The Coherent Perspective
The Cambridge Dictionary defines coherence as a logical, consistent, and natural connection of parts forming a unified whole. It is a simple definition, but it points to something organisations often struggle to achieve: the sense that everyone involved is genuinely moving in the same direction, for the same reason, at the same time.
A useful way to picture the difference between coherence and incoherence is a team paddling a canoe. When the crew moves together, with a shared sense of timing and purpose, the boat glides forward with relatively little wasted effort. When that alignment is missing, something quite different happens.
The cost of incoherent effort
Picture that same canoe, but now everyone is paddling without a shared feeling for what they are contributing to. There are no small corrections, no real alignment between paddlers, just motion. The boat still moves, but that movement costs far more effort than it should: energy is spent without a clear, shared outcome, because everyone is paddling in their own rhythm rather than a consistent, natural one.
What drives real forward movement is not only the strength of each stroke, but the feeling behind it.
Each person listening to the others, sensing the surroundings together, and then moving as one. That is precisely what is needed inside teams and organisations. Moving forward together, beyond what a job description or a set of KPIs can capture, raises a more fundamental question: what is your contribution to the forward movement of the whole?
The question applies at three connected levels — the individual, the organisation, and, because everyone and everything is ultimately connected, humanity as a whole.
Coherence in the body
Coherence and incoherence are not only organisational concepts. They are reflected directly in our bodies. An incoherent heart rhythm is, quite literally, a rhythm out of sync. In the short term, this is not a problem. Over the long term, however, it gradually destabilises the body through the nervous system, leading to the dysregulation of hormone systems and, ultimately, to stress-related disease.
This connection between rhythm and wellbeing is not just a metaphor. Thirty-five years of research by the HeartMath Institute has focused on self-regulation and heart coherence — particularly on calming the body's hyper-alert state. Learning to become heart coherent brings a faster, clearer headspace.
In practice, this means training the ability to prepare for challenges, to reset after disruption, and to sustain that reset so the body returns to a coherent rhythm rather than staying dysregulated. That capacity creates a baseline: a foundation for what a person can absorb, and what they can act from.
A calm, coherent field is contagious. No force is required, only presence.
Heart coherence is also measurable, through the electromagnetic field the heart continuously generates in every living being — human or animal. This field extends considerably further than the electromagnetic field produced by the brain, and people can sense it.
A parent, for example, can calm an upset child without saying a word. The upset is simply released, not through force, but through coherent presence: acknowledging what is happening and meeting it with a more effective, neutral attitude.
From the body to the organisation
Returning to the organisational perspective, the same pattern shows up at scale. Many of today's organisational structures no longer move people forward sustainably. Considerable effort goes into fixing these systems, but the result is often comparable to a bucket with holes, or taps that keep leaking. Continually trying to repair it is costly — costly in drained energy, and costly in the valuable potential of the people within it that simply leaks away.
Dropouts, sick leave, and repeated reorganisations can start to feel like an ongoing battle. But it is worth asking what, exactly, is being battled. What if the organisation stopped battling altogether?
Much of this incoherent effort resembles paddling hard in a stream or a pond that is simply no longer the right environment. Inside such systems, there are often people who do not dare to contribute their full potential — not because they lack capability, but because the structure itself restricts them.
Starting a coherent conversation
The starting point for change is reflection: taking a few minutes to genuinely notice where you, or your organisation, are currently functioning from. From that honest starting point, a coherent conversation becomes possible — one that moves forward in a way that is solid, deliberate, and grounded in actual contribution, both individual and collective.
That kind of contribution comes from a different place than impulse. It arises because you sense something and feel ready to take responsibility for it. This is an important distinction.
A coherent response is not a reaction.
It can take you beyond what your mind alone would tell you is possible, and toward something you may have been waiting for, for a long time.
Continue the conversation
Frequently Asked
What is corporate or organisational coherence?+
Coherence is the state in which everyone in an organisation is genuinely moving in the same direction, for the same reason, at the same time. It is not alignment on strategy alone — it is alignment across strategy, leadership behaviour, and culture, so that forward movement takes far less effort than when the system is incoherent.
What is heart coherence and why does it matter for leadership?+
Heart coherence is a state in which the heart's rhythm is synchronised with the nervous system and brain. Thirty-five years of research by the HeartMath Institute shows that learning to enter heart coherence enables faster recovery from stress, clearer decision-making, and a calm presence that others can sense through the heart's electromagnetic field.
How does incoherence show up in organisations?+
As unusually high effort producing unusually low forward movement. As dropouts, sick leave, and repeated reorganisations that feel like an ongoing battle. As people who do not dare to contribute their full potential — not because they lack capability, but because the structure itself restricts them.
How is a coherent response different from a reaction?+
A reaction arises from impulse — usually triggered by stress, threat, or conditioning. A coherent response arises from sensing something and feeling ready to take responsibility for it. Coherent responses can take a person or organisation beyond what the mind alone would say is possible.
Where do I start if I want to build coherence in my organisation?+
With reflection. Take a few minutes to genuinely notice where you, or your organisation, are currently functioning from. From that honest starting point, a coherent conversation becomes possible — one grounded in actual contribution rather than incoherent effort.
Who is Nienke van Bezooijen?+
Nienke van Bezooijen is a founding partner of The Indigo Elephant. Her role in the triangle is The Stabilizer — coherence between heart and brain, and grounding organisations through profound transition.
Based on a talk by Nienke van Bezooijen, The Indigo Elephant.
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