Polarity Mapping - Barry James, Polarity Partnerships
CONTEXT – LEADERS PREPARE PEOPLE FOR THE FUTURE – themselves, the team, and the organization (LINK). Preparing for the future creates a strategic intent. This article is focused on the strategic intent of an organization and an individual. We at Incline Insights, LLC, can help you with both.
PREPARING AN ORGANIZATION – BUSINESS-LEVEL STRATEGY – a strategic intent for an organization is a readily grasped declaration of the course of action that the leadership of a business plans on taking the company over some future time frame. The strategic intent for an organization, needs to be clearly understood by every member of the company so that all staff can be consciously working toward achieving a common future state vision and implementation plan as measured by a specific set of leading and lagging goals and objectives. To sustain successful organizational performance over time an organization needs to develop the capability to align, execute, and renew itself faster than competitors. This capability is supported by the capacity of the organization to learn, apply and create new realities over time.
PREPARING YOURSELF – INDIVIDUAL LIFE PLAN - a strategic intent for an individual (you) is a readily grasped declaration of the course of action that you plan on taking yourself over some future time frame. The strategic intent for you as an individual, needs to be clearly understood by you so that you can be consciously working toward realizing a desired future state vision and implementation plan as measured by a specific set of leading and lagging goals and objectives. To sustain successful individual performance and fulfillment over time you need to develop the capability to align, execute, and renew yourself faster than your competitors. This capability is supported by your individual capacity to learn, apply and create new realities over time.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO WIN? – In 2009, I read, Play to Win!: Choosing Growth Over Fear In Work and Life . The primary focus of this book is to encourage the reader to consider what it means for them to “win” in their life. I utilized this book in some of the Executive MBA courses that I taught over a span of ten years. This book has a lot to offer, but one of the parts in the book regularly made a big impact on those focused on entering the world of an upper-level executive. Below, I will provide an overview of that part of the book. At the end of this article is a link to a Ted Talk that was delivered by the late Clayton Christensen. He wrote a book called, How Will You Measure Your Life? The Ted Talk relates to his book and to success and fulfillment.
PLAY TO WIN! OVERVIEW - CHAPTER 3 RETHINKING SUCCESS - In the late 1970’s, Larry and Hirsch Wilson attended the annual meeting of the International Young Presidents’ Organization (IYPO). The Wilsons were speakers at the conference. For their presentation they used slides, music, and props trying to make a big impression on the audience. After their presentation, the late Dr. Viktor Frankl spoke. Dr. Frankl was a “psychiatrist and author of Man’s Search For Meaning who spent three years in Nazi concentration camps. Dr. Frankl was seventy-six years old at the time and he addressed the IYPO attendees “with simply a blackboard and chalk.”
FAILURE AND SUCCESS - “Frankl drew a horizontal line and at one end of the line he wrote “failure” on the other end he wrote “success.” He said that much of our lives are spent trying to be successful.” Frankl said that, “success is primarily defined by external measures – how much money you make, your rank in the company, and the respect accorded to you by your peers. Being successful seemingly always involves being measured against others.”
FULFILLMENT AND DEPRESSION - "Frankl believed that there is a wholly separate dimension commonly left out of our thinking and planning, but one that is critical to the health and happiness of human beings. He drew a vertical line across the horizontal line and called it the depression-fulfillment line.”
"FULFILLMENT is the deeply felt sense that your life is full, whole, complete – that you have expanded to “fill-up” your potential. Fulfillment is knowing that, if you died tomorrow, your life would have meant something, that it was going in the right direction and you were making a difference. Fulfillment, unlike success, is largely defined by internal measures.”
Frankl believed that, “Fulfillment comes from the drive to discover and live a sense of meaning, from answering the questions Who am I? Why am I here? The larger point he left us with was this: There are people all around us who are in pain. They are in pain because they are putting all their energy into being successful and they are not getting – as a reward – the feelings they want. They don’t know what to do because they believe that the game is solely about success; they don’t realize that success is only part of the equation.”
“You cannot find fulfillment by chasing success, by working harder, by running faster. You find it by stopping to think differently. By asking yourself what it is that you really want. What is your life all about? If you want to thrive, you have t pursue both success and fulfillment. They are separate dimensions; each requires time and energy. Achieving one doesn’t necessarily mean you will achieve the other.”
FULFILLMENT POSSIBILITIES - “Frankl wrote that fulfillment comes from three possibilities: the first is through creativity and meaningful work; the second is through relationships and love; the third is when confronted with unchangeable fate, to be able to change our attitude toward that fate – what is called turning suffering into human triumph.”
Here is the link to Clayton Christian’s Ted Talk - How Will You Measure Your Life? After you watch the video you might consider completing a Polarity Map for both success and fulfillment.
THINKING THROUGH INDIVIDUAL FULFILLMENT is best done with a Life Plan and a Polarity Map for both success and fulfillment. The application of both tools allows you to develop and implement an action plan. If you are interested learning more about how to put these together, contact us at Incline Insights, LLC.
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