Discovering the Power of Partnership
A Dreamwork Journey that Shaped Our Business
Introduction
At The Center for Organizational Dreaming, Emily and I didn’t just start a business together—we combined our different career paths to create something bigger than either of us could have done alone. This is the story of how a dream, which started as a personal search for freedom, became a powerful symbol for the partnership that now drives our work. What began as a simple dream turned into a vision that guides and inspires our organization today.
The Dream That Shaped Our Vision
The dream began with Emily facing a big life decision. In the dream, she was a bride running away from her wedding, rolling down a hill in a small shopping cart. The details were vivid—her wedding dress was soaked in the rain, the cart rolled down the street, and she felt a strong sense of freedom as she sped away, unnoticed by anyone.
“In the dream, I was running away from a wedding to a man I didn’t really know, but in the dream, I felt like I had known him forever. I ran out of the church, but there were no cars, just a tiny shopping cart. I got in, and it started rolling down the hill. I felt so happy to have escaped.”
At first, this dream seemed to be about personal freedom, a theme that resonated with both of us. Emily had been successful in her career in HR and organizational development, while I had focused on technology and innovation. We were both used to working on our own, driven by our personal goals.
But as we looked deeper into the dream, its meaning became clearer. The small, unchained shopping cart stood out as a powerful symbol. In Emily’s home country of the UK, you usually need to insert a coin to release a shopping cart, but this one was free, symbolizing a kind of freedom that was accessible without barriers. This resonated with Emily’s sense of independence—a freedom she valued but also questioned as she continued through life.
Exploring the Dream through Traditional Methods
We first looked at the dream using the Ullman method, a well-known way to analyze dreams in a group setting. This method involves looking at the dream’s details and connecting them to the dreamer’s current life. The Ullman method helped Emily explore the dream’s symbols—like the wedding, the cart, and the act of running away.
“The Ullman method helped me notice details I had missed, like the age of the bride or the shoes I was wearing. But the group’s focus on connecting the dream to my current life, especially in relation to my career and personal independence, felt a bit narrow. The true meaning of the dream was still unclear.”
While the Ullman method provided useful insights, it didn’t fully capture the deeper meaning of the dream. Dreams can reveal creative solutions and help with personal growth. There was something more—something about partnership—that the traditional approach didn’t fully uncover. The method’s structure, focusing on connecting the dream to specific life events, limited our exploration of its deeper, symbolic meaning.
The Decision to Embody the Dream
That’s when we decided to try something different. Instead of just analyzing the dream, we chose to embody it. At The Center for Organizational Dreaming, we use dream embodiment practices, which make our approach more like a creative writing or improv workshop rather than a formal psychological analysis. We wanted to move beyond thinking and experience the dream in a more physical, creative way—a key shift for business innovation and problem-solving.
Emily and I went to a local grocery store parking lot, where she got into a shopping cart, just like in the dream. As I began to push her, the dream’s emotions and symbols came to life. What started as a solo escape became something much more—a shared journey, a partnership.
“When I got in the cart and you started pushing me, it felt exactly like the dream. Then I realized it was you who helped me escape. I realized you were pushing me in the cart, and that’s why I felt so free in the dream.”
As Emily sat in that cart, the experience was transformative. She felt the wind on her face, the slight bump of the cart’s wheels on the pavement, and the strange, exciting mix of freedom and vulnerability. Physically experiencing the dream unlocked emotions and insights that simple analysis couldn’t reach. It was in that moment that Emily realized she wasn’t alone in her escape—she was being supported, safely helped by someone else, yet still free and in control of her direction.
From Solitude to Partnership
This realization wasn’t just about the dream—it was about our lives and our work together. For years, both Emily and I had been moving forward on our own, driven by our own efforts. But this dream, and the act of embodying it, showed us that the freedom and progress we sought didn’t have to come from going it alone. In fact, it showed us that true freedom could be found in collaboration—by moving forward together and supporting each other toward shared goals.
This experience became more than just a personal insight; it became a guiding vision for The Center for Organizational Dreaming. Our organization is the result of people coming together, combining their strengths and experiences to create something new. The dream symbolized this shift from working alone to working in partnership, reflecting how our team collaborates.
The embodied dream also revealed something deeper about Emily's internal struggle. The dream seemed to present a choice: stay in the church, conform, and lose her freedom, or run away alone and keep her independence. But the embodied experience showed a third option—collaboration. This allowed her to stay free while being supported, a new understanding of what it means to be in a relationship, both personally and professionally.
A Case Study in Organizational Dreamwork
This dream serves as a case study in organizational dreamwork—the process we use with our clients. It’s an example of how dreams can reveal deeper truths about our professional lives and help build strong partnerships in organizations. This dream wasn’t just about personal relationships; it was about the evolution of our careers and the creation of our business.
“The embodied dreamwork method brought out insights that traditional dream analysis couldn’t. It got me out of my head and let me experience the dream in a way that was deeply personal and transformative. It really helped to have people around, like they were dream characters. It made the dream come alive in a way I couldn’t have imagined.”
By embodying the dream, we learned firsthand how our individual paths could merge into a shared journey, one that allowed us to stay independent while working together toward a common goal. This insight has become a key part of our work, guiding how we approach dreamwork with organizations—helping teams and leaders find freedom within collaboration.
The embodiment process also highlighted the importance of context in dreamwork. The presence of other people in the parking lot—who didn’t know they were part of our experiment—added a layer of realism and social context that made the experience richer. These people, who were like dream characters, reinforced the dream’s themes of visibility and social judgment, making Emily’s realization even more profound.
Reflections on the Ullman Method and Embodiment
Reflecting on the Ullman method, we see its value in drawing out specific details and linking dreams to current life situations. However, its structured nature can sometimes limit the exploration of more abstract meanings. In contrast, the embodiment approach allowed us to explore the dream more freely and discover insights that weren’t immediately obvious through traditional analysis.
Embodiment wasn’t just about reenacting the dream; it was about immersing ourselves in its emotional and physical reality. This method gave us a deeper understanding of the dream’s significance, revealing aspects of partnership and freedom that might have remained hidden if we had only used intellectual analysis.
Conclusion: The Dream as Organizational Mythology
The dream of the shopping cart has become more than just a personal story; it’s become a guiding vision for The Center for Organizational Dreaming. It represents the power of partnership—the idea that we can achieve more together than we ever could alone. This vision has guided us in our business and serves as a reminder that dreams aren’t just stories we tell ourselves—they can be powerful tools for shaping our professional lives and our organizations.
As we continue to explore and expand the practice of dreamwork within organizations, we invite you to think about how your own dreams might reveal deeper truths about your work, your partnerships, and your potential. Whether you’re a leader, a team member, or someone navigating the complexities of professional life, there is always more to discover.
At The Center for Organizational Dreaming, we are living proof of the power of this work. Our dream has become the mythology of our organization, guiding us as we help others navigate their own journeys of partnership and collaboration.
Connect and Learn More
If you’re interested in learning more about how dreamwork can impact your organization, we’d love to connect. Reach out to us at The Center for Organizational Dreaming, and let’s explore how your dreams can help shape the future of your work and your team. We believe that every dream holds the potential to reveal new pathways, and we’re here to help you unlock those possibilities.