The polarity of engagement and tolerance is managed when these three templates are applied in an expert manner. The convening issue can be viewed from multiple perspectives which allows for both immediate engagement and tolerance of certain immediate circumstances—as well as longer term and “bigger picture” engagement and tolerance.
Turbulence: exists in the “white water” world where four conditions of change intermingle: rapid change, cyclical change, non – change (stagnation) and chaotic change. A Left Column perspective would focus on Centering in the midst of multiple conditions of change. This perspective primarily concerns a search for and finding the core, orienting place that provides one with balance and direction. The Right Column perspective focuses on Agility in the midst of multiple conditions of change. From this perspective, we must allow for and participate in multiple points of balance and direction in our work and life.
Expertise that addresses this polarity in an appropriate and effective manner (in keeping with the white-water metaphor) concerns anticipation of what is likely to happen around the next bend in the river. Specifically, this means using the centering—and the agility—to think outside of the immediate box and to “lean into the future.” Otto Scharmer (2019) offers a “Theory U” way of thinking about and acting in a world of turbulence. He writes about “learning into the future.” In order to do this anticipatory learning, Scharmer suggests that we must first seek to change the system as it now exists. In this regard, Scharmer is emulating John Dewey’s suggestion that we only understanding something when we give it a kick and observe it’s reaction. However, Scharmer goes further than Dewey. He suggests that we must examine and often transform our own way of thinking in the world—which requires both balance and agility—if this change is to be effective and if we are to learn from this change in preparation for the future.
From the perspective of whitewater navigation, this would mean that we experiment with different ways of engaging our kayak in our current whitewater world. We particularly try out some changes that might make sense in terms of how the river is likely to operate around the next bend. Will there be more rocks, greater drop in elevation, more bends, etc. We take “notes” on how our kayak is behaving in response to changes in our use of the paddle, our way of sitting in the kayak, etc.
Sharmer requires that we not only try out several ways of kayaking, and take notes on these trials, but also explore and embrace new ways of thinking about the kayak and the dynamic way it operates in the river’s turbulence. These new ways are activated by what we have learned from the current trials. The new ways, in turn, influence other changes we might wish to try out before reaching the next bend in the river. Effective learning, in other words, becomes recursive and directed toward (leaning toward) the future.
None of this learning is easy. Furthermore, it is hard to determine which changes to make and how best to reflect on these changes. These processes are particularly challenging to engage when we are still navigating the current white-water world. An expert on white water navigation might join us in the kayak (without tipping it over!). They can help us manage the real-time interplay between balance and agility. It takes a particularly skillful expert who is herself both centered and agile if she is to be of benefit in the management of this dynamic, turbulent polarity. The request should read: “Expert is needed who is willing to travel—on a white-water river—and is willing to learn in real time alongside their client. A proclivity toward leaning into the future is prerequisite.”
