LIFE LEADERSHIP DOMAINS

MOOD MANAGERS
– Facing Facts
– Exploring Possibilities
– Embracing Uncertainty
– Seeking Growth

REALITY CREATORS
– Emotioning
– Presencing
– Relating
– Languaging

MOVIE MAKERS
– Inner Producer
– Inner Director
– Inner Scriptwriter
– Inner Actor

ENERGY PRODUCERS
– Inside-Out Energy
– Outside-In Energy
– Top-Down Energy
– Bottom-Up Energy

Learn how to move on from mistakes and the constraints that blind us to the possibility of living in a better future.

The Power of Assessments

The assertions we bring from our past and the assessments we make in each present moment come from a background of beliefs that shape the way we think, feel and act. These assessments influence the moods we experience when we have to face facts and make a change. But how do we explore possibilities that will help us become our true self?

When we feel stuck, we are accepting that there is no possibility of change. Yet we always have the option of reflecting and making a new choice. Our culture and experience have imposed a set of beliefs on us that we accept as facts, which seem to be impossible to shift from our minds. The first stage of change requires a shift in our Way of Being ( our language, mood and body state). Doing it consciously requires an understanding of what it means to be in control of our human condition.

We then know how we are constrained by our biology (nervous system) and our history (culture and experience). But we are not constrained by our ability to dream, imagine and create new life stories for ourselves.

So if we can imagine something using the resources of our ontology, then we can look for ways of giving our desires and values life in the outside world. We are exploring possibilities and performance, not unlike actors do when rehearsed before the film is shot. See MOVIE MAKERS.

Creating “Possibility Space” for creativity and adaptation

We need to imagine a place where new possibilities can be created all the time. Active language and metaphor can be used to produce categories of meaning that open up new perspectives and ways of sense-making that result in conversations that actively inquiring and solutions focused. We need to be aware of the constraints that cultural ‘memes’ and new perspectives impose on our attempts to explore possibilities.

There are functional and perceptual constraints on the actions we feel able to take, not to mention the limitations we place on ourselves with our beliefs, habits, and assumptions. When the normal flow of life breaks down we have to question our existing Way of Being to enhance the possibility of change. It’s the worry or concern that raises our awareness and forces us to observe our Way of Being more closely to see what isn’t working for us. Having faced the fact that a specific change is needed opens up the mind to consider what alternatives are possible and we are willing to commit to making the change happen.

Context is all-important. There is a strong “coupling” the Way of Being you adopt and the environment that is shaping your worldview. It takes curiosity and courage to allow new frames of reference to enter your mind. Metaphors can provide a useful vehicle for exploring new landscapes and spaces for possibility.

Based on work by Arthur Battram ‘Navigating Complexity‘.

The diagram above highlights how we live in a world of metaphor, influenced by cultural norms and personal experiences. Nevertheless, we have the creative capacity to produce new patterns of meaning that contain new ideas and opportunities to reframe our view of the world. The key is our ability to seek growth in creative conversations.

“Relinquish your attachment to the known, step into the unknown, and you will step into the field of possibilities.” Deepak Chopra

To get into the “depths” of possibility we have to overcome what is constraining us. Conversations with ourselves and others can lead us to adopt the hero’s journey way of thinking, where we discover what is stopping us when we take action, or we take the more limited route that our existing memes and beliefs define for us. To get an idea of what options we have, we need to revisit our assessments to explore our assumptions and perceptions. We learn how to use the language of metaphor to explore a landscape of abstract and random thoughts in an attempt to give them meaning. If this interests you then explore the work of  James Lawley and Penny Tompkinson on Symbolic Modelling and Clean Language.

Our mind becomes generative when we understand how to use language to construct an alternative reality. For example, a vision when shared and grounded in custom and practice, even when created from figments of our imagination, can change the world we inhabit. A marriage contract is defined in legal language. The status of marriage exists when it is declared in language. “I do”.  It’s a social construction. Marriage is also symbolic, as we give it a specific cultural meaning. It doesn’t mean the same as a “civil partnership”, as new distinctions require new words.

We use language to define a marriage agreement and its context, so we can settle our differences and express our feelings in that context. We can also shatter an agreement by using language that tries to redefine the context. It’s our language that enables us to create an infinite number of ideas that are produced from ‘possibility space’. We can use it to explore and generate new realities, as in the case of gay marriage. The institution of marriage provides predictability in a domain of human existence that had previously resulted in social disorder.

Using Active Language

In his book ‘The Intelligence Advantage’, Michael McMaster shows how we use language to describe a reality that we can all share. Yet when we inquire and act on our experience our imagination kicks in to help us generate new worlds by negotiating commitments and producing declarations we can relate to and act on.

What’s more, we need multiple perspectives to make sense of complex situations. Incorporating diverse perspectives enables us to see new patterns showing similarities and differences. This allows us to declare a new perspective based on different ways of looking at things. To explore complex patterns we have to get clarity on the “system in focus”.

By getting a handle on “WHAT” we are giving our attention to, we can then challenge our observations and conclusions in conversations. We can then ask “SO WHAT”. This leads us in to exploring new distinctions with new meaning. This process is meaningless until we try out our new thinking in the world “out there”. The feedback then creates more “NOW WHAT” questions and the cycle is then repeated.

Model courtesy of Glenda Eoyang at the Human Dynamics Systems Institute

When viewed through the lens of the Complexity Sciences, language can be seen as a ‘complex evolving system’, where new order emerges from disorder. For example. my view of what’s possible is only one small part of an infinite number of possibilities that I am initially unaware of but could be brought into my thinking if I something or someone trigger an insight. But we remain stuck in our current worldview if we cannot share our “possibility space” with others. Herein lies the power of Open Space Technology, Future Search, and World Cafe initiatives.

What’s important here is that we avoid negative language, as this limits the emergence of new possibilities. We then become more conscious of what we are sensing, observing, and avoid getting locked into habitual thinking. For this to happen, we also have to look for innovative ways to connect up ideas.

We might consider an ideal or more sustainable solution to avoid a quick fix or question the constraints on our thinking by producing a “well-formed” outcome. But none of this is possible unless we are prepared to listen and understand from different perspectives.

Breaking down deterministic structures

The Cognitive Scientist Humberto Maturana observed, that for behaviour to change we must shift the patterns of connections in our nervous system. The Quantum Scientist, David Bohm, identified the way thoughts create fixed structures which create the idea of objects being fixed items. Yet we know from Quantum Physics that everything is in constant flux. This is why reference is made to languaging, relating, emotioning and presencing. They are active processes, capable of impacting on each other in continuous dynamic change.

One of the best vehicles for creating possibility space is dialogue. This is because dialogue can generate new information and create the ambiguity to stimulate new thoughts and feelings. Complexity Theory suggests that being at the “Edge of Chaos” is the equivalent of being in a “Zone of Possibility” where complex relationships do not allow predictability.

It is this ‘zone of complexity’ that makes change possible. It’s where living things exist. When complexity reaches a critical point it and it can no longer sustain a Complex Adaptive System it collapses into chaos. It is only when living things are dead that they will exist in a state of order, stability and no change.

The living system model outlined in the diagram above can be found in language, brains, living bodies, organisations, societies, ecosystems, etc. It provides a useful metaphor for showing that in order to wonder if something is possible we have to embrace uncertainty to find new territory for a change. Being open to what the future could bring into being, allows us to explore the infinite possibilities that are open to us. All we have to do to access this “space” is engage ourselves, and others, in a future-orientated conversation about possibilities. Champion of Open Space Technology, Harrison Owen adopted what he called a synectic approach, where you can “let anybody talk to anybody about anything.” He observed that “the circle is fundamental to open human communication and increases the capacity to explore a possibility.” Argument produces an either/or solution with winners and losers. Dialogue connects ideas to find a both/and solution where everyone feels listened to, their views are respected and seen as equally valid.

Being open to what the future brings into being in the present moment, allows us to declare the infinite possibilities that are open to us. All we have to do to access this “space” is engage ourselves, and others, in a future-orientated conversation about possibilities. Champion of Open Space Technology, Harrison Owen adopted what he called a synectic approach, where you can “let anybody talk to anybody about anything.” He observed that “the circle is fundamental to open human communication and increases the capacity to explore a possibility.” Argument produces an either/or solution with winners and losers. Dialogue, on the other hand, connects ideas to find a both/and solution where everyone feels listened to, their views are respected and seen as equally valid.

To explore what’s possible it’s necessary to break out of the notion that thinking is not a collection of single thoughts. It is a dynamic, undivided, holistic and complex process where the pattern of connections is transparent or hidden from our awareness. If we see ourselves as constantly unfolding and our ideas are constantly changing, then our mind space is capable of using language to generate new realities by making new distinctions.

As the diagram below explains, if we make assessments made on past experience we put limits on our thinking. We must be curious and imagine a more desirable future. By combining thoughts from the past and an expected future, we can make sense of what is possible for us to change in the present moment. For example, when we have ambition we can stop resenting the past and work at actions tat will generate a new future.

Based on the work of Michael McMaster from ‘The Intelligence Advantage’.

If you want to create a better future for yourself then possibilities have to be generated now and integrated into the assessments you are making in this moment to bring them into being in the future. There is no need to analyse your past assertions, just reach a point of acceptance that they are not working for you anymore.

Presumably, you have made a conscious choice to engage with the learning opportunity presented by this website. Consider for a moment then . . .

• Why have you chosen to expand your learning around leadership?
• Why did you decide to do it at this time?
• How will it improve your value or worth to an employer or client?
• How might it change what you are capable of achieving in the future?

Looking beyond the facts

Leadership can be required in circumstances perceived to be unacceptable or poor performing. For example, where your life or business could be at this moment. Acting in a leadership context can occur spontaneously, and you must be able to express yourself authentically to adapt to and help transform what is happening. It’s as if the context uses you, as you find yourself in the flow of an experience that totally consumes you. You feel compelled to take action and believe you can make a difference.

You can be a leader and exercise leadership effectively anywhere and at any time when a situation requires what you can offer. The situation can benefit from your unique insight or worldview that enables you to reframe the issue and step in, giving you the mandate to produce, direct, script and act to create a new life movie.

There will always be factors beyond your control of course. There will be failures too, but you will still feel responsible for the way you are living your life to deal with these failures. If you see yourself in some way as a contributor to the problem you face, then you can always find the resources inside you to make a positive contribution. It’s not easy to be aware of and then let go of your limiting beliefs.

Accepting the language of possibility

Spend a minute or two and reflect on this prayer.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”  – Reinhold Niebuhr

• What are you hearing in these words that ring true for you from past experience?
• What pictures, people, and places did you imagine and bring to mind of being your best self?
• What new actions might these thoughts generate that you feel you could commit to?

Notice how these words can actually bring “worlds of possibility” to mind. This is because you’re able to give personal meaning to those words. Not only do they describe something important to you, they can lead you to important choice points when you have to decide if you are going to do something completely different, something that can be even more satisfying (or potentially disastrous) than what is happening now. After all, change is always going to come with risk and fear of the unknown.

• What kind of world would you live in if you had a choice?
• How and in what sense did your words, emoti0ns, mood and body state make the choice?
• When have you praised yourself instead of blaming others for your choices?
• Assessing a mood for life

When we are in a mood of ambition we are open to accepting that it is possible to make a difference and bring about change, just by taking small actions to move you towards your goal. A positive, confident mood generates a “can do” attitude and drives out any feelings of resignation or stuckness.

When we suffer we look for peace, When we feel stuck we need optimism. When fearful we need to wonder about the thoughts that are generating the anxiety. When we feel lost we need to open ourselves to new thinking and make new distinctions.

The paradoxical nature of life ensures that there is always an alternative way of interpreting the same statements. Where we place the tone and meaning depends on our mood state. One method for creating multiple perspectives is by using “AND not BUT”. For example, there are different emotional, physical or linguistic responses when saying “Sophia is a lovely person and sometimes fails to attend meetings” compared with “Sophia is a lovely person but sometimes fails to attend meetings”. When using “but”, the impression following it stays on your mind most. It’s as if Sophia cannot be lovely and fail to attend meetings. What is said before the “but” is discounted. Use of the word “and” allows all statements to be considered equally. People who are in a mood of resignation use the word “but” as they act as reasons not to change.

Using the mind-body connection

A Life Leader requires a deeper and more strongly felt intention (formed by their “inner producer”) to be passionate about their vision. There is energy, optimism, and a desire to play the leading role (being rehearsed by their “inner actor”).  Ambition too can be found in fluent speech and a more upright and strong body posture. Note the posture of someone who sees little point in trying to move on because they believe nothing will really change. Try it for yourself in front of a mirror and notice how you feel down when you look down.

There is considerable research now demonstrating that mind and body do not work separately. Somatic practices demonstrate the power of the body’s movement, posture and felt senses to influence the production of chemicals throughout the body to generate positive or negative moods and expectations. By relaxing mind and body, perhaps using meditation, hypnosis or heart rhythm control we can generate physiological changes in the body. They can change the structural connections in our nervous system, produce healing chemicals and the release of morphine to reduce pain.

Being a Life Leader gives you the power over your body to influence the quality of your own life and that of the people around you. Your ontology can have an impact on other people’s Way of Being and the results they can then achieve. By raising your awareness of the subtle sensations and changes that take place in through thoughts, feelings and actions, it is possible to see how the smallest of changes in behaviour can have transformational effects.

Identify some things that you might want to change that requires you to admit the possibility that more than one thing can be true at the same time. For example:

• When can a rational act be considered irrational?
• When can doing the right thing be wrong?
• How can two people see the same event differently?

References

Coaching to the Human Soul by Alan Sieler.  Newfield Australia 2003

The Intelligence Advantage by Michael McMaster. Butterworth-Heinemann 1996

Adaptive Action by Glenda Eoyang & Royce Holladay. Stanford 2013

Navigating Complexity by Arthur Battram.  Industrial Society 1996

Metaphors in Mind by James Derek Lawley and Penny Lee Tompkins. Developing Company 2000