Mind the Gap-Possibility vs Reality: 4 As to manage creative tension

Embracing the dichotomy between what may be a bleak current reality against an exciting future possibility can spark the inertia for transformative change. When you’re stepping off the Tube in London, minding the gap is pretty simple- just being aware of the space between the train and the platform and making sure you step from a solid piece of metal to a solid piece of concrete. The dark airy space in between and daunting tracks below are not a very appealing alternative but luckily, they are easy to avoid. Unfortunately, in life the gap between reality and possibility can be far greater than a carefully considered, or even instinctual step. Indeed it should be if we want to achieve great things, inspire change and make the world a better place. With great possibilities in mind, the gap is too wide, the jump maybe too risky. Nevertheless, the process of closing the gap still requires embracing both sides that bookend it, and ultimately it still requires taking a step forward!

So, as part of my thinking, feeling, saying, doing series, this month I'm thinking about how to close this gap between reality and possibility. Whether for you personally, or professionally as an entrepreneur, non profit leader or business owner; managing and closing the gap between possibility and reality is perhaps one of the greatest challenges to overcome and opportunities to embrace.

Peter Senge references this gap in his book as “creative tension”. It has been described to me before as being like a rubber band. My visual takes this elastic band analogy and applies it to a super sized cribbage board (if you haven’t played, just google image cribbage and it’ll make sense)! You hook one end of the band around the current reality point (marker piece) and stretch the band as far as you dare down the massively long board. At that spot you put in another marker piece but before you do, you put a drop of super glue on the bottom. This end piece is going nowhere as that represents your vision. Glued in place, you wrap the band around it. From that point on, only thing that should move is the lower band. Your current reality either gets better and better and bit by bit, you move closer towards the vision which I call core or organic improvement; or at some point from focusing on the possibility the band spring forward multiple pegs in one go.

If this all sounds too conceptual / theoretical, let me ground it in reality. I was at a panel at a Peace & Sport conference on Friday and a gentleman from the State Department asked “what to you see as the primary challenges we must overcome to achieve the vision you have stated”. There were a number of answers but to simplify what seemed like a complicated dilemma - one based exactly upon a tough reality vs incredible possibility- I said: “awareness, access and action”. I spoke to him shortly afterwards and said...of course we need to add alignment too, or we’ll go nowhere!

So, given I’m in be middle of this dilemma on a number of fronts right now, I figured I should put my thoughts to my words: Awareness, Access, Alignment, Action

1) AWARENESS:

Belief in possibility opens up opportunities- it’s a combination of the lens of gratitude (appreciating what we have), catching the positive (looking for good), and having faith that we can create positive change and achieve incredible things (unwavering belief). This belief inspires & energizes people to engage. However, first we have to make them aware of it. Sometimes people don’t even realize there’s a problem or or a need for your vision of a better future. Here’s a relevant quote from David J Schwartz:

"Big thinkers are specialists in creating positive forward-looking, optimistic pictures in their own minds and in the minds of others."

So first, we need to define what the possibilities are and disseminate this vision. We disseminate it to connectors and champions in the most relevant and influential sectors. Not everyone needs to know, just the people you need to achieve it! So what’s the best way of getting to them?

Conversely, reality must be grounded in truth. No effective change can happen without accepting the truth. Truth may provide the ultimate inertia for change and further fuel motivation for change. To know the truth, we need the facts. What’s working, what’s not and why? What can and can’t we do about it and why? Who’s involved and what are their roles? This is the starting point for change. It has to be. We can’t direct change to an incredible vision from the wrong place, the directions just wouldn’t work. We also can’t build an apartment complex on a spongey foundation, at least not one we expect to remain upright over time.

2) ACCESS:

Access is about enabling the necessary change agents to convene around the solution. There may be a lot of agents required. It’s worth looking at a few:

i) Resources: identify the various resources required for each possibility to become a reality. Financial, human (knowledge, skills, experience), technological, facilities, etc.

ii) Team: Invite the A-Team (because they love it when a plan comes together). You need a mix of creatives, strategists & realists with varied experience, skills and connections relevant to the situation. Creative tension in the gap is best capitalized on by differing opinions and approaches that embrace conflict along the way. Different perspectives encourage debate, challenge thinking and the status quo and can result in innovative, impactful solutions. Ultimately, on the work front right now while I have one core team looking at the “whole” they are split into parts- with 1-2 leads on each. Right now each are assessing different possibilities vis a vis our current reality, before we determine which possibilities are primary and which are contingency.

iii) Engage stakeholders: Once we have determined the 2 primary possibilities to focus on, we will convene stakeholders around the team leads, to establish mini teams / task forces. At this stage the stakeholders will be mainly champions from different fields, in a position to influence change within their sectors.

iv) Analyze infrastructure / system: sometime access to an issue can be enabled or limited by the broader infrastructure and system around it. At this stage it’s about identifying what are the enablers (let it happen), catalysts (accelerate it) and limiters (bottlenecks), and understanding how they can be influenced and who needs to be involved to achieve that. Sometimes too many components of broader systems are out of our control and thus despite the quality of our concept, it may not be feasible to implement.

3) ALIGNMENT:

Like with any collaborative change initiative there needs to be alignment in motivation, contribution and value for all, or the creative and productive tension will become anxiety, stress and ultimately resistance. Even though I’m a rugby player, I like the alignment visual using Team crew: for the rowers to achieve the set and swing required keep the boat stable, on course and on pace, everything has to be aligned- with 8 rowers, the coordination of strokes in terms of form, timing & power, is critical to optimize speed and direction; the coxswain is the only one who can see the finish and can tweak course steadily along the way; and ultimately, it not about how hard people work, rather how hard they work together.

So, as we seek to raise awareness and create access to our issue, we need to align the various stakeholders involved around the vision (where we’re trying to get to) the purpose (why we want to get there), their specific contribution (what they are going to do to move it forward) and the value (what benefits they are going to get from it). Then, we can all pool & pull together our resources towards collective action.

4) ACTION:

As we act together towards our vision, the possibility perspective helps transform our reality. If we get it right we move beyond better to best. No doubt we need strength of mind, force of will, resilience & determination along the way as our reality may try to keep pulling us back. This is where we need to tackle both sides of the rubber band. 

On the possibility hand: We look for the good and find the opportunities in as many situations as possible; we keep the band stretched- our vision doesn’t change; we demonstrate positivity to continue attracting team members and stakeholders who share belief in our vision, until we build enough momentum to reach a tipping point.

On the reality hand: we have to manage the here and now. It is, after all, a reality. Looking at it in relation to the possibilities we take the simple three step approach which I took from Michael Tobin's book "Forget Strategy. Get Results." - i) love it (it helps us achieve our possibility = more or better, so treat it with love); ii) leave it (will always hold us back from our possibility- walk away or divest, don't waste energy); iii) change it (has potential but needs to be reduced, refocused and or refueled, worth expending time & energy). This approach came from the world of meditation & yoga and it's a great frame through which to look at the world.

We can also look forward from the current reality towards the possibility and take a pre-Mortem (Heath Brothers) / worst case scenario approach: we assume (conceptually) failure in the future and list all the things that could go wrong. We then create a contingency plan based upon this to minimize the downside. The clarity on the downside scenario can bring stability and piece of mind while we stretch towards the possibility, as it frees up mental bandwidth that otherwise would be fighting for attention around managing the struggle. Because, with a realistic contingency plan in place, if we don’t achieve our possibility, we are at least prepared for an acceptable contingency. Sometimes that can be he difference between something good and nothing at all. While I will always drive towards great, in a critical crunch, I will also take good over nothing. So long as I’ve don’t absolutely everything within my power to achieve the former, I’ll accept the latter, because it's still something to build upon. It’s like playing your absolute best in a sports match and loosing a game. You’re deflated for a period of time, but you still get to play another!

Action, and all the aforementioned attributes it embraces are the essence of exhibiting a “Go-Forward” mindset and approach. Believe & Achieve (possibility), Accept & Improve (reality).

For 2018 I’m writing about things I’m thinking, feeling, saying and doing - and why - whether in the present or from the past. This makes my writing real and relevant (to me at least) as a way to refine and process my thoughts. I hope also it’s an easy, engaging & meaningful resource for you that could even save you some time & energy if you’re in a similar situation. Professionally, I'm working towards achieving long-term sustainable impact through Play Rugby USA & Vita Sports Partners. Personally to be free to be me - my best self. The motivation for all my endeavors is to inspire people to live life with vitality & purpose. Please reach out to learn more or to get involved. 

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@MarkGriffRugby @VitaSportUSA @PlayRugbyUSA

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