Collaborative instead of Adversarial; Governance instead of Government

     There's a pattern to conflicts: each of the opposing parties claims to be right, consciously or unconsciously ignoring their own contribution to the problem, and consciously or unconsciously ignoring the other party's positive attributes. In the gray zone, between these polar opposites sit: reality, mediation & productive, vibrant collaboration. To get here, the consciousness of the players has to rise from the brain stem (reptilian reactivity, primitive emotions) to the pre-frontal cortex (mature judgment, executive function). When ego battles ego, it can be a fight to the death, be it career, family, or actual life - sometimes all three. When the ego is put aside, human beings are capable of living harmoniously and amazing collaborative achievements. Wisdom is hypo-egoic.
     External forms of control, be it from professional disciplinary boards, legal system, or fear of punishment from a metaphysical source, don't work well for today's adults. When one is in a reptilian state of reactivity, one is fully identified with one's own agenda - it can feel like a life or death struggle. One's self-concept feels under attack. One of the 8 key principles of adult education is that "a threatened self-concept diminishes learning."
       Pinney SJ et al. Orthopaedic surgeons as educators. Applying the principles of adult education to teaching orthopaedic residents. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2007; 89(6): 1385-92.

     Our behavior - when we're being rational - is mostly controlled from within, by our own conscious and unconscious sense of meaning, values, self-concept & worldview. This conglomerate can be summarized as one's "internal compass" (operating system in computer lingo) in that it has a powerful pervading effect on all aspects of our life, though the details may be largely subconscious ("a life unexamined ..."). Intentional, conscious awareness & upgrading of this internal compass appears to be the necessary path toward wisdom & wise behavior for all, but for us, individually & as a profession, it's a professional obligation.
     Professions being "self-governing" refers to "governance" vs being controlled from the outside by "government". Governance in a profession is akin to an individual's "internal compass." This concept, unlike "government" involves "the notion of internal regulatory processes (that may evolve naturally, even spontaneously, within any complicated set of human arrangements … is – or can be – a benign form of collective autonomy within a set of social arrangements such as organised health care. … the emergent will of the practitioners concerned. … hold those values or visions authentically …  
     Perhaps being ‘left to their own devices’ is the key point here. The assimilation of a particular conception of medicine into the internal processes of governance is something quite different from imposition. It allows the emergence of a particular culture (perhaps, beginning as a counter-culture) that recognises as important certain values and visions such as a careful attention to the patient’s unspoken and spoken wishes alike and that absorbs them organically and authentically, expressing them as part of a self-imposed collective expectation of standards of practice.”
       Evans HM. Affirming the existential within medicine: medical humanities, governance, and imaginative understanding. J Med Humanit 2008; 29(1): 55-9.

     Doesn't (group) governance merely reflect the collective level of consciousness or wisdom of its individual members? And if so, what are we as individuals, as professional organizations, and universities doing to raise our consciousness & cultivate wisdom?

senn_b   www.dpreview.com