Four Functions Served by the Essential Lenses
At least four functions might be identified that can be served by a lens that is intended to detect and highlight that which is Essential. These four functions are convergence, magnification, divergence and extension.
Convergence: What is important and deserving of our attention?
Often accompanied by a filter, a lens can provide clearer vision for us when we are driving a car at night or in a foggy condition. Similarly, the VUCA-Plus world in which we operate is often quite hazy and dimly lit. A lens is required that highlights the key features in the fog and blocks out that which is distracting. The fog itself is distracting when we are driving, whereas other cars on the road deserve our attention.
It is hard to make polystatic predictions when driving under foggy conditions or navigating in a hazy and dimly lit VUCA-Plus world. We encounter the haze of ambiguity, volatility and uncertainty, along with the dim lighting of complexity, shifting scenes of turbulence, and confusing sounds of contradiction. Living under conditions of Polystasis, we must be able to predict and adjust. We need to focus when seeking to make accurate predictions. When we navigate these difficult conditions with clarity regarding what is Essential then we are less likely to be blinded or confused. We can look past the fog to discover what needs our attention. We can distinguish between the sound and the noise. We can attend to our valid feelings and set aside our fears of imagined lions. We can attend to that which is important to our ongoing predictions and our ultimate achievement of specific goals.
A major challenge resides in the adjustment of our lens to focus on Essentials. Sometimes, the important matters are obvious. We need only set up policies and procedures that require our system to direct attention to priorities. For many years this meant some variation on “Management by Objectives.” More recently, this has often meant creating an organization that is mission-driven or driven by values or purposes (e.g. Pascarella and Frohman, 1989; Warren, 1995; Wall, Sobol and Solum, 1999). Attention in such organizations often shifts from a bottom-line mentality to a set of outcomes that enable the organization to sustain itself over a long period of time (Estes, 1996). Elsewhere, I have suggested that this challenge can be met by appreciating that which is distinctive and a source of strength in an organization (Bergquist, 2003). I am joined in offering this perspective on Essential matters by those who have championed Appreciative Inquiry (Srivastava, Cooperrider, et. al, 1990; Cooperrider and Whitney, 2005).
