Both important benefits and significant costs attend Polystasis. Polystatic processes come alive when we recognize that this recursive process moves quickly. Polystasis is often not amenable to the slow thinking described by Daniel Kahneman (Kahneman, 2013) nor to the reflective practice of Don Schön (1983). Polystasis also comes alive when we apply it to real-life situations:
For example, while my anticipation of losing money might be assuage by a bank loan I have just received, my heart rate and level of anxiety might not return to “normal” if I am anticipating unpredictability in the stock market. A new “normal” is quite fluid–for I continue to appraise, anticipate, adjust, and act (moving through a dancing, monetary landscape).
At the same time, we must be cautious about becoming “trigger-happy.” . . .We must be sure that our anticipations do not lead to actions that do nothing more than justify the anticipation.
The quick engagement of appraisal, anticipation, adjustment, and action is not amenable to slow thinking–not to reflective practice. Our somatic and psychosocial templates are frequently adjusted in ways that might not align with reality. Imaginary lions are a specialty of modern humankind. Polystasis is aligned with noncritical, knee-jerk reactions:
We often use simplistic and outmoded heuristics when shifting our template, changing our baseline, and making predictions in a dynamic environment. We might, for instance, apply a Recency heuristic. Adjustments are the same as the last time we faced this environmental shift. Polystatic adjustments can also become habitual. A heuristic of Habit is applied. Then there is the matter of Primacy. The first action taken when facing a challenge remains with us. We messed up the first time and learned to avoid this situation at all costs.
Given this potential vulnerability of recency, habit, and primacy, we must ask: How do we adjust to a new or changing baseline? Adjustments will operate differently when we face a critical challenge and when motivations (and anxiety) are high. We are inclined to think very fast and be especially noncritical when the stakes are high. Emotions are intense. Furthermore, we might always imagine a threat when we are tired or distracted—we indeed become “trigger-happy.” Anxiety becomes a common experience. Retreat and isolation become common polystatic actions. All of this means that we need to be careful about the assumptions we make and the heuristics we apply under specific conditions of anticipation.
At this point, it is appropriate to introduce the professional coach, who can be of great value in helping their client reflect on their assumptions (Schön, 1983), avoid “knee-jerk” heuristics, and slow down their thinking (Kahneman, 2011). This assistance is particularly important as it focuses on the function of anticipation, which serves as the backbone of the polystatic process.
As I noted in the first essay, human beings live not in the current moment but in the moment that is anticipated in the immediate future. In my writing, I have often suggested that we must “lean into the future” as we navigate our world (e.g. Bergquist and Mura,2011). Otto Scharmer (2009) has similarly suggested that we must “learn into the future.” The three domains of anticipation (behavior, cognition, and emotions) are all available to the influential work of a professional coach as they help their client lean and learn into their immediate future. Both energy and information are brought to the fore through the coaching of anticipation.
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