It often seems complex and challenging these days, but in its essence, the process of co-creation is astonishingly simple and easy to understand and implement. We all know how to do it naturally, even automatically. In fact, when we aren’t co-creating, we are likely acting against who we truly are and what is natural for us. We have a biological program within us that gives us everything we need to authentically and powerfully co-create with one another.
We already know how to do this. Because it’s such an innate power for all of us, we often don’t even question how or why it works. And because of this ignorance of the natural co-creation process, we might actually create an alternative reality based more on competition and violence than on authentic collaboration and co-creative power. We may create a system that makes us forget what co-creation even means. In fact, we have already created such a system. We seem to be globally forgetting how to authentically collaborate to manifest a reality we collectively desire.
Now, we talk about ‘co-creation’ as if it were a new revolution in innovation, management, and business. We pay large sums to corporate consultants to re-teach us how to co-create, cooperate, and collaborate with those around us.
We’ve commodified ‘co-creation processes,’ turning them into services and products for businesses, communities, and individuals. Yet, co-creation is the most basic concept underlying the entire reality we live in.
We were born because of co-creation. Nature exists only because of co-creation. The Bible begins with the concept of co-creation. Science is based on the deep mechanics and dynamics of the co-creation process.
Literally, wherever you look, the underlying truth is likely some form of co-creation.
We all must understand how this process truly works—its benefits, its challenges, and how to make it pleasurable and coherent. At some point, we must regain our authentic power to be true co-creators, exercising our natural capacity for shaping our shared reality in a deeply collaborative manner.
Co-creation is our birthright. It’s what makes us human, and it’s what keeps us systemically healthy.
Community, society, civilization, religion, science—all of these exist because of authentic and powerful co-creation processes. There is no single brain or individual power that has shaped what we call the collective whole today.
The whole co-creates the whole. All power in the system is already shared. Some of our powers are consciously or unconsciously delegated to others. If we feel today that power is unfairly distributed or that it’s unjust for so few to hold so much collective wealth, we must realize that these outcomes are the result of our own actions and decisions.
If there are clusters in the collective field that hold power over the masses and control the majority of collective wealth, how is that solely their fault?
They have co-created that reality with us. We gave them the power to achieve such social status and influence. We willingly chose who we gave authority to—who we allowed to control our rights, our economic models, and our systemic wealth generation.
We are all participants and co-creators of this system. If the rich are too rich, it’s often because many poor people gave them their money without thinking critically. The fact that we even have a global economy is because we trusted and willingly handed over our power to others who claimed more authority or control.
We have all co-created the system we live in today. We can blame, shame, and condemn those in power, naively hoping the next leader will make more sense or care more for our well-being. Or, we can reshape the system itself in alignment with what we truly believe and want. Instead of complaining about how leaders repeatedly fail, perhaps we should rethink leadership itself and the kind of power we delegate to them. Maybe the problem lies not in who holds power, but in how power is distributed and why it’s done this way.
Real co-creation is impossible in environments where people lack access to their innate power, creativity, and free will. You can’t co-create something peaceful and sustainable if you’re deeply scared or anxious during the process.
Co-creation is a sacred process. It is simple, yet challenging. It’s challenging because we’ve forgotten how to trust each other, our humanity, and nature. We’ve co-created a system based on rules and laws that have stifled and shamed authentic co-creation for ages.
As a society, we chose to experience what it’s like to use control and competition on a macro level. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that—it’s an experience. But we now see clearly where this leads and what it generates in our shared reality when business is conducted in a highly competitive way. So, perhaps it’s time we remember that we can choose to do things differently. We can choose to co-create instead of compete.
We can reclaim our power from systems and institutions we no longer trust, using that power to co-create a shared reality that we collectively desire.
Your inner power isn’t something that will magically appear before you on a silver platter one day. It’s something you must know how to reclaim and take back for yourself.
The system doesn’t have power over you simply because it’s corrupt or deeply flawed; it has power over you because you’re afraid to own your power and take authentic responsibility for your actions.
Often, we don’t co-create or collaborate because we fear the co-responsibility that comes with it, not because we lack the power or authority to do so.
We hesitate to reclaim our natural inner powers and personal freedoms because we’re scared of taking real accountability for our actions.
If you feel powerless in the system, it’s rarely because someone forcibly took your power—it’s more likely that you willingly gave it away. The problem isn’t that people have power over you; it’s the lack of courage and willingness to fully own who you are and the inner power you truly possess.
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I intended to write about the co-creation process, but I ended up talking about power again. I guess that’s not random because understanding the intricate connection between co-creation and the real inner power we hold as humans is crucial. We must also learn how to wisely and meaningfully distribute our power among each other in a network of trust, not control. You cannot co-create if you cannot access and hold your authentic power first. You need your free will and a sense of personal sovereignty.
Co-creation is the product of love, not fear.
Fear makes us blindly delegate our power to others, seeking protection. Love compels us to reclaim our power from where it no longer belongs. Love helps us take responsibility for our lives and use our power to co-create the reality we truly desire and deserve.
Love reminds us how to live simply and naturally co-create with others. Fear teaches us how to compete for survival and destroy through control.
So, I realize that perhaps I wasn’t quite ready to dive into the depth of the co-creation process today. While writing, I became increasingly aware that we often use co-creation as a remedy for dysfunctional power dynamics or to magically heal our deep personal issues. But the purpose of co-creation is not to heal us.
When we consciously engage in projects where we co-create reality for our larger community and macro-system, we should already own our power and feel loved for who we are.
You don’t co-create children to control them or have power over them, nor to receive the love you lacked. You create children to love them and empower them. We co-create because we want to invest in things that matter to us, things we deeply believe in. We want the realities we birth to be fulfilled, self-sufficient, happy, and successful one day. We don’t mind unconditionally loving, empowering, and trusting our children to become the best versions of themselves.
So, why don’t we do the same for our projects, our teams, and our organizations?
Why do we prefer co-creation at home but competition in business? Why are we so afraid to love, trust, and be kind to the people we work with?
Before we get to play the exciting game of systemic co-creation and innovation together, we must first become skilled, powerful, and self-aware co-creators.
Before co-creating the new, we must learn to lovingly hold the old. Before changing the system, we must reclaim our innate power. Before caring for others, we must first master caring for ourselves.
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