How to See & Sove Any Personal-Professional Problem: The Four Quadrants Approach

Here’s an amazingly complete and quick way to analyze any life situation to arrive at the most effective and clear solution (i.e., at home, at school, at work, or on the street)!

Let’s say you are struggling at school with procrastination and your grades are starting to suffer.

Or what if you have a class this semester where your relationship with the professor or your classmates is getting in the way of your learning a subject that means a lot to you?

What you need is an easy, but deeply holistic way to take a look at your situation and also effectively come up with a variety of possibilities to transform it for the better.

Enter the four quadrants of reality.

This idea comes from America’s most prolific and pre-eminent living philosopher, Ken Wilber.

There are six principles we can use to discern the parts of the challenges we face each day, and what we can do to effectively overcome them.

#1 Wilber brilliantly asserts that there are four aspects or components to any present-moment experience you are having.

Or, you can conceptualize the Now as a space, or territory.? Wilber actually calls these parts of the Present “quadrants.”

Some quadrants or internal, while others are external.

Some are materials, and there are some quadrants or aspects of Reality that are more ephemeral, mental or even spiritual.

So, most likely, any challenge or problem you have in the present moment is the result of one or more its features malfunctioning, or there is something you are not aware of or seriously addressing.

#2 The first quadrant is labeled the “I” quadrant. In my own lingo, I call this “the Mind.”

This is YOUR mind, which is an internal and personal area:??

This territory contains your drives, beliefs, and thoughts; the different aspects of your personality, and your likes & dislikes; your multiple intelligences, and your learning styles, etc.??

Your emotional states of being are part of the “I” quadrant.

The unconscious mind, such as those shadowy parts of your Self you would like to repress and keep hidden from the rest of the world also are part of this quadrant of your present reality.

So coming back to the personal problem of procrastination…

What are the positive or negative beliefs or thoughts that you may or may not be aware of that are contributing to it?

Or perhaps it could be a matter that you are not using your natural preferred styles of learning to help you learn with excitement, efficiency or effectiveness.

If your relationship with a classmate or friend is getting in the way of you getting the most out of a class, you should be looking at any conscious or unexamined biases and expectations you are projecting onto him or her.

#3? The second quadrant of Wilber’s framework also involves an internal part of yourself.??

???????He calls this “IT,” but I prefer to call this “body-brain.”

???????We can consider this a material feature of Self, and the preeminent philosopher considers “IT” to be external, though personal.

???????In this space of your present moment reality, all of the biological, neurological, and physiological components of Self.??

Consider all that is material and concrete about you:? cells, organs, different systems of the body, and all the ways they function or can slip into dysfunction and affect or infect the way you experience your present moment reality.

How often is your state of Flow & productivity the result of fatigue and stress?? It could even be the result of the biological consequences of Anxiety or Depression that you don’t see and haven’t seriously addressed.

And that’s why it’s so important to think about the fundamentals of sleep, nutrition, daily movement, etc.

We all know that going to bed late, binging on sugar and caffeine, lack of sunlight, and exercise can really screw up our body-brains and co-create a whole host of problems that can also affect & infect the way we perform and also engage with others every day.

But how many of us really take what we know to be true to heart, and take steps to create keystone habits that lead to optimal wellbeing for ourselves and others?

Now we go into the forces and spaces that are primarily external.

#4? Think about all the relationships you have ever had or are currently in.

???????Wilber names this quadrant “WE.”? I usually label this space “Relationships & Culture.”

??????“WE” is a collective and primarily internal part of the Present.

??????Then also contemplate all the different kinds of Discourses, and forms of Culture that you and those you engage with are a part of.??

??????Think about it: Any partnership is a kind of culture, and so does any team, organization, institution, country or society.

There are a variety of (un)spoken expectations, rules, procedures, and forms of Language, at work at any given time…whether you are alone or in a group.

And of course, you develop particular identities and specific roles you play as a result of the cultural forces and spaces you find yourself in at any given moment by yourself or with other people.

As a teacher, I have noticed that many classroom confusion or conflicts students have with each other or have with me (and yes, I might have with them!) arise because we have not taken into consideration a number of social and cultural forces that are at work in the heat of the moment.

For example, when I was teaching in a school with a 100% Somali student population, there were a ton of misunderstandings that led to many explosive moments as a result of cultures clashing.

In fact, there were several different cultures at work that conspired to create chaos, confusion, and the destruction of any hope for teachable moments.

You see, these students came from refugee families that had escaped the civil war and famine in Somalia.??

Even in the U.S., their present moment experiences at school every day were affected by expectations found in Somalie culture, but also the dire hand-to-mouth existence of spending years in makeshift refugee camps in Africa before coming to Minnesota.

I should also mention that these families were also a part of the Islamic culture and that it also played a major role in what we did together every day at school.

Then, I also had to take a serious look at the cultures I came from as a Caucasian, middle-class American male.??

What assumptions was I making that were contributing to creating moments of well-being and transformation for myself and my students, or possibly preventing them?

And have you ever found yourself wondering why–try as you might–you can’t get yourself to do something or perform at your best?

To be honest, that’s been happening to me a lot lately, too.

It was only until I started asking myself if I was taking on goals that were really not mine at all, and merely doing them for the sake of social approval and how deeply the fear of not being “enough” in the eyes of those around me, that have been able to start finding what I truly need or want to do.

As a result, I am now in a much better place to find my sense of real purpose and mission, more able to serve others from a state of authenticity and real Agape….

….I am getting my mojo and grind back.

#5? In addition, we also inhabit the territory of “environments & systems.”

??????Wilber refers to this space of Reality as “Its.”

?????As you know, there are a myriad of systems that make up the environment and the natural world.

?????Without some form of organization at work in Nature–from the quark to flora and fauna–there would be chaos that would bring all Life to a standstill at best.

?????But also take a moment to ponder that human beings and many other forms of life co-create what some call “social worlds”, and of course social systems and environments.

??????For example, many creatures come together and create hierarchies and other ways to effectively organize individually and collectively so that everyone can acquire harmony and well-being.

Also, any system or environment in your social world(s) contains certain artifacts it creates in the form of Art, furniture, technology, and tools that you are most likely to use at any given time.

Back to procrastination…

Authors like James Clear explicitly state that our behaviors are influenced by our environments, and instead of setting goals we should create habits and systems.

That is because he says we don’t really rise to the challenge of goals so much as we fall to the level of the benchmarks and systems we have in place (or not).

Like many people, I have realized I have had to really become mindful of the environment(s) I am trying to make or break habits within.

That is why, as someone who tries to follow a low-carb keto-esque fueling system, I do not allow there to be cakes, candies, chips, and even more “healthy” types of carbohydrates in the house.

I have to go out and put in the time and energy to do that…and I am generally too lazy to do that most times I’m at home!?

Clear suggests if you are procrastinating, set up your environment for success:? set the gym bag or your textbooks in a place you’ll see it when you get out of bed. Get out of your dorm or comfort zones and go to the library and make a habit of going there at certain times at least 3-5 days or nights a week…

… Actually, that’s what I did for many, many years!

?I attribute my Summa Cum Laude success in my Bachelor’s and Master's degree programs to creating habits that are linked to specific systems I created or optimal environments I chose to always go to.

If you are a teacher or a student in a classroom, consider the environments and systems you are in and co-creating together.

If there are problems like a lack of attention or motivation, look at how a lack of sunlight or airflow might be contributing to the problem.

And yes…we can also take a serious look at the Education system or the physical and social environments on our campuses.??

When I was growing up, to be honest, people told me I would make a great teacher.

But as a result of some rather traumatic experiences on the playground and in the classroom, I hated the suggestion of ever becoming an educator.

“Why would I want to be a part of something so oppressive?!” I would hiss and retort back at the suggestion.

And another brutally honest confession:? I agree with famed psychologists like Paul Watslawick, who said that underneath all the myriad ways the Education system tries to “motivate” and even coerce students into learning, there is always an inescapable and “open secret” we all know but never want to accept or admit…

You cannot make someone learn.? Never.

And over my 23 years of being in the institution of Education–in three different cultures around the world– most of the reasons classrooms, schools, and educational systems are rife with dysfunction is because we never talk about that open secret or honestly address it.

And so why would we NOT have problems in the classroom or at the school level?

In my experience, both as a lifelong learner and a teacher to students of all ages and backgrounds, it is absolutely crucial to come to terms with the fact that educational environments, institutions, and societies at large fail to see or accept a fundamental reality within our systems of Education...

… that you cannot make someone learn any more than you can make someone love.

And the more you and I obscure, resist, or try to get beyond that reality we face every day, the more we destroy the potential for learning and transformation.

#6? It’s not original, but this is something I have to keep reminding myself all the time.

You cannot fix what you are not first aware and accepting of, or willing to take action!

Here’s an analogy that I use to help me remember this essential understanding.

Mechanics who are not intimately aware and knowledgable about every nut and bolt on a car, and how different parts are organized into systems that help it function, will never be able figure out–let alone fix–the problems they are confronted with each and every day.

An unmindful, incompetent mechanic presented with a car that won’t start, and foolishly think putting new windshield wipers solves the problem when it’s really a matter of something in transmission.

Or imagine how ridiculous it would be for a mechanic to take the advice of a customer who insists that painting the car will get the car to go when what’s needed is gas in the gas tank?

And yet…

All too often that is EXACTLY what we individually and collectively do at items when presented with challenges and obstacles in our lives.

In fact, many problems MUST involve holistic and inclusive problem-solving strategies that take into consideration more than one aspect or quadrant or our present-moment realities every day if we hope to overcome them.

Understand:??

At any given moment…

..regardless of circumstances and the challenges and opportunities within them…

We have a responsibility to see what lies within the Now.

And we can best do that by using Ken Wilber’s Four Quandrants.

So, whenever I am dealing with a problem

–and I am really serious about fixing or transforming the situation–

I will get out a sheet of paper and draw something like you see in the photo above.

I will then label each quadrant: “I”, “IT”, “WE”, and “ITS.”

I will then do a brain dump and really do a deep dive into Reality and everything and everyone that resides in it.

I often come up with aspects of the problem that I had not considered.

And I almost always see that I have been focusing on only one or two quadrants, at the expense of ignoring others that are most likely sabotaging success.

When I have completed this activity, it becomes a bit easier to figure out the opportunities I have to respond to what Life is throwing at me, as well as the methods and means to act.

I hope you have found this profound and potent set of principles and practices helpful.

What challenges, obstacles or problems are you currently facing??

Are there particular aspects you have not considered or ignored?

?Let me know in the comments!

Brandon

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I empower university students to reach their true potential by mastering their mindset and academic English communication skills while learning to navigate the culture of American academia.

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