Embodying Integral Development: A Holistic Approach

In this fourth and final volume of the CARE-ing for Integral Development series, Ronnie Lessem integrates all that has come before in terms of: Community activation; Awakening integral consciousness; and institutionalized Research. Here he focuses on individual and community development alongside that of the organization or society, and sets it in the context of an integral economy.

The four critical success factors identified in recognizing and releasing integral development aligned with CARE are:

• GROUNDING – linking up with and building upon existing local and global movements for socio-economic development;
• EMERGENCE – maintaining interconnected focus;
• NAVIGATING – locating and developing GENE-ius in a particular community/society;
• EFFECTING – committing to resolving an issue and identifying the most fertile development path.

Embodying Integral Development offers a comprehensive system of accreditation. Supported by examples and illustrations of CARE, this book makes a case for Integral Development as a whole. It argues that it is a qualitative means of self-assessment rather than a quantitative one, focused on engagement, immersion and interpretation, as well as evaluation, rather than empirical verification.

Ronnie Lessem is the Co-Founder of Trans4m, Geneva. He has been a management educator and consultant in Africa, Asia, Europe and America and is the author of over thirty books on the development of self, business and society.