Neither power nor interpersonal skills are of primary importance to the Model IV source of guidance and information. This type of leadership depends on the skills of those working in an organization to generate and integrate information. The roles played by those doing institutional research and strategic planning are critical. Computer-based tools that enable the synthesis of abundant sources and types of information are required. Most importantly, the four key questions regarding Essence that I noted before have to be addressed based on the valid information available—and information must come from multiple sources using multiple measures.
It is in the fourth model that the Lens of Essence is being fully deployed. Valid and useful learning takes place because it is based on the collection of information from at least three sources using at least three measurement tools. The sources might come from inside one’s organization as well as outside. Information might be gathered both from those creating a product or providing a service and from those using the product or receiving the service. At least three sources are used because at least two of the three are likely to provide similar information, while the third source (even if yielding differing information) can further enrich the insights to be gained.
Similarly, the triangulation of methods is likely to produce not only valid information (produced from two of the methods) but also richly diverse insights (coming from use of at least one of the methods). These methods might include collecting existing documents (e.g. sales records, profit and loss statements), interviews, direct observation of the work being done, and/or questionnaires (e.g. consumer satisfaction survey, employee morale inventory). A second-level method might also be engaged. This would be observation (and questionnaire-based ratings) of initial reactions to information received via the other methods and from the diverse sources.
Triangular structures are intended to provide stability when building a bridge or constructing a roof. Similarly, the triangulation of sources and methods provides stability and credibility when constructing a lighthouse to guide a ship/organization and its captain/leaders when coming to its designated berth (desired outcome) midst ambiguity (currents, tides and fog). It is with the information from multiple sources using multiple methods that members of an organization are best able to engage in the process of collective learning regarding its own performance in the past and potential performance in the future.
Conclusions
There is inevitably a sense of Awe – and a touch of mystery–when we approach that which is the Essence of a system in which we are operating. We know intuitively that we have identified, discovered (perhaps even helped to invent) something that is very special. This is the “elixir” or distillation of everything that is unique and of value in this system. This is the loadstone for the establishment of a viable polystatic process.
All of this must be kept in mind when we encounter, work and live in a world that is turbulent and filled with contradictions. We must hold tightly to our chest (and heart) that which is of the Essence—for it can be easily lost or abandoned on a stormy (whitewater) sea with colliding (contradictory) currents and swirling winds. I turn to these challenging VUCA-Plus conditions of turbulence and contradiction in the next (final) essay in this series.
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