Crystallizing a Shared Vision
A Vision represents many facets - how do we bring this forth?
A Vision is a story waiting to be told having essential qualities to be as simple as needed to execute its purpose or be complex in its growth with multiple staging and storyboards factored into fulfilling the vision.
A vision can be multigenerational, having to stretch each time with new fresh eyes to see clearly the path. A vision once SEEN is a potential ‘a diamond in the rough’ waiting to become polished.
Vision is an aspect of human consciousness or thought where its initial creation generates excitement or not in someone or in a group.
Its our excitement behind a vision overtime that learns to mature and grow. When a vision can move from a big picture to the smaller details these sequences create the momentum and means to move forward.
Vision and momentum is very often fuelled by a deep love and truth get by others. There's inner inspiration, firm belief, and values from all the people involved, producing ambition in each person as a sense of purpose or calling connected to the vision.
It’s helpful to see Visions as the ‘Big Picture for planning’ and within every big picture exists the valued potentials of ‘smaller required details’ all acting together to tell its story.
Much like separate elevators that move in a building, an active vision vertically moves from big picture to small details in a consistent reliable set of pathways. A vision has to be felt in its seeing and being able to speak from the vision when sharing with others. Note a reflective vision doesn’t necessarily focus a vision but rather bounces off and is elliptical (i.e. attention and intention moves around the vision as an observer).
Visions have more potential when they are treated and managed being a living system of parts to a larger whole capable of complementing each other. Like pieces to a puzzle or like an electrical ball that radiates electric sparks outward to a larger field,
Visions are capable to have memory and function in every part that creates the whole.
Introducing a Shared Vision as a Holon
When a shared vision is seen through the lens of an organization it becomes a function of its parts to act as a whole. Companies will inspire, create new compatibility, act relevant in the spirit of a vision, this opens the potential to operate with what is called a holon.
A holon is something that organizes and conducts simultaneously as a whole and a part. Holons are invisible organizers that act within a system that can evolve as self organizing structures composed of other holons (parts/whole).
Holons can be identified as a part that represents a whole for example different departments within a company. Individuals within each department are like fractals in nature, this essentially is a holon.
Learning to see holons in a vision can impact positive changes to how a company sees itself as a whole. The dynamics of the traditional vertical hierarchy of top down / bottom up processing can be utilized in new ways to organize functions and synchronize optimal productivity and flow from a vision to see outside its confides learning to flourish.
Holons operate within a vision, whether people are aware of them or not, due to their hybrid nature with company activities.
Understanding a company's vision in how it can unfold as ‘valued’ - parts or ‘combined’ roles - is modelling a company's approach to grow much like a living system.
(For example, think of this as someone in a company who might have many functions and roles with the organization).
Visions in a optimistic generative holon assists the many values functioning in the umbrella of a shared vision as having more pathways enriching a company as a living systems (US), whether it’s simple functions (daily tasks) to complex (plans and operations).
Holons involve vision to strengthen their perspective to exist simultaneously with seeing how to navigate uncertainty, complexity, volatility, and ambiguity in the larger business landscape. Holon as visions conduct as self-contained wholes - like seeds to a larger tree - moving from ‘whole’ in relation or accordance to sub-ordinate ‘dependent parts’ (parts with high enough commitment).
Holons and shared visions bring out more ways to develop needed reference experience to hold contrastive analysis where growth, crisis, or transition requiring a vision portions of time to self regulate then mobilize back to the collective. This is particularly noticeable when dealing with blocks, interference and transforming obstacles that pertain to the risk attached to a vision, its multiple outcomes and pay offs.
Holons extend its resources when they can have a degree of autonomy. Very structured company visions both organize the sharing of control from one or more higher authorities while smaller parts being co-interdependent can have their own locus of control within the larger vision. This is the ability to honeycomb efforts as individuals and share clear purpose as your vision in a larger network
Our social economy and its abundance derives from interacting as holons, not hierarchies.
We can see this in social groups that form holons demonstrate a definable we-ness mentality and group performance around best or wisest compassion choices to guide any social grouping. From We-ness a diverse set of individuals can come together and immobilize acting as one.
Within a shared vision this relates to its main functions forming a nexus point or collective agency that flocks together with the present lead or leaders of a vision. Visions of the future will require such considerations with a changing business landscape and how complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity, and potential volatility such as transition or other unstable conditions that presents itself.
Elements (attributes) that make up a Vision
Visions that stimulate people come out of the creative tensions that people experience in their day to day life.
Creative tensions are the push and pull in life and being human we respond through creativity. When a vision forms, a creative process begins to happen.
Most visions start when people experience enough dissatisfaction in there environment, technological limit, or society functions and start to tip the scales shifting the tide of dissatisfaction into a recognized problem. Enough dissatisfaction begins to ask the questions in how dissatisfaction can change into something beneficial.
Even an evolutionary vision has this emergent property.
It’s from here a vision develops beyond its present confines into something larger with a cause and purpose behind it.
Sustainability is another factor wanted but its not guaranteed. The vision has to have access to resources and management, otherwise what is the point to do all that work?
When these ingredients come into agreement, the ability to harness focus, passion and imagination become the energy to make the vision possible.
When the pieces to manifest a vision are present, a vision moves to an appropriate endeavour waiting to emerge in the world - (holisitc). Here are three aspects to a holistic vision - Physiology / Mindset / Role(s)
A. Physiology
To develop a vision one needs to open to how their deepest desire moves through them. Holding and leading a vision requires a definite physical presence to converge commitment as an activity of spirit (higher functions) or a vision field that extends and transmits beyond just an individual.
A vision physiologically is a sacred inner process that develops vision as a projection out there into the world around us.
Well-formed Visions require a comfortable poised stance that aims the intentions as a healthy / wealthy projection (not transference).
This can be having feet grounded, body vertical aligned and head neck should orientated to a 15% degree upward angle much like sitting in a movie theatre ready to watch a movie.
It’s from our physiology we begin to ground, steer, and place our attention with what generates vision to incorporate and come together.
This coming together is best served in our ability to posture and postulate a vision with the end in mind. This allows within one to 'having seen - the results’ the visionary intends to already ‘have happened’, connecting the vision’s process in which it will take and move toward.
Every visionary traverses and walks the visions pathway as a series of given landscapes in which the visionary assembles his or her vision to become actualized in its preferred time frame or life cycle.
A vision without this is usually a dream without a destination and someone dreaming without a realist process to fulfill the vision presently.
How many have experienced that sense of wandering through a companies vision not really sure how pieces come together?
B. Mindset
When a vision is being implemented, the dream inside the vision moves through different stages. This can be experienced first in who dreams the vision with an attitude as being open and let the vision release with having an anything goes and dare to dream stage, answering the question what do we want? What is the pay off we seek? This is the realm of the dreamer, the vital part of why be the conduit of this vision.
There can be others who dream a similar vision. Here one needs to dream and understand their competitive reality.
These changes become the filters or restrictions in what makes the vision possible to co-exist or even cooperate in a competitive market.
Good ideas usually don’t operate as a solo creation rather many possibilities are embedded in the world as emergent properties and this can arrive simultaneously with other visions with the same idea and dream.
Ask yourself as a visionary, What does your vision look like with aims reaching FAR out into the longer term future?
Who are those that can benefit from the vision, as customers, stakeholders and other businesses and networks?
Its from here we ask
- How can we make this happen?
- What are the steps? Is there a time frame to consider?
- Who are the active players already able to be involved?
Taking a deep breath, ask some of these questions.
Its in this stage the realist replaces the dreamer to enable the vision to come to life.
The realist is the practical common sense process in planning HOW something is going to happen and working with creative tensions that best serve ‘to include’, bringing a vision into operation moving a plan into actions and actions into movement - daily tasks or objectives.
Each Vision is unique and so its imperative we self educate and teach how to direct a bigger than life vision with how the world is willing to receive the vision and the filters that communicate your vision with others.
Another stage that works its way in, is how Vision fits into the greater ecology of business and how things are progressive and accepted.
A shard vision has to balance its sense of desire where people act together, bringing a diverse set of intelligences, resources and capabilities that ignite the vision through the roles they serve. How does this ignite, and how does this stay lit?
Another place to shed light is the story of the vision and the depth its carries that surfaces as a vision wanting to tell its story.
This is where the skill and art in storyboarding comes into play.
Storyboard greatly enhances the ability to tell a vision’s story and bring it out considering its resources, talent pool, working platform, timelines, and challenges ahead. Storyboarding frames and sequences, each step in the story through 3 key areas that filter downward as;
- The main pivotal events or key evidences that act as a hub or big picture measurable(s).
- Key actions and steps from creation, assembly, distribution, to further sequences capable to learn and receive precious feedback and redundancy cycles where you can what and how to refine.
- Next filter refines to smaller movements into day to day functions that act as the cohesive balancing agent for the vision to become functional and move through its thresholds and breakthroughs.
Storyboarding is active envisioning and serves best to have an optimist attitude in each step to fulfill the vision.
Another quality of mind is the ability to navigate a larger process with competence, its activities, and any surfacing discrepancies, holding the visions mandate with what will grow the vision. One has to be able to consider what it requires to sponsor the vision and the energy to move through and behind its process in growth, transitions and crisis stages to ensure a vision actualizes.
Vision are most definitely journeys that access new resources best when resources are succinct as a state of learning to cultivate with a centre, prioritizing as a moving target. Be open and invite what your storyboard can foster from different levels of awareness a vision will act on, for eg. there can be micro, macro, and meta levels to be aware of.
Can your storyboard deepen the commitment to being connected and hold the space so your vision will unfold?
C. Role
Roles and knowing the roles well will roll out the vision. Role are the people who commit to the vision and take an active participation with developing a vision. Vision have two main time distinctions and management process within a role.
Short term visions are organized from the return of energy (investment) that is the team of people for a specific tasks or project step.
Its range of time could be 1 to 5 years. For example this could someone going through University, including all the people that gets that someone to acquire creditable higher education. Short term turn around can also be a company coming into the right conditions and maturity for the market to take notice and engage as a valued proven commodity and/or service. This can include eventual purchase if conditions and opportunity presents itself.
Long term visions are different entities and have many cycles factored into them. Their range of time can span anything from 10 to 20 to 50 years that factor in success transitions for intention and ideas to germinate into another person after someone else leaves.
Long term returns are found in the building of large projects such as majestic structures or churches during the renaissance period, or the great pyramids of ancient Egypt, or today’s hydroelectric dams to megastructure projects that will be conceived in the future.
People are the main agents that move a vision from short to long term and so in the daily operations of a vision various designed roles act as catalysts to make a vision come to life. These are the important players, how they serve, being instrumental to the vision as a living system.
These roles are the leaders, decision makers, and directors, speciality roles such as the design creators, innovators stakeholders, financial advisors, accountants, and marketing communicators, administration, or investor relations who introduce the vision as a company and its people management into a cohesive working business platform.
Each member of a Vision Shares the Energy as Collateral Exchange
When the ability to develop vision becomes more shared, the essence of a vision’s working system becomes an interconnecting set of parts who mutually influence one another. Visions are functionally enhanced if its seen as a living systems, as the dynamics and interactions carries their own source of energy.
This is were the traditional hierarchy can be more of an inertia or ‘cog in the wheel’ when group of people agree to work (a living system) to achieve a vision. When the vision is complex yet fluid, Interactions can be seen as both energy and real-time in flow management not relying in fixed mechanical ways.
Shared visions are able to refine (polish) their prospecting when they take on an organizing principle of a holon, as holons have the function to offer self reliant units of measure that can be developed to posses the right mixture of independence and ability to address contingencies far quicker than a central control hierarchy.
Our own body for example addresses free radicals by sending antibodies from our immune system on the level of the radical, instead of waiting for central control to assignment tasks.
In a shared vision the same applies in day to day operations with smaller teams being speciality teams that can have similar people taking on different roles as the energy of the larger system.
This allows the architect to act and simplify allowing vision to move from magnitude, scale as simple to complexity addressing how to learn how challenges can become a storyboard back to competitive / cooperative adaptive advantage.
Visions work best when focused energy is in all of its activities and can energy manage a vision while steering any in-course correction from early signal processes where people ambitions may change in relations to the available resources or any market inconsistencies and a company needs to respond as a group.
When we want to polish our vision, learning to see vision not as static rather a dynamic living system capable to harness new creativity quickly and timely. As both individuals and an organization sees the end goal of the vision from the framework of energy flows... attention goes... to shapes quality management and the best working environment.
Visions are made to reach out into the future and you the visionary (seer) leads to unfold it.
When the ecology and conditions of a vision come to life as a shared vision, it allows us to be the light on the path of the vision where we can be either the candle that burns or the mirror that reflects in how a vision comes in prosperity. In turn your vision can enhance OR you the Seer can learn to envision with fresh new eyes...
Vision Questions and Checklist for review
- Vision as a story to tell
- Does your vision have a story. — If so what is it?
- How many people understand the vision and are willing to support the beginning story?
- Does your vision tap into being inspired and excited about having the vision?
- Does your vision enable a big picture small detail relationship to explain and give it life?
- Is it helpful to see it as a dynamic living system to fulfill the vision - If so what does that look, sound, and feel like?
2. Shared vison as a Holon
- Is your vision best developed as many parts to a whole?
- How is your vision comparable to a holon?
- How does this potentate a vision to come alive and draw forth values, resources, etc?
- What are parts inside that are 110% committed to be a conduit and self regulate the vision?
- How can vision come together as a collective effort such as an orchestra of many parts?
- What is the right mixture of trust and control in your vision for the parts / whole to be optimal in its conduct and serve the vision?
3. Creative tensions and dissatisfaction
- What is the background creative tensions that bring your vision to life?
- Why is the main dissatisfaction that fuels your vision to emerge?
- How is your vision larger than life to meet the dissatisfaction you want to change?
- How does all the parts come into agreement and become a shared vision?
4a. Attributes to a vision - physiology
- What is your physiology in formulating the vision?
- Posture and breath flow
- Feet grounded
- Body alignment
- Head, neck, shoulder 15% angle
- Gestures
2. How are you a conduit for the vision to grow?
4b. Attributes to a vision - mindset
- What is your mindset in formulating the vision?
- Accessing your dreamer, what do you want to achieve what is the pay off?
- Can you envision the end in mind and envision back to the present?
- How far does your vision reach into the future?
- Anyone else have this vision too how do you include them?
- What are the benefits of your vision? Who are the people, customers, investors, stakeholders, community, other networks?
- Engaging the realist, how will your vision come into development?
- How does the realist bring deep desire to the surface as the best playing field?
- What is your storyboard?
- Main pivotal events
- Key actions and steps
- Day to Day movements tasks
10. Is there optimism in your vision scale it from 1-10 where does it need to be?
4c. Attributes to a vision - role(s)
- What are the Roles that see the vision through?
Example of roles are leadership, decision makers (management], directors, design creators, innovators, financial advisors, accountants, marketing communications, investor relations,
2. Is there short term roles that take priority?
3. Is there long term roles to see the vision through?
4. How does do all of these roles (parts) make the vision (whole) happen?
5. Shared Vision as Co-lateral energy exchange
- How do the parts of your vision become mutually interconnected parts?
- In what way is your vision a living system?
- How does these parts act as self reliant entities within the larger vision?
- How does your Vision as a living system be able to in-course correct?
- How does your vision stimulate creativity and collective measure of control?
- How does quality management step in?
- What is your best working environment?
6. Vision promisaries toward prosperity
- How are your grateful to have this vision?
- How do you offer it your best version of your self?
- How are you both the candle and mirror when it comes to being the light within having the vision?
