Look at a problem as a whole and as a part

When you are pulled between your own needs and a group’s, describe the situation once from each face of the holon.

Pourquoi ça marche

Koestler described each holon as Janus-faced: toward the levels below it acts as a self-contained whole, toward the level above it acts as a part, and its behavior is a tension between self-assertive tendencies and integrative ones. Organization researchers use the same lens: any unit is at once a whole made of parts and a part of a larger whole. Naming both faces in a real conflict shows that the pull in two directions is built into belonging to anything, not a sign that something is wrong with you.

Comment faire

1. Pick a situation where your needs and a group’s needs are pulling against each other — a team, a family, a friendship.
2. Write a paragraph as the whole: what you need to stay intact, healthy and yourself.
3. Write a paragraph as the part: what the larger whole needs from you to function.
4. Look for the one move that serves both, even partly; if none exists, decide which face to favor this time and say so openly.

Données probantes

Koestler introduced the holon and holarchy in 1967 (Mella & Gazzola, 2017). Gould’s 1978 review of Koestler’s later book Janus describes his holons as Janus-like and summarizes the tension between self-assertive tendencies and integrative urges. Mella and Gazzola apply the holonic view to organizations and firms. Using it on personal conflicts is an application, not something those authors tested. (mechanistic)

The holon is a descriptive concept, not a decision rule; it does not tell you which side should win. The personal-conflict use here is an extension of Koestler’s biological and social examples.

Sources

• Koestler, A. (1967). The Ghost in the Machine. Macmillan.
• Gould, S. J. (1978, April 20). Koestler’s Solution [Review of Janus: A Summing Up, by A. Koestler]. The New York Review of Books.
• Mella, P., & Gazzola, P. (2017). The Holonic View of Organizations and Firms. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 34(3), 354–374.

Erreur fréquente

Treating the integrative pull as the mature one and the self-assertive pull as selfish. In Koestler’s picture a healthy holon needs both; either one running unchecked causes trouble.