Differentiation And Integration In Human Systems

In order to fully integrate, we need to first fully differentiate.

In a situation where everyone in the system has different things they hold dear but no one differentiates from the system by expressing their needs, no one knows what everyone elses needs are.

Consequences:

• Makes it harder to build trust and belonging
• Prerequisite for Psychological Safety due to increased threat

In the worst case, not differentiating leads to a negative outcome for everyone instead of a positive outcome for a few. See Abilene’s Paradox (game theory).

Thanks @zephinzer for helping me make sense of this cognitively.