Who this article is for
Anyone interested to know about how the iOS works
An important Note
The texts that follow are NOT originally written like this! They are the result of an AI-transcripted Voice-Recording that got slightly edited by the team for easier readability.
Intro
What are the elements of the iOS, from a big picture perspective, that makes it work? In a sense, how does it create a self-learning organization that is aligned with the universe and is constantly evolving, without being a top-down hierarchy? How can it achieve this without everything being equal?
In another video, I explain the "why" of the iOS, and we touch on it again here. If you're interested in why we need terms like "iOS" and "self-evolving/self-learning organizations," then check out this video.
It all boils down to our worldview or universe view, how things and people work in this world, and what our role is.
The 5 Elements - Overview
Vision
Our Four Essentials
Our Three Rules (or the "Meta-Defaults")
Three Universal Principles
Domains (we refer to them as 3x3 domains)
A Metaphor
While it may seem difficult to understand at first, let me give you an image to consider. Close your eyes and imagine a tree with three trunks growing from the earth at the same time.
The vision is essentially like sunlight shining down on the tree. It provides direction and guides growth, much like how a tree grows towards the sun for guidance.
The essentials are like the roots of the tree - the foundation that supports the structure and enables the three trunks above the earth to grow strong and move towards the sunlight. This component is considered the easiest part of our system.
Our three rules and three meta defaults are essentially also a part of the roots and the foundation of the system.
The three universal principles are like the sap flowing through every part of the tree or the blood flowing through every part of our body. They are universal principles that express themselves in every aspect of the system, even in the air between the sunlight and the tree. We could compare them to the oxygen or carbon in the tree, which is present everywhere and vital to the system. The idea is that we start at the very top and then work our way down to the very bottom, building up from there. So having both top-down and bottom-up approaches at the same time, we integrate them both, which is different from most organizations that only focus on the top-down approach.
The three domains are like the three trunks of the tree where
The first trunk is where we have structured processes, such as decision-making, workflow, meetings, and other related tasks.
The second trunk is dedicated to resources and planning, where we discuss compensation, prioritization, and how we deal with different kinds of information.
Then we have the third trunk, which is mastery - personal self-development mastery, as well as group mastery.
The issue at hand is that when we begin at a certain point, we often lack the foundational aspects that are necessary for building a successful organization. We start without the vision from above or the foundation from below, which is why we need to have both. Think of it like a helicopter dropping a rope and then gradually pulling it up again. This metaphor illustrates how we start with the vision from the top, use it to see where we are, and then gradually build up from the very bottom instead of starting in the middle, which is what usually happens.
However, the vision from above is not the only important aspect to consider. Every company or organization already has a unique vision, which is essentially the mission statement or overarching purpose that guides its operations. However, without a bigger vision that serves a larger purpose, the whole concept of iOS will not work. A vision that is solely for the CEO's benefit will ultimately destroy itself.
The Vision
Having a vision that is bigger is an integral part of the iOS, although we don't talk about it much since it will differ for each organization.
A big vision is one that serves humanity and the universe, rather than just one's personal egoistic interests.
This bigger vision brings out the best in human nature and inspires individuals to work together towards a common goal.
Assuming we have a vision that is bigger than our personal egoistic interests and serves humanity and the universe, we then move on to the four essentials and the three meta defaults or rules for a self-learning organization. I won't go into more detail now, but the other videos will cover them.
The Four Essentials
Transparency - to actually be open and see everything that's going on, both external and internal.
Learning processes - having processes for getting better and closing the gap between theory and practice, rather than just realizing potential.
Communication - without communication, we can't grow. A self-evolving system needs to be in constant communication and not be top-down or pre-planned. Transparency identifies gaps that we can close with the learning process.
Learning mindset - this is the spirit of the learning process and all the other elements. Having transparency and communication without a learning mindset is empty. It's not just about having the intention, but also learning, growing, evolving, and iterating.
These four essentials serve as the foundation for the domains that were built.
You can check out this video or this article on essentials if you want:
https://www.loom.com/share/cd1a311cfb3d45858de0a9ddc9e99ecc?source=embed_watch_on_loom_cta
The Three Meta Defaults / Rules
The first rule is that if there is a default set, it's the most important tool we have within this whole iOS. Either you follow it or you make a conscious decision not to and communicate that decision. None of the default set has to be followed, but it has to be communicated when you don't follow it.
The second rule is that if you see someone else not following a default and not communicating it, you need to communicate with that person. That's part of transparency and self-learning because it has a chance to adapt or to communicate afterward. If you don't mention it, it's unclear what happened.
The third rule is that if you see other people not reminding them about missing default number one, then you need to speak up about that. In other words, if you see a person not following the default and not reminding them, you need to speak up and make that public. Raise awareness about the group responsibility gap because it's everyone's fault. Being a self-learning organization means that if one person makes a mistake, it's everyone's mistake, and it's everyone's responsibility to close the gap again. This doesn't mean it's the same expression for everyone, but maybe for one person, it's repairing the thing that's broken, for another one, it's speaking up about what's broken, or for a third one, it's speaking up that this person is not repairing it yet, even though it's their responsibility. That's the group responsibility gap, and with those three metal rules, we will hold each other accountable.
So, we started with a vision of the sun or the helicopter, threw down our court, and now we're slowly putting it up by establishing the foundation with the four essentials of transparency and learning mindsets, learning process and communication, and the three meta defaults.
The 3x3 Domains
Then we will have the trunk with the three structural resources and mastery, and that's where all the other questions are. I won't go into detail there right now at all, but they will build up on it, and you will see they will all be answered - like all the questions that the usual companies ask themselves about compensation, workflow meetings, decision-making - only a bit later than usual, but then with a deeper connection and more opportunities to grow.
The Three Universal Principles
Purpose
Wholeness
Complexity consciousness
So it doesn't matter if you talk about the essentials or the domains or the visions, we need to bring purpose, wholeness, and complexity consciousness in all of them. This is going back to the worldview.
Purpose means that every individual, as well as the group, strives towards contributing to something bigger. We realized that we have a part in something bigger, and we want to fulfill our role. If we don't bring that in, even for the smaller thing, which was our vision, then this whole thing won't work. And this comes through in every single aspect.
Wholeness. We all have this inner golden core, but we also have weaknesses and mistakes. We want to express ourselves fully, and that means bringing in our weaknesses as part of the process, as well as our strengths, shadows, limiting beliefs, dreams, and visions. Only if we integrate them all can we fulfill our full potential. Otherwise, if we leave some part out, we're leaving energy out and suppressing a part of ourselves. This means that the same energy isn't working towards something bigger. So wholeness is a big part, where emotions, mind, and limiting beliefs all have their space. It doesn't mean they're all ruling and leading the way; we have to be really clear about ourselves and not let ourselves be guided by what's just there to be seen, but we definitely don't want to suppress anything.
Complexity consciousness is the idea that we have no complete understanding of the world. The universe is way too complex and we are only able to grasp parts of it at a time. One more concrete example is a plane, which is complicated and we can build and analyze it. On the other hand, a bird is complex, and even if we analyze everything, we can't understand everything about it. For instance, how are they sensitive to emotions, how are they sensitive to subtle energies and all those kinds of things. They are beings of consciousness, a small part of the consciousness of the whole universe, and this is way too complex to comprehend.
First, we can grasp parts of it, but never the whole. And this will be super important in other areas, for example, decision-making or planning. If we go with complexity consciousness in planning, we won't make ten-year plans or five-year plans or even one-year plans and think they will come exactly that way because we can't even predict the weather in three days. How are we going to predict all the things that are influencing it? Maybe even the weather influences our plan because there's a big storm and one of our buildings gets totally destroyed. Then our plan doesn't work anymore. So if we have complexity consciousness, we understand what we don't understand, and then we can make more or less better predictions, but we always stay open.
We are always open to learning new things and being flexible. We design our systems for flexibility because we realize that everything is changing all the time, and we don't know how it will change. This is why it's important to express this value in all areas, in the three domains, and in the essentials.
Final Words
All models are wrong, but some are helpful.
Although this model may be totally wrong, it's super helpful for me. It's important to note that the principles don't just express themselves in the domains and essentials, but the essentials, such as transparency and communication, also support our complexity consciousness. When we talk about our feelings and realize that we want to have a purpose in what we do, our vision may adapt and change. We see a bigger picture than before, and suddenly we realize that we can do more than we thought. Our vision is flexible and adaptive, like the sun moving around the sky or a helicopter moving.
To recap, the five elements are...
the vision
the three universal principles
the four essentials
the three rules or meta-defaults
and the trunk and branches which represent the 3x3 domains.
From this vision, concrete projects will emerge, like leaves from a tree.
For example, a yoga studio could be one leaf, and there could be many yoga studios on one tree, and the whole purpose is yoga. All expressing the deeper purpose we discussed earlier. This framework can be applied to any kind of company, organization, group, or family. As long as they have a bigger vision and this universal purpose, they are growing. In the coming recordings and videos, we will dive deeper into this vision. See you soon, bye bye!
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