The Elysia Commons

What is the Elysia Commons?

The Elysia Commons is an ecosystem (association) of organisations that provides benefit to the organisations and the people working in them.  It is supportive in all that each one has in common, and it sharpens all that is particular in each one.  In consequence, it offers competitive advantage against other organisations in society.  The Elysia Commons actively encourages organisational effectiveness through applied values.

In this diagram the Commons is shown weaving between the co-workers and the organisations. This engagement of the co-worker in something bigger than the organisation allows the co-workers to take up a higher perspective that can deepen understanding, a sense of ownership and motivation.  On the other hand, it also allows the member organisations to engage with the “spiritual physics” of ownership in innovate ways that open up freedom and engagement.

Competitive Advantage

Organisations are the creatures of the mesosphere , that sphere which man generates in the course of his own activity in collaboration with others.  These “creatures” all represent different ideas, and through the competition between the organisations, the different ideas strive, evolve, compete. Thus society itself evolves and in it the human being too.

The Elysia Commons embodies a particular idea, the idea that there is meaning to life.  This idea is embodied in the Purpose Statement in a way that is relevant to the activity of the Commons, the activity of being an organisation.

An organisation is an organism of the mesosphere ( from macro = big, micro = small and meso = middle).  It is a contained activity directed to a single purpose.  It is made of people working together.

Purpose Statement of Elysia Commons

The Elysia Commons meets human beings’ yearning for meaningful work by founding and sustaining an ecosystem of organisations that have an ethos of purposeful, accountable activity.

The Administration of the Elysia Common

Organisations join the Commons through an application process.  The key to being accepted is to have a Purpose or Mission that aligns with the purpose of the Elysia Commons and to convince the Commons Leadership Group that your organisation has the intention and / or capacity to actively pursue its chosen purpose.  The following forms / processes are needed:

• Application to found an organisation in the Commons
• Application for your organisation to join the Commons
• Co-worker Induction form
• Elysia Commons Annual Return

The Annual Return is completed once a year before the Organisational Appraisal interview.  The annual return reports on the success of the organisation in working to purpose and fostering a culture of Living Business

Method of the Elysia Commons - Living Business

The method of the Elysia Commons is to enhance consciousness of purpose and to provide support to co-workers in their different roles in taking up their working tasks more effectively.  In particular, attention is paid to supporting a culture of agreement and accountability.  The method can be summed up as fostering Living Business.

Source of Inspiration of the Elysia Commons

The Elysia Commons is, in considerable part, a deployment of thinking that was set out by Rudolf Steiner.  A number of key works by Steiner cover this area, and these include: The Philosophy of Freedom, The Threefold Social Commonwealth, Towards a Social Future and World Economy.

The Elysia Commons support organisational life through a number of different activities:

• Developing Living Business
• Attention to purpose
• Transparency.
• Training to support co-workers in finding freedom of choice in the workplace
• Training to support management and leadership in a way that fosters Living Business
• The Elysia Commons actively supports the health of its co-worker Community
• Monthly co-worker journal, Elysia Life
• Website for co-workers

Supporting Accountability

Tough accountability fosters focus and therefore business success.  Accountability becomes human when it is to a purpose that includes the human being.  The Elysia Commons supports the leadership of the organisations in the eco-system through an annual report and organisational appraisal to ensure that the organisation is making the most of the Elysia Commons.

Leaving the Elysia Commons

An organisation can leave the Elysia Commons, or may be ejected. Ejection, would be because it is not working, in the view of the Commons' Leadership, to the purpose of the Commons.  As a consequence of leaving, the organisation no longer has access to the services and benefits.

Supporting Funding

The Commons seeks to support the flow of money from purely economic activity towards cultural activity.  It operates a Charitable Trust that profit generating businesses within the Commons pay in to, and this Trust pays out to charitable activities operating within the Commons.  The culture of the Commons is self-sustainability, but the reality of certain cultural activity, such as health and education, is that some extra funding is required.

Supporting Ownership

The Elysia Commons fosters a climate of ethical ownership in which the organisation is handed on to the next generation of leaders instead of being sold. This is quite normal in the charitable sector but is unusual in the business sector.  The Commons provide specific training for Trustees of charities.  When a business, with ethical ownership, transfers control from one leader to another the Commons can support the process.  In particular, it can provide consulting, mediation and in the case of a complete breakdown in the transfer process will appoint the next leader.

The Founding of the Elysia Commons

The Commons was founded by Sebastian Parsons.

Establishing the Elysia Commons

The task of establishing the Commons, sensing it, creating it, operating it, in the particular, in the general, bit by bit; this will be lead by Sebastian too, in collaboration with others who feel themselves drawn to the task.

Control of the Elysia Commons after the Founding Phase

Once the founding phase is completed then control will move to a democratic process.

Serving the Archangel Michael

The Elysia Commons is an activity intended to serve the purpose of the Archangel Michael.