Fields of Connection in Business Systems

Excerpt from « Les champs de connexion dans le système entreprise », by Jan Jacob Stam. in collaboration with Liliane van der Velde

In this book, discover the dynamics and forces shaping your work and career, and how to address them through systemic constellations

Developments and Practical Applications

Liliane van der Velde

Over the past decades, business constellations have been explored in many different contexts and for a wide range of purposes. The more they have been used, the more it has become clear that enterprises and organizations are living systems with an identity of their own, beyond the intentions of their founders alone.

We can compare this to a human being. A person is physically formed through their parents, yet from birth — and even before — a human being is never simply the result of two genetic lineages assembled together. Each person carries a unique identity, something deeply personal and singular, even though education and life experiences continue to shape and enrich them throughout life.

Enterprises, organizations, professions, and projects function in a similar way.

The Spirit of Your Enterprise

At the origin of a business, a profession, or a project, there is often a source — a field of connection that nourishes and animates it. This vital impulse can be perceived as the “Spirit of the Enterprise.”

It carries the identity, personality, values, intentions, and deeper meaning of the organization. For some, it is also expressed through a particular language, atmosphere, or way of communicating. Sometimes this spirit emerged in a specific historical or social context: after a crisis, during reconstruction, in response to a collective need, or to serve a particular community.

Understanding the spirit of an enterprise is essential if we want to remain aligned with it and give it the appropriate structure and form. It is this spirit that gives meaning to the work — both in terms of direction and in terms of its deeper intention.

In professional constellations, it is often through contact with this field that the most creative ideas emerge: names, slogans, forms of communication, or strategic orientations that genuinely reflect the soul of the enterprise.

This also makes it possible to explore whether new collaborators, projects, decisions, or values are coherent with the deeper identity of the organization and whether they strengthen one another.

A Simple Practice

With the help of a few neutral people who are not involved in your professional project, place one sheet on the floor for:

• the Spirit of your enterprise or profession,
• yourself,
• and your core values.

There is no need to explain what these elements represent. You can even place the papers face down so the representatives are not influenced mentally.

Invite the representatives to stand on the sheets and observe from a distance:

• how they position themselves,
• whether they look at one another,
• where they feel drawn to go,
• and what naturally emerges in the system.

A newly trained coach once explored his project of working with companies after experiencing several failures in attracting professional clients. He placed representatives for himself, his personal values, and his enterprise.

During the constellation, his values collapsed beside him. They expressed a need for rest and vacation.

The coach suddenly realized that he was deeply exhausted — and that in this state he was not naturally attractive to new clients.

In another example, a consultant explored the Spirit of his Enterprise. There was a strong sense of mutual recognition and harmony between them. They smiled toward each other, and eventually the Spirit of the Enterprise moved beside him and his values. Together, they looked in the same direction.

Alignment Creates Attraction

When an enterprise is supported by its fundamental impulse, it naturally develops a clearer force toward its purpose. It becomes easier to choose the right environment, the appropriate timing, and the relationships that truly nourish its development.

The enterprise can then attract partners, collaborators, and clients who resonate with its deeper identity.

However, when this identity becomes hidden — for example through marketing trends, external expectations, or borrowed business models — it is as though the enterprise is forced to wear a uniform that does not belong to it.

Its true identity and intentions become difficult to perceive.

In such cases, the enterprise risks becoming invisible or misunderstood in the marketplace.

The more the Spirit of the Enterprise is recognized and respected, the more it becomes a source of inspiration, coherence, and support for everyone involved.

Exploring Decisions Through Constellations

Professional constellations can also help explore practical choices such as:

• locations, communication strategies,recruitment, investments, partnerships, or new directions.

Representatives can be positioned for:

• the Spirit of the Enterprise,
• the different options being considered,
• an “unknown possibility” to remain open to new solutions,
• and the clients or partners involved.

Present each option one at a time to the enterprise and observe what strengthens the system.

Listening carefully to the feedback of the representatives often reveals hidden dynamics, overlooked needs, or unexpected solutions.

Building a Sustainable Framework

Research in systemic approaches has shown that sustainable organizations are generally built upon three essential pillars:

• knowledge and competence,
• material structure and organization,
• human trust and motivation.

(Referenced notably in the work of Matthias Varga von Kibéd and Insa Sparrer on structural constellations.)

When one of these pillars dominates at the expense of the others, instability eventually appears in the functioning of the enterprise.

In professional constellations, these three pillars can be represented spatially, alongside the Spirit of the Enterprise as a fourth pillar.

This allows the deeper tendencies of the organization to become visible.

For example, when facing a question :

• one pillar may appear weak,
• another may turn away,
• or one may become overloaded.

The system can then explore what is needed to restore balance and solidity until all elements feel stronger, clearer, and properly positioned.

From Strategy to Living Coherence

Business systems are not only structures of production or performance.They are living fields of relationships.

When an enterprise reconnects with its deeper spirit and aligns its choices with this living intelligence, vitality, creativity, coherence, and meaningful growth can emerge naturally across the whole system.

Professional Resources Trapped in the Past

A man had created a company around an ecological product.
Some time later, this director wanted to understand why he was experiencing unpaid invoices and a lack of recognition for ecology, despite having such an effective and promising product. We did a constellation.

He placed representatives for the Spirit of the Enterprise, money, ecology, and himself.

In the constellation, the spirit of the enterprise was looking beyond the manager and did not seem fully present. Money and ecology were also looking behind him and gradually moved behind the man.

It appeared that something from the director’s professional past needed to be acknowledged.

I asked him about significant professional experiences from his past. As he described his career, he mentioned a previous position that had ended badly. It had also involved an ecological industrial products company. He had experienced an abusive dismissal, falsely justified by supposed poor “profitability.” He explained that he still had not received compensation despite the legal case he had brought against the dishonest employer.

The representative of the director felt intense anger toward him. This unresolved conflict prevented him from seeing both money and ecology clearly. Meanwhile, the Spirit of the new Enterprise watched the situation with great attention.

Only after some time was the man able to say:
“I leave the injustice there, and I keep ecology and my professional value within my new enterprise.”

Immediately, the Spirit of the new Enterprise felt much stronger and more present. It could now turn toward the director. Money and ecology also became interested in him and moved closer to the Spirit of the new Enterprise.

One week later, the man reported something completely unexpected. He had been contacted by one of the leading figures in the ecological sector and had obtained a meeting with the Ministry of the Environment, along with a proposal for financial support. He had unsuccessfully tried to interest them in his product for two years.

In this situation, “money” and “ecology” had remained entangled with an unresolved professional conflict from the past.

Do you have strategic questions about challenges, blockages, or hidden dynamics within your enterprise?