Here’s a favorite poem to reflect on over the weekend by Miguel de Unamuno, the Basque poet and philosopher.  

It speaks to the resilience, discipline, and focus that every Visionmaker must gather in order to thrive in the journey to meaning.  It also instructs us about the cost of self-indulgence and drama that weakens each step that we take and adds weight to our passage from possibility to outcome.

I hope it brings you enjoyment and solace.

Shake off this sadness, and recover your spirit;

sluggish you will never see the wheel of fate

that brushes your heel as it turns by,

the man who wants to live is the man in whom life is abundant.

Now you are only giving food to that final pain

which is slowly winding you in the nets of death

but to live is to work, and the only thing which lasts

is the work; start then, turn to the work.

Throw yourself like a seed as you walk, and into your own field,

don’t turn your face for that would be to turn to death,

and do not let the past weigh down your motion.

Leave what’s alive in the furrow, what’s dead in yourself,

for life does not move in the same way as a group of clouds;

from your work you will be able one day to gather yourself.

 

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.

“The present is the past of the future.” –Stanley M. Davis

Foresight is the name given to the inner journey into the future that Visionmakers make to convert possibilities to outcomes. In order for that journey to be successful, a Visionmaker pays strict attention to managing the beforemath.

Managing the beforemath requires a careful examination of the conditions for success in advance of action occurring. It requires that a Visionmaker penetrate the future through seeing in order to determine the best course of action from the multitude of alternative possibilities that coexist across the span of time.

This mitigates the risk of things going badly due to lack of reflection or poor planning, which results in an unfortunate aftermath. A Visionmaker is committed to managing the beforemath to ensure that the aftermath – actions that convert possibilities to positive outcomes – occurs in the most efficient and effective manner possible.

In order to plan this expedition into the future, Visionmakers envision a bridge or crossing that converts possibilities to outcomes across the span of time. By envisioning this passageway, we use the span of time – short, medium and long-term action steps – to map out the best possible journey into the future. 

Time is seen as a Visionmaking resource that sharpens clarity and foresight, rather than an enemy that burns the bridge beneath our feet. Every Visionmaker is committed to using the gift of time well. With that commitment in mind, Visionmakers attend to beginning the expedition to the future with a keen eye. Poorly envisioning the future can sabotage the aftermath, or the outcome of the journey of heart and meaning.

There are four practices in preparing the beforemath: reflection, articulation, construction of the bridge of foresight and purposeful action.

Reflection is the practice of turning the eyes to the four chambers of the heart - open, full, clear and strong. It is here that the future awaits us. Rilke reminds us that, “The future enters into us, in order to transform itself within us, long before it happens.”  That entry point into us is the heart.  Therefore, it is to the heart that we turn to begin the expedition to the future. 

Reflection is the purposeful act of seeking the heart’s guidance. Our culture mistakes reflection for wasting time because our bias and values favor action.  But action that does not spring from the heart, and from the discipline of envisioning the future through reflection, is often misguided, or ill-considered resulting in mistakes and a high failure rate.

By quieting the mind and journeying inward to a place of stillness, we encounter the future and begin to create the bridge from our present circumstances to the preferred future.

Articulation means ‘to join.’ In Visionmaking, articulation is the act of joining the present and the future through a language bridge called The Bridge of Foresight.

Words carry creative power and every Visionmaker gathers those words that, when uttered, provide a clear picture of the journey from present circumstances to future outcomes. This is often hard work: to speak into being what exists only as an abstraction. But this is the only way to manifest the Bridge of Foresight.

The words that one chooses to envision the bridge must be simple, clear and unambiguous. We speak the Bridge of Foresight into being.

Construction of the Bridge occurs when we can articulate the critical path we will follow from our current circumstances to the future state. The action steps, time line, necessary resources we will require to aid the journey, important people that we will need to involve to help us make the crossing, and other success factors must be clearly identified.

Of course, the short-term passage is always easier to see in detail. Mid and longer term steps are often more generalized descriptions due to the lack of proximity in time that we have to them. The closer we get, the easier it becomes to see the next steps.

Finally, purposeful action is the generative force that comes from the unified intelligences of emotion, intellect and will. These three elements are a single system of action, rather than opposing forces.  They are interdependent and when united in support of a common destination create the thrust necessary to initiate the journey from present to the future. In Visionmaking, these three intelligences are known as The Trinity of Power.

A Visionmaker is a good steward of power.  He or she is always attending to strengthening the combustion system of purposeful action.  Any obstructions that impede the heart-old stories, wounds, grudges, concerns and baggage - are identified, worked through and retired. This is an ongoing discipline to keep the heart fully functioning.

The intellect is always strengthened through curiosity, equanimity and humor.  Curiosity is the vehicle of expansion of the intellect.  It keeps the intellect fully engaged, learning and active, the mental exercise required for health and well-being.  

Equanimity, the ability to meet a disturbance without disturbance, provides the mental and emotional steadiness that is required to enter the unknown territory of the future.

Humor provides the means to keep us flexible, resilient, and keeps things in their proper perspective. If we are too serious about our work, we become overly righteous and extremely tiresome. 

These Visionmaking practices assist in managing the beforemath. They require us to do the hard work of preparing well for the journey of meaning. In this way only are we able to escape the gravity field of the past and present for the expedition to the frontiers of possibility in the future.

Your thoughts and comments about this, and past posts are always welcome. Thank you for reading Visions.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.

Maureen Cleary commented about how easy it is to forget that tasks and relationships must be held in equal value for action to be sustainable.  Maureen is right.  This is one of the most common points of breakdown at work and at home and can threaten the viability of a Visionmaker’s journey of meaning.

It is all too common for leaders to forget that action is a function of relationship.

When relationships are strong, and people understand what is required of them for success, tasks flow smoothly and efficiently.  However, when relationships are undeveloped, confused, or strained, there are usually problems getting things done.

Conversely, when we over-focus on relationships and defer responsibility for tasks, momentum falters and productivity declines. This results in frustration and the loss of the fire of enterprise. Mature leadership requires prudent management of both tasks and relationships, recognizing when the conditions of the journey requires attention to one or the other.

In the beginning is everything, goes the old proverb, and it applies to tasks and relationships as well. Preparing for action is the best approach to ensuring relationships are strong enough to sustain the flow of tasks over time.

One common mistake that Visionmakers can make is taking a blind leap into action out of a misguided desire to accomplish something quickly. This seldom results in a positive outcome, especially if more than three people are involved in a project. Many of the conflict resolutions that I have been called into help sort out have resulted from such practices. People need to understand goals and objectives, roles and responsibilities, behavioral guidelines, decision-making protocols, and other such expectations so that they can conduct their work from a common base of assumptions …prior to the commencement of activity.

Similarly, an environment of low-accountability and a too cozy atmosphere breeds complacency, lethargy and claustrophobia. Such an atmosphere will eventually result in conflict with those who have performance expectations of the team, or who may find themselves growing frustrated that so little is being accomplished in so much time.

The balance of task and relationship is the responsibility –and art-form–of every Visionmaker. It ensures the sustainability of the expedition from Possibility to Outcome.

In my next post, I will be exploring the difficult conditions that strong relationships help Visionmakers meet and overcome, conditions that threaten every journey of meaning. As always, your thoughts and experiences are welcome and make the extraordinary conversation about Visionmaking richer.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.

The teen-age years might just be the most difficult time to figure out where you are headed with your life.  It sure was for me. An indifferent student, my dream of playing professional hockey was shattered when I turned sixteen.  It was then that I figured out what everyone else seemed to know already:  I just wasn’t good enough to get there.

Like most kids in Canada, hockey was an obsession.  I played in elite minor hockey leagues, first in Ontario, then in Quebec, and I was passionate about the game.  That I was a step slower and couldn’t break an egg with my shot did not interfere with my hopes. I relied on strong defensive play, and aggressiveness, and managed to earn a place on some of the best teams in my city.

Then, one day, I got it. I saw what everyone else saw. It was like a bubble popping. I continued to play until I was eighteen, but by that time, the most talented of my teammates were already in junior hockey programs that fed the NHL.

Now what?

Long walks followed- a couple of years of long walks- lost in thought. I would walk for hours but always found myself drawn to a spot beneath the Galipeault Bridge that connected the western shore of the island of Montreal and Ile Perrot. The Grand Trunk Railway built that bridge, sometime in the late 1800’s.

Here I would sit and look into the darkness that shrouded my future.  In those moments when I wasn’t completely bummed out, I began to notice the bridge itself, how it was constructed, and the arches that drew the eye across the water to the far shore.  It was hypnotic.  At the time, I was unaware that I journeyed daily to sit before a powerful metaphor for my dilemma… and my future. The bridge, a symbol of “transition and connection,” provided a visual representation of my inner search.   

Bridging differences was a talent I had.  I had always been “a bridge-walker” between different groups of people and was able to see the common ground that existed in seemingly disparate positions.  I sought out different people from backgrounds that were unfamiliar to me.  I loved living in the midst of two cultures-French and English-and felt enriched by that intermingling.  Eventually, I was able to see that I had other aspirations beyond hockey, and pursued a university education in Communication Studies, which included cross-cultural communications.

It has taken me 35 years to understand what I was seeing as I looked at that bridge on the shoreline of Lac St. Louis. That image has haunted me- working on my subconscious mind until the day I made the connection to Visionmaking. The Bridge of Foresight, from current circumstances to future outcomes, had its genesis under the Galipeault Bridge.

It is so important to probe the gifts of Destiny- fleeting images, dream fragments, stirrings of the heart- that signal we are encountering an artifact of the future.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.

Since the beginning of the New Year, we have been outlining the practices that Visionmakers employ to envision the future. By applying these practices, we generate a preferred future rather than simply accepting the one we are dealt by circumstances and the status quo.

This post examines The Field of Outcomes. The Field of Outcomes stands opposite The Field of Possibility. It is a Visionmaker’s task to envision a heart-felt journey from Possibility to Outcome, a journey that literally invents the future. This is the work of Visionmaking. It is the discipline of creating a journey of heart and meaning through purposeful acts.

As outlined in previous posts, The Field of Possibility contains all of the creative thoughts, options, ideas and actions that are available to us in order to pursue what is most meaningful in our lives–in work, relationships, community service and personal development.  It is the realm of pure potential.  

The Field of Outcomes contains all of the potential results and repercussions that can occur from those possibilities for action that are being considered. Outcomes concerns the aftermath of our choices. Here we cast our vision forward so that we can determine if our actions carry repercussions that would undermine or damage the sustainability of the journey. It is the place of seeing one’s impact.

The Visionmaker is always responsible for the impact of his or her choices.  That is why possibility must always be measured against impact.  This is a responsible approach to identifying, understanding and mitigating potential risks that could sabotage tasks and relationships. Tasks and relationships must be managed equally for a successful, sustainable and responsible journey. 

Through reflection, a central practice of Visionmaking,  we seek to evaluate and appraise each possible course of action to determine the wisest and best approach to the journey we are about to undertake. Here are some of the mission-critical questions that are examined:

• Which actions best support my heart’s desire and direction?

• Which are most effective and efficient?

• Which actions will likely lead to a positive impact?

• What actions best moves task and relationship forward together?

• What are the actions that carry risks of damaging relationships and the support of others?

• What are the short, middle or long term steps that I need to take for a successful passage from Possibility to Outcome?

• What is the best timing for action to occur?

• What do I need to do before action takes place to ensure that I have prepared myself and others well for the journey from Possibility to Outcome?

 

Through reflection and rigorous questions, Foresight is brought to bear on a journey of heart and meaning. It is Foresight that creates the bridge from Possibility to Insight.

As always, your thoughts, comments and questions are welcome. Thank you for your commitment to explore the discipline of Visionmaking.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.

The excitement that surrounds the coming inauguration of President-elect Obama is beginning to verge on hysteria in some quarters. There appears to be a rising sense that once sworn into office, Barack Obama will turn the world economy around, end war, transform the American healthcare system, end partisan politics, heal racial divisions, and solve unemployment.

Not only that but some people are expecting all of it to happen simultaneously and at once. Yikes! That’s a lot to put on the shoulders of one guy, even if he is the President of the United States.

Of course, solutions will not occur without massive engagement at all levels of society, and around the world. It will also require a willingness to tackle root causes and not just symptoms. President-elect Obama is not Superman, despite what we may project on him. It is dangerous to pin the hopes of the world on one man.

While it is not wrong to welcome the arrival of a visionary leader to the world stage, it is irresponsible to expect that a hero will somehow use his or her super-human powers to save the world. Our problems are far more complex than that. 

To his credit, Mr. Obama has rekindled hope and belief at a time when fear and despair has fuelled a pandemic of hopelessness, not just in the United States, but also around the world. He models the qualities that inspire confidence: a vision for positive change, good judgment, character, ethical decision-making, grace under pressure, and as former Secretary of State, Colin Powell points out, “a world-class temperament.”

He is a family man, a team player, a community activist, and an athlete if you discount bowling. His oratory fills stadiums. He is a leader. While there is much to admire, respect and be hopeful for in the Obama presidency, there is also real danger. The danger is what he represents – the conviction that we can make a difference – will be lost. “Yes We Can!” the campaign slogan that galvanized a nation and enchanted the world is at risk of becoming “Yes He Can!” 

When we pin our hopes on just one man to deliver us from a collective mess, we avoid the personal leadership required to do our part to solve the issues of the day, and set him up to fail.  What the Obama Presidency requires is leadership at all levels of society… with the courage to do things differently.

The recovery that we seek is likely going to take time. I wonder if we have the collective patience to give President-elect Obama the time and ongoing support required for change to happen. Watching someone lead is not personal engagement and involvement. It is passivity that leads to breakdown.

Real engagement is the partnership of the heart, intellect and will in support of a vision for change over time. The President-elect demonstrates that a personal vision can still change the world and that the status quo can be over-turned. He proved this by doing what previously was impossible. Obama has risen to the world’s highest office — despite being too young, inexperienced, untested, black, “Islamic,” urban, and liberal.

Now it is up to us.

But where do we start? Visionary architect, Buckminster Fuller, provides some guidance: “Think of the Queen Mary: the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there’s a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab. It’s a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all… the little individual can be a trim tab.”

The Trim Tab Effect is a strategy for change that can be accomplished by ordinary people like you and me. Here are ten trim-tab strategies to support the President-elect and leaders of democratic governments around the world:

• Vote at local, city, provincial or state levels, as well as nationally. Your vote is your voice. 

• Seek public office. We complain that the talent pool is too thin and choices narrow.  Let’s expand the pool.

• Engage in an ongoing dialogue with your political representatives by email, mail, phone and in person. Support their work. Tell them when you disagree. Let them know what matters most. 

• Keep abreast of the local, regional, national and international issues of the day. Knowledge leads to understanding and activism. 

• Volunteer for initiatives that make a difference to you, your family and community. Too few do too much to keep things going on our behalf.  

• Be creative at work and in the community.  Look for ways to do small things better, more effectively, efficiently, and with less cost. 

• Help your community, neighborhood, street, neighbor. We need to come together to effect positive change. 

• Bridge differences at work and in the community. Find ways to create win-win solutions that resolve conflicts.  Conflict costs billions of dollars every year and reduces productivity. 

• Be healthy.  Reduce health-care expenses and take a load off the health-care system. 

• Define your own vision for positive change in your work, relationships, and community.  A personal vision and a plan to accomplish it can make a world of difference.

On January 20th, President-elect Obama will take the oath of office and commit to delivering on his promises.  On that day, we can make our own commitment to action. That is the mindset of a leader. Leaders invent the future. They are not victimized by it. 

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.

Every journey of meaning depends on a conscious balance between task and relationship. Both must be considered, respected and managed. The sustainability of Visionmaking depends on equal value and attention being paid to each.

Focusing on tasks at the expense of relationships leads to people feeling that they don’t matter, that they are being driven or driven over, and their needs disrespected for the sake of personal ambition and gain. The result is reactivity and mistrust.

When relationships are stewarded and tasks ignored, frustration arises due to lack of progress towards an outcome. As a result, lethargy and inertia threaten the viability of the journey. This also leads to questions of leadership competence and unrest amongst those that are supporting the journey of meaning.

For action to be sustainable, Visionmakers must be equally skilled at managing tasks and relationships. They must understand when people need encouragement, support, guidance and understanding. They also need to recognize when clear focus and direction for forward movement is required.

This ability to discern what is required in crossing from Possibility to Outcome is strengthened by three practices: reflection, observation and dialogue.

Reflection is the practice of turning the eyes to the Four-Chambered Heart, the source of Visionmaking and the seat of guidance. A daily practice of asking for guidance about how best to lead others, what their needs might be, and what is the best course of action through difficult circumstances, help balance our ‘Type A’ impulses.

Observation is the practice of staying close to the action. This allows a Visionmaker to see the conditions and challenges first-hand, and leads to a direct knowledge of what is required to sustain progress. Here, a Visionmaker learns when to accelerate and slow down activity, respecting the varying degrees of difficulty and effort that must be taken into account for the crossing from Possibility to Outcome.

Dialogue is the third means by which a Visionmaker ensures that tasks and relationships are given equal attention. A product of trust and respect, dialogue is an open exploration of what is working and not working on the journey. When people feel free to express their deepest aspirations, needs, ideas and concerns in an environment of mutual support the ability to harness collective wisdom leads to continuous improvement and the sustainability of action.

These three practices support the stewardship of Task and Relationship, critical success factors that ensure a journey of heart and meaning remains viable and robust across the Span of Time.

In my next post, “How We Can,” I will address the coming Inauguration of Barack Obama and the way in which all Visionmakers can support his journey of meaning, one that is fraught with difficulties and challenges.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.

When Visionmakers envision the journey between the Field of Possibility and the Field of Outcomes, they picture a bridge that spans the gap between these two realities. Possibility rests within current circumstances. The Field of Outcomes stands opposite Possibility, at the boundary of the future.  

As outlined in my last post, the Field of Possibility contains all of the creative thoughts, feelings, and actions that are available to everyone and anyone as they pursue a path of heart and meaning. Possibility is limitless, despite what we have been taught by the status quo.

The Field of Outcomes contains all the potential results and repercussions that can occur from the possibilities for action that are being contemplated. This is the place that Visionmakers explore the impact of their plans.

The Bridge of Foresight connects these two fields and enables a Visionmaker to make the crossing from the present to the future through a series of visualized steps. These steps are conducted along the Span of Time, which is used to determine the best possible journey from Possibility to Outcome.

A Visionmaker asks:

 

“What are the short term steps across the Span of Time that I need to take to initiate my crossing?”  

 

These are usually easier to see because they are in close proximity to the present. The time frame involved in visualizing short term steps is usually about 90 days.

Next, he or she asks:

“What mid-term steps do I need to take?”

 

These are a little more difficult, because they cause our vision to search further down the Bridge. Typically, this is a 6-12 month time frame.

Finally, a Visionmaker seeks long-term steps. These steps are often perceived as broad stroke actions because they are at the end of the bridge and cannot be seen in the same detail as short or mid-term action steps. Often, they exist as concepts, rough ideas, and intuitions.

The Bridge of Foresight helps transition Visionmaking from the realm of the imagination, or the inner world, to the outer world, where action can occur. It provides a framework for the crossing from Possibility to Outcome. That journey requires conscious attention to tasks and relationships in order for it to be viable.  My next post will explore these two attentions.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.

The first wheel maker saw a wheel, carried

in his head a wheel, and one day found his

hand shaping a wheel, the first wheel.

                                        –Carl Sandburg

Forsight is the name given to the inner journey that a Visionmaker takes between two fields, the Field of Possibility and the Field of Outcomes. The Field of Possibility contains all possible courses of action available by which a path of heart and meaning might be travelled. The Field of Outcomes contains all the results and repercussions–positive and negative, constructive and destructive–that can occur from the actions being considered.

By envisioning these to fields through reflection, the Visionmaker is able to see the longer-term possibilities, opportunities and consequences of action taken or not taken. Such envisioning is a heart-act. Only when the heart is open can we explore the full range of what is possible without being overwhelmed by opportunities or needing to control what we see to remain in our comfort zone. And only the courage and knowledge gained from the Four-Chambered Heart – which is full, strong, open and clear – enable us to pluck the future from the fingers of chance. The heart is the source of possibility, and chance is a crack in the fabric of the status quo that is opened by Destiny for an act of intent.

The Visionmaker recognizes that every encounter with the Field of Possibility carries with it the potential for dramatic change. This is not something to be taken lightly. Every conception of the self and the world can be dashed in an instant. “Even a thought, even a possibility,” writes philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, “can shatter us and transform us.”

In past times, foresight was seen as a gift of prophecy or divination. This explanation makes foresight seem too special, supernatural and out of the reach of ordinary people like you and me. In Visionmaking, forsight is seen differently. We all have access to foresight, which simply means we all have a vision for a path of heart and meaning and we are taking stock of how to build it through purposeful acts. Foresight requires that we plant one foot firmly in the present moment and one foot in chance. If we’re awake, we can feel chance spark like an electric current as it runs up and down our spines. It stands the hair on end. Alert, agile and openhearted, we must be ready to act at a moment’s notice. 

Foresight initiates the journey of discovery that every Visionmaker’s heart cries out for, the journey into a field of transformative possibilities where we can never be the same again.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.

Once we have entered the Field of Possibility through the practices of respect, sufficiency, openness and fluency, we must be willing to befriend the unknown. In Visionmaking the unknown is the territory that lies beyond our point of view or pattern of seeing. Of course this territory is vast, because our point of view is restricted by the status quo. The status quo is defined as “a state of stasis where there is neither motion nor development, and where there is no hope of change.” It is held in place by conditioning.

From the time we are born, we are told stories of how things are, and from these stories, we learn what to think. Accepting how things are and what to think locks us into a conventional pattern of seeing. Like a virus, that pattern of seeing is passed from person to person, generation to generation. This is called ‘conditioning.’ 

Our stories of how things are uphold the status quo through repetition. The more we repeat them, the more certain we become that we are right to do so. The more we feel that we are right, the more rigid we become in how we think. In this vicious circle, our beliefs are formed and defended. Very few people ever break free of conditioning and see for themselves. Visionmakers have to do this.

In his book, A Separate Reality, anthropologist, Carlos Castaneda speaks to the urgency of breaking the grip of the status quo by dropping what he terms “the internal dialogue”:

“We talk to ourselves incessantly about our world. In fact, we maintain our world with our internal talk. And whenever we finish talking to ourselves about ourselves and our world, the world is always as it should be. We renew it, we rekindle it with life, we uphold it with our internal talk. Not only that, but we also chose our paths as we talk to ourselves. Thus we repeat the same choices over and over until the day we die, because we keep on repeating the same internal talk over and over until the day we die. A warrior is aware of this and strives to stop his internal talk.”

The cycles of our inner dialogue reinforce the status quo. They must be overturned. The more we are in our inner dialogue, the more impervious we become to the territory that awaits us beyond our fixed perspectives. This is the promised land of new possibilities, discoveries, and opportunities. Imprisoned by the vicious circle of inherited beliefs, blind acceptance, self-talk and repetitive choices, it is little wonder that so many of us have become disillusioned, cynical and afraid. The tyranny of current circumstances loom in the collective imagination as insurmountable obstacles.

It takes the heart of a Visionmaker to challenge the status quo and seek Destiny.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved.