Integral Practice as Enquiry
Aside from the knowledge you have in your field, running a company is an ongoing task of checking in, meeting deadlines and planning next moves. Celebrating the fulfilment of targets you set with your team would be optimal, while at the other end of the scale could be an endless routine of reaction to situations you don’t seem to have an influence over. Where do you think you’re placed? Answering the following questions could be enlightening.
Where do you think you’re placed?
Do you have a really clear vision of what you want to achieve for the future?
We are all driven by our aspirations and visions. Are you reaching your full potential or are limited to what you already know or immediate needs? What would happen if you could confidently explore and question its source ... our collective imagination? Can you see where you are headed? What’s it like? Can you communicate this vision to the people who are helping you achieve it? Maybe you did this in a conversation or possibly described it in a document? How inspiring was it? What means did you have to communicate it? The most compelling visions are clear, collaborative and don’t need lengthy explanations. Does yours fit this description?
WHO IS GOING WITH YOU?
Do people share your vision and have they had an opportunity to contribute to it?
Engagement through ownership is the key to achieving our aspirations. Do others have a stake in your goals; have you a stake in theirs? Are you aware how these relationships might interact and what they might provide? Do you have means to build them?
Do you know how you are going to achieve your vision?
Where the collective vision is compelling the processes to get there will emerge through necessity. Are you open to the wealth of experience and talent that lies in your organisation? Do you have the flexibility and agility to respond to new methods? What blocks you way? How do you share challenges and triumphs?
Do you know where to find the skills you need to achieve your goals?
The complex and rapidly changing dynamic of ways and means for doing things today regularly moves solutions beyond local knowledge and capability. How and where do you look to receive input and ideas lying outside of your present field? What are your greatest challenges? Where might you pose them for solutions? Who might have interest in them?
How Will You Get There?
What resources do you have?
Money and time are measurable and must be allocated wisely but what of your human potential? How do you allocate resource for exploring new ideas, taking risks, tapping the knowledge and experience of those around you?
Who is responsible for these resources?
Generally we know who is in charge and who has authority. But what would happen if you could empower everyone with ownership and responsibility for their part in the process? Can you define the limitations and boundaries for this without hand to mouth instruction and supervision? Does everyone know the part they play in a bigger picture?
SUMMARY
The tendency is to work on these things from the bottom questions up. The plans, checks and responses are essential. But without checking in on the destination from time to time, both personally and in particular with our fellow travellers, the sense of where we are, where we are going and how are doing it can dissipate. We don’t see the wood for the trees and all the scenery becomes familiar and uninspiring.
All companies occasionally need to get heads up and look beyond their present position, see what’s happening around them and adjust their direction. For those companies who can maintain overall visions that are clear and compelling there will be the greatest chance of success.
"Information is not knowledge"
Start your experience by contacting David Kayrouz
Dial 09 445 2799 or Text 027 200 2026