As a social phenomenon, holistic management might best be described as a “situational grouping” of people who are trying to adapt to enormous changes — on the land, in society, and in the economics of their businesses and communities — and through these changes want to maintain their values, what is supremely important to them in life. The term situational grouping is from Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock (1970), in which he describes the many changes that challenge our ability to adapt. People are forming situational groups to support each other and share learning about the changes they are going through, and how they are managing them. The situational grouping around holistic management has at least two characteristics. • It is coming from the edges, rather than from the centers of institutional power and intellectual authority — from people who treat received opinion much like a cow treats a barbed wire fence. As long as she has enough to eat, she stays away. Otherwise, she looks for a