Mind and Natur as patterns which connect at the missing-link-institute
A missing link is literally an absent thing or member needed to complete a series or the hypothetical intermediate form between man and his presumed simian progenitors. An evolutionary theory (Darwin) states there is a fossil, a manifest highlighting this transitional step. The 'missing link' is colloquial meaning it is there [but find it].
The principle behind the missing link was brilliantly illustrated in 1972 by the German pioneer jazz-rock-artist Volker Kriegel in his milestone album INSIDE: MISSING LINK. This recording was the connecting link, the missing link between the then contrary universes of rock and jazz music genres. He mastered the synthesis between these two genres by connecting their till then yet unrecognised patterns and elements of style into a new composition creating a musical metaphor of the evolutionary theory.
The term was likely coined first by Charles Darwin or Thomas Henry Huxley (ca. 1840) to describe the envisioned missing connecting link between man and monkey. Two fundamental concepts were at stake: Man evolved from an ape, therefore God was created by man and not vice versa. Darwin's evolutionary theory relied upon presenting fossils of the Missing Link to underscore this thesis however such proved far too rare a find to present! Nevertheless, Charles Darwin is the name-giving patron of the missing-link-institute.
We do not seek to excavate old bones at the missing-link-institute (more apt: The institute is run by a heap of old bones). What we do is instigate a search for stepping-stones, connecting pieces of a series, missing links or metapatterns in biographies and or organizations. These are the central meta-patterns, the what in “what has made them into what they are“ for person or organization alike in deep analysis (regardless of current questions-of-the-day), in the developmental connection between biography and life cycle, the 'score' once the points are tallied.
To tally the score, get a bearing on where one is, missing links (those bridging internal-external realities and the major coordinates in life- and organizational models) are detected and tracked down. Secret underground [biographic] blue prints become visible. Symbolist snapshots, pieces of the mosaic of client's past, present and future are revealed (see Photo album Examples).
The exposure to such missing links brings the client's 'life' to the present into scope, with all relevant details, providing a macroscopic view of the big picture. In future with this advantage heretofore-unanswerable questions can now be meaningfully decided upon. It opens a new vantage point to overview one's biography, the structuring of the senses, consciousness and steering-way with respect to:
Retrospect • Insight • Foresight • Overview • Perspective • Outlook
Our slogan at the missing-link-institute is „patterns which connect“ which reflects not only the enduring client relationships but also quotes "Mind and Nature" by Gregory Bateson, one of the theoretical grandfathers of today's Systemic-Science. In this book Bateson builds upon Darwin's ideas to present "Steps to an Ecology of Mind." Bateson wrote:
„We have constructed a ladder of how to think about—about what? Oh, yes, the pattern which connects. My central thesis can now be approached in words: The pattern which connects is a metapattern. It is a pattern of patterns. It is that metapattern which defines the vast generalization that, indeed, it is patterns which connect. Yes, indeed, patterns which connect."
(P.-W. Gester and G. Bateson 1979)
This is the crux utilized in coaching, life's main question, from Goethe's Faust and his Gretchen: „That I understand what holds the core of the world together“, and this is exactly the gist of the matter.
Amongst other reasons why the name is missing-link-institute, or mli, is because not only genetically but also behaviourally, as individuals and especially groups and organizations, our close relationship with primates cannot be disguised though we unfailingly and vigorously try (with no such luck) to do so. Even if the fossil from the Missing Link as final proof of our heritage has yet been found, molecular genetics has filled that gap with sufficient evidence.
An overview of the German and European most colourful manifold Coaching and Organizational-Development continuing education providers' scene harks for an institute with such biographical scope and specialization as to be dubbed the Missing Link.
The address of mli is in itself a Missing Link. There are few institutes that can boast such exclusive location. Here you will find unique think tank environment and yet a secluded place for reflection in peace and quiet surrounded by pristine mature forest and comfy garden atmosphere.
Thus Bateson's holistic work: "Mind and Nature," encompasses not only extrapolating upon Darwin's theory which became a main inspirational factor behind founding the missing-link-institute, but source also as a logical guiding force behind the metapattern in my biography for selecting my present workplace and vantage point for living right here in the middle of nature.