Tag: Deep Thinking

Are you a complex thinker, or interested in becoming one? – The world is in great need of such people. Otto Laske is a world expert on complex thinking. Since 2000, he has taught dialectical, meta-systemic thinking at the Interdevelopmental Institute (IDM), working with international groups of experts in their field and reflective practitioners generally, mostly consultants. Laske is continuing his teaching, starting the Spring of 2024. His teaching will focus on learning how to use DTF, the Dialectical Thought Form Framework (2000), recently broadly publicized by three books published by Springer under the title of “Advanced Systems Level Problem Solving (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-40332-3). Book #1 and #2 form the background to Book #3, the only existing Manual of Dialectical Thought Forms. Complex, dialectical thinking differs from logical thinking, abductive thinking, and conventional systemic thinking in that it is ‘meta-systemic’. Such thinking critically investigates the structure of one’s own thinking as articulated in real time (NOW), in whatever social venue and circumstances. As a result, Laske’s approach to teaching dialectical thinking is dialogical: people learn to listen deeply to each other and scrutinize the structure of their own thinking with the help of others, in the process becoming complex thinkers. Starting in... Read More...

  Those interested in dialectical thinking will be pleased to know that Otto Laske's volume 2 of 'Measuring Hidden Dimensions'  of 2008 has been thoroughly revised and is in the process of becoming available again in the form of a three-part monograph under the title of this blog. The title does justice to the fact that the monograph has relevance far beyond applications in work contexts and is a must-read for systems thinkers venturing outside of the purely logical domain of intellectual endeavor. Since its first publication the scope of interest in complex thinking -- beyond the mechanics of using thought forms -- has broadened. Outside of being of interest to organizational thinkers, a broader, evolutionary, perspective , spearheaded by John Stewart and Lawrence Wollersheim, has emerged that centers on the planet's global crisis. These authors address two capital aspects of human flourishing: (a) self-evolution, and (b) meta-systemic wisdom the core of which is dialectical thinking (see https://www.evolutionarymanifesto.com/SpandaArticle.pdf, by John E. Stewart). Another target audience of the monograph comprises high-level systemic thinkers with an integral focus, whether they are active in think tanks, government, or intelligence agencies, as well as architects and artists whose work focuses on transformation. The three... Read More...

When it comes to acquiring developmental and dialectical thinking, "philosophies of the mind", "theories", and "world views" are insufficient. They are all abstractions that can be moved around like pieces of furniture, and in dazzling ways. What matters are PRACTICES based on them, and such practices require METHODS. The Constructive Developmental Framework (CDF), which includes DTF, the Dialectical Thought Form Framework, is a set of practices and associated methods. They have little to with "adult developmental theories" and "developmental models" in the conventional sense, although they synthesize and refine the latter for greater evidential power and effectiveness in real time work. Practically speaking, CDF and DTF are TOOL SETS people learn by doing, viz., working as members of a cohort in IDM workshops. In addition to long-term (1-2 year) case study workshops, beginning in 2022 IDM also offers shorter-term, ten session (15 hour) Practica. These Practica are attended by up to 10 participants working together for up to 6 months, to acquire a professional grounding in the practice of dialectical thinking and developmental coaching. Applications of this practice are found in areas such as permaculture, city planning, ecological rewilding, architectural design, art making, not solely organizational or institutional work. For... Read More...

Those who know Otto Laske as a social scientist, composer, and visual artist will be interested to see at Amazon, that his early German poetry has appeared in a bilingual edition at Frieling Verlag, Berlin, Germany. The translation of the work into English is the author's own; it carries the title 'Silesian Language Smithy'. (Those who know his work more deeply realize that it is his poetry that is the foundation of much of his creative work.) The back cover of the book states: Otto Laske’s poems originate in a lifelong coping with experiences that led him from Silesia and Northern Germany to the United States, and from poetical to musical composition. It is the art of composition that is evidenced by these poems which, in compact form, render the tonality and melody of his internal conversations. Over time, these internal conversations were crafted by memory into verses one will not easily forget. They speak with syntactic, gestural, and musical clarity of a life between escape and arrival. The book's title image is taken from Laske's digital paintings called 'Promise' (Versprechen) and refers to one of the poems in the book. The three commentaries on the poetry found on the... Read More...

The way we encounter the world is anchored in our ways of attending to it. They not only change the relationship we have to the world we unceasingly construct; they also fundamentally determine the world we encounter. Thinking in language when untutored in dialectical linking puts us under the control of left-hemisphere, logical, thinking, -- a mode of being now rampant that constrains the quality of our life and creative work. For this reason, we are in need of re-socializing ourselves through building up in our mind new ways of listening, speaking, writing, 'thinking', reading, communicating, coaching, and facilitating. To further re-socialization in adults, IDM is launching 5-months long practica of dialectical thinking.  The next Practicum starts at the end of November 2020. For details, see and Since nobody can learn news ways of being from books but only through supervised practice, IDM Practica are structured in terms of a sequence of activities carried out by members of small cohorts of 4-6 participants mentored by Otto Laske, originator of the Dialectical Thought Form Framework. Have a look at the structure of the Practicum at the first link below and learn about the correspondence of Practicum Activities and Learning Targets at... Read More...

In this 2nd "inspiration session" regarding the book "Practices of Dynamic Collaboration", Jan De Visch and Otto Laske focus on what DTF, the Dialectical Thought Form Framework, can teach a person or group about enlarging and deepening their 'internal workplace' through thought-form based listening. Thought forms are shown to be more than simply conversation starters or analytical tools for understanding conversations. Their optimal use lies in real=time listening in a group or team environment. Thought forms are dynamic tools of dialogical thinking, in contrast to monological lists of patterns and text examples for grasping dialectic. The catch is: their use simultaneously teaches becoming aware of, and presupposes having become aware of, one's own dialectical movements-in-thought. In short: You have to like adventures. The set of slides below focus on team meetings (chapter 3 of the book) from the point of view of listening in real time; it teaches first steps in this direction made though text analysis of social-emotional and cognitive interviews. Inspiration Session 2 - August 19 2020 rev. OL   Read More...