These three forces shape how events unfold, what results you get.
Emotion: An irrational force of “primordial violence, hatred, and enmity.” In our work, we extend this to include the justifiably strange, illogical, emotional experience of being alive in your organization.
Study this deeply by asking people to tell you stories about what they are experiencing. “Tell me about a time…?” “What happened when…?”
Chance: A non-rational force, not at all related to human intent. It’s what the situation inherently offers. “The play of chance and probability.” I also think of nature, entropy, and anything unknowable in advance.
Study this deeply, building an appreciation and skill for balancing chances, by guiding teams to make predictions about how their plans will unfold and then reflect on what they get wrong.
Reason: A rationale force, wherein we attempt to wrestle life to meet our desires. We make plans and try to bring them about, often thwarted by the other two forces.
Study this deeply by making pictures with others, rehearsing intentions, setting clear policy around freedoms and constraints, and holding discussions designed to challenge what we think we understand. What question desperately needs to be asked?
In our work, we tend to guide a more productive entanglement of the emotional force with the reasoned one to cause action to match intent. Once those two align, we can aim to cultivate a better appreciation of chance.
It’s not the only way, but it’s our way.
Ben and David
StrategyTeaming.com
P.S. If you want to follow along with what I’m studying, pick up a copy of Derek M.C. Yuen’s book, Deciphering Sun Tzu. He’s a Hong Kong based scholar whose work is worth studying if you value your strategic ability.
P.P.S. If you’d like to improve your strategic thinking quickly, we created a “book in a box” with tons of tactics for practicing strategy. We cover the gamut of emotion, chance, and reason! Learn more here.