in perfect balance and harmony. I write:

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I note that I feel exactly like this as I head back to Seabeck. I feel our cohort has accumulated this critical mass of tension that will result in a break-through to some higher ground.

Break-through. One must resolutely make the matter known

At the court of the king.

It must be announced truthfully. Danger.

It is necessary to notify one's own city.

It does not further to resort to arms.

It furthers one to undertake something. 

This seems to refer to all the emotional baggage we have built up in the cohort around the questions of norms, leadership and program content. Apparently we are about to tackle our demons and create a break-through in these areas.

The lake has risen up to heaven:

The image of Break-through.

Thus the superior man

Dispenses riches downward

And refrains from resting on his virtue. 

As the break-through occurs there will be an acquiring of the wealth of positive influence within the cohort. We will need to guard against obstinacy and remember to share and allow everybody their individual leadership.

Nine in fourth place means: 

There is no skin on his thighs,

And walking comes hard.

If a man were to let himself be led like a sheep,

Remorse would disappear.

But if these words are heard

They will not be believed.

I had to laugh when I read this. A more perfect description of how our cohort approaches situations could not be written! We state a position and then hold it as if our very lives were at stake if we are asked to change. The warning is clear. We can create the break-through only if we control an obstinate tendency to push against peoples’ different ideas as if they were obstacles. Otherwise the break-through may falter. Now, will we listen?

Nine in fifth place means:

* In dealing with weeds,

Firm resolution is necessary.

Walking in the middle

Remains free of blame.

This line brings to mind the conflict our cohort has had with the formal authority of our faculty. The break-through will take us to a new place in this relationship. We must not give up our desire to stay there if we are to remain.

The hexagram now changes by virtue of the changing lines received above.

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Peace. The small departs,

The great approaches.

Good fortune. Success. 

The initial hexagram has changed to a dramatic re-enforcement of a positive outcome to the break-through described in the first hexagram. The cohort seems destined to have a very successful time and develop a strong degree of harmony and resolution of discord.

Heaven and earth unite: the image of Peace.

Thus the ruler

Divides and completes the course of heaven and earth;

He furthers and regulates the gifts of heaven and earth,

And so aids the people.

We are given our work as a cohort; create harmony and peace in the cohort. The time is right. Now we must divide our tasks with each of us working to our strengths.

In respect to the cohort and the coming retreat these predictions are recorded:

1. We will begin with an initial tension around our unresolved questions from last year.
2. There will be some people who will be very focused on the negative aspects of how our cohort is developing.
3. We will take resolute action to dispel the negative influences in our cohort.
4. As we achieve our break-through some people will attempt to use their new influence without considering others.
5. We will observe many periods of obstinate holding to positions.
6. Our break-through will be achieved and result in peace and harmony among ourselves.
7. We will be challenged to maintain our break-through.
8. We will authorize our cohort as a peer authority for content creation in the program.
9. Our peer authority relationship will be challenged by the faculty and we will need to work to maintain it.

Background to the Oracle 

The GMP 98 cohort met from Thursday evening, September 11 to Sunday afternoon, September 14 for its first module of the second and final year of the program. The module was formatted as a weekend retreat gathering at the Seabeck Conference Center in Seabeck, Washington.

Significant events which occurred and may be enlightened by the I Ching oracle:

• Our module check-in on Friday afternoon brought forth three traumatic and emotional stories from Keith, Dan and me. This was a break-through for me as it was the first time I fully shared deeply the details of the turmoil in my life.
• The Friday evening video discussion was disrupted by my leaving the group because of fatigue and boredom. I was later woken and forced to rejoin the discussion to learn my disappearance had caused major turmoil in the well being of the group.
• A subset of the cohort met after the Friday video to discuss with Don the events of the evening. This conversation went on well past midnight. I was not a part of the conversation and heard of it the next day at breakfast.
• A community session was used to confront me with a group issue around my control and power over the group, one of our most pressing group problems. This was something that was very apparent and uncomfortable to me and yet neither I nor the group seemed to be able to bring it to a public forum in a way which could resolve it. Instead I had become the focus of our group tension around power and control. This was a break-through but it took someone outside our group, our guest speaker, to bring voice to the question. We achieved another break-through when the group acknowledged our co-creation in the situation and resolved to allow me out of this role. From this point forward I finally felt accepted by this group.
• We achieved break-through with the creation of two norms of behavior as a group and one other tentatively, plus possible actions we could take to form a learning community. We worked through these norms together and agreed to keep them posted at our future modules. We also agreed to accept the reality that these norms could very well need to be revisited.
• We achieved break-through on Sunday afternoon. When confronted with the choice to continue working community questions or doing preliminary work on establishing Student Design Module topics we chose to continue working community questions. In the past we have always taken every opportunity to avoid community questions and used the content work of the cohort as a convenient way of doing so.
• A community session was used to confront Sharon and Roger with the group issue of their pairing to the exclusion of the rest of the cohort. This behavior formed a second large problem for our group, together with the problem previous described around power and control. And again, we had never before found a way to bring the question to our public forum for resolution. This was a break-through because the group was able to bring voice to an unspoken behavior we had previously reserved for private conversation. Again, the group acknowledged our co-creation of the situation and began to explore the topic of exclusion and safety in our group. There seemed to be less resolution to this problem because it did not seem Roger and Sharon could acknowledge their role in creating the group problem.

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This hexagram is an old friend and there was no need to look up its name, it is Youthful Folly. It also does not change to another hexagram in this oracle appearance. It is stable and sits advising us to listen very carefully and fully. In earlier days I would almost fear this oracle, as if it were mocking my maturity. Now I find this hexagram comes at opportune times and provides my greatest lessons. I write before consulting the text:

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Our cohort is described as immature. We find ourselves stopping at the brink of perceived danger. We must plunge into the abyss and trust we will fill the chasms of our empty wisdom in so doing.

Youthful Folly has success.

It is not I who seek the young fool;

The young fool seeks me.

At the first oracle I inform him.

If he asks two or three times, it is importunity.

If he importunes, I give him no information.

Perseverance furthers.

The oracle sees our cohort as young and our folly to be expected. We need to seek out our teachers with respect for their experience and wisdom. While we often question in inappropriate ways, this is to be expected, and our teachers answer with silence. Our teachers are counseled to persevere patiently, waiting, while we master our lessons one step at a time.

A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain:

The image of Youth.

Thus the superior man fosters his character

By thoroughness in all that he does.

Our cohort’s development is analyzed as developing, slowly, like a spring. In time we will have filled in our gapping inexperience and be able to move on to greater challenges.

Interpretation of Meaning 

As we examine the oracle, the events of the past weekend are brought into a clear focus around the hexagram of Youthful Folly. Taking the images and ideas from the reading a number of insights can be reflected on for our cohort around the themes of our group and our teachers.

Our group lack of wisdom, as suggested by this reading, is very apparent when we examine our ability to deal with group processes, which was the dominate theme of our retreat at Seabeck. As can be seen even in the history of the cohort in Chapter 3 this has been one of the biggest challenges faced by our group. Our inability to establish explicit and agreed norms of behavior led to severe problems as we confronted out authority and learning objectives as a group. The oracle takes this opportunity to present the observation of Youthful Folly at a time when it is clear we are ready to deal with our immaturity. In the image of the spring, the oracle shows us the way to fill our gaps and flow onward.

The image of stopping before an abyss is especially poignant to me as it so dramatically describes what we have been doing as a group when we approach our group process work. The tensions and misunderstandings between people have been like a huge chasm which seemed impossible to cross. We would stop and talk about our crossing. We would look all around and suggest building material for the crossing. We would run up and down the edge of the chasm looking for some safe way to go. What we could not do was simply jump in and trust our ability to fill the chasm with our growing spring of knowledge so we could move on from the other side.

This weekend was different, perhaps because of the tension and build-up described in the pre-module oracle of Break-through. We were ready to jump and simply awaited the catalyst. This appeared on Friday night when my leaving the group caused such a disruption. A subset of the group began the work that evening and then, with the help of our outside guest, we finally gave voice to a large community problem, around my power and control over the group, the next day. This plunge into the abyss showed us the foolishness of our folly. We survived. We were able to speak the unspeakable and see the perspectives of those in the controversy. Me, as I struggled from a focus of attention, which though I may have created it, was thrust upon me with such solidarity as to paralyze the group from developing its own power and control. The group, as we discovered our inner fear of power and control, concepts who’s images seemed contrary to our purposes together, but which are needed in some form for every social interaction to succeed.

So the plunge showed us we could survive when we have the courage to directly address our group behavior. From that point it was as if the spring was released. We created the beginnings of norms. We addressed the second of our major group issues as focused around Sharon and Roger - exclusion and safety. And, perhaps of most significance, when faced with the choice to go away from group process work, with this second major question unresolved, we did not stop at the brink of the abyss as was our previous experience. Instead we plunged in and began to fill the chasm, just as the oracle of Youthful Folly suggests is the way beyond the abyss.

The oracle presents a strong message to our cohort concerning the relationship with our teachers which was also very present during our retreat. The oracle counsels us to seek out an experienced teacher. This need was met at the Seabeck retreat in the person of RoseAnn Stevenson. RoseAnn guided nearly every group session we had at the retreat with the exception of the Friday evening and Saturday morning sessions our guest speaker. RoseAnn provided a structured approach and a light hand as she allowed us to approach and then test our ability to deal with the group questions previously described.

The oracle’s caution to the student about questioning especially caught my eye in this respect. The oracle warns of questioning that is mistrustful or unintelligent and counsels silence from the teacher at these times. This very closely describes how our cohort often questioned RoseAnn this week. We would use questions about the negotiation process she had introduced to suggest it wasn’t appropriate to the topics we had at hand. We wanted her to defend her process. Instead she was willing to let it go and allow us to head in our own direction without her. We knew from past experience where that could lead (not good) and her act of not-answering led us back to the method we knew we could get her help with. She kept control of our process the entire weekend in this way. Allowing us to explore fully our group interest while intervening only when we needed the guidance of an experienced teacher.

The final note, to the teacher, is directed at RoseAnn and is a breathtaking piece of advice in keeping with the events of the weekend. The oracles counsels the teacher to persevere, to go slowly, at a pace the group will hold, to not be discouraged as the students learn their lessons. There were many times when it almost looked like RoseAnn wanted to throw up hers hands and be done with us. She did not succumb to those impulses. She stayed with us and trusted us to master our points one by one. Though I’m certain we have many more lessons to learn, her gentle patience and trust in us allowed us to learn on our own with her experience as a guide.

Outcome of the Predictions 

The predictions made prior to the module will now be examined one by one against the events of the Seabeck retreat and an assessment made as to how accurate the oracle was in its predictions.

Before going into the specific predictions, however, I feel inspired by how accurate the images invoked by the two hexagrams received prior to the weekend were. One could say that the overall prediction of the pre-module oracle was: Break-through will be followed by Peace. A better overall assessment of what we encountered would be difficult to achieve. 

As for the specific predictions that now follow, the tally stands at:

• Six accurate predictions
• Two inaccurate predictions
• One partially accurate prediction
• One prediction which may be fully accurate upon further reflection and is at least partially accurate now

This condition was very evident as we came together on Thursday evening and into Saturday morning. The campfire of Thursday night was almost somber in its tone. Through Saturday morning, up until we confronted me through our guest speaker’s intervention, it was if we were on egg shells waiting for an eruption around our group issues.

I believe this prediction was accurate.

Many times we would find ourselves diverted as we focused on how badly we were working together. It was not until Sunday afternoon, in fact, that someone remarked we should look at all the work of the weekend as positive given how far we had been able to get in working through deep seated group issues. In general, we seemed to see the negatives in our group development and worried we would not be able to work through them right up until we began to break up. Then, in looking back, the positive of our group work was evident.

I believe this prediction was accurate.

This was a very evident condition. Once we had begun to confront our group issues it was as if we couldn’t wait to tackle the next one. A story from Sunday afternoon comes to mind around how we made the choice to continue with group work instead of working toward Student Design Module topics.

We had begun to take pseudo votes on decisions by asking people to stand up if they agreed with something. When the question of what we should do with our Sunday afternoon was posed this pseudo voting resulted in 3-4 people not standing. In the past this would have paralyzed us as we worked to convince the others they should join. This time however we asked if not standing meant we could not proceed. Those who were sitting answered they would join in group work if that was the decision of the group as a whole. We then went forward with the group work.

I believe this prediction was accurate.

I did not see this prediction play out during the weekend. It wasn’t obvious if people were gaining influence they did not have before from the group work we were doing. Even if this were the case, it seemed we maintained a very balanced sharing of influence as our conversations proceeded.

I do not believe this prediction was accurate.

This was evident on occasion with one dramatic example coming to mind.

The situation occurred when we were coming to agreement on norms. Sharon and Roger were disturbed that the pace of our agreement making was too slow and they began to do advance reading in their text books. Larry interrupted the group to say that he could not continue if these two insisted on doing this. A conflict arose, which also engaged the group, and which became a matter of honor on each side - keeping books open vs asking for books closed. Resolution took nearly a half hour and resulted in the books being put away.

While this was an extreme example there were other minor incidences where obstinacy could be described; e.g., when Ashley left the cohort upset and could not be convinced to return. All in all, though obstinacy was apparent at times it did not seem to be a major question during the weekend.

I believe this prediction was partially accurate.

I do believe we achieved break-t