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As long as a man [woman] stands in his [her] own way, everything seems to be in his [her] way. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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The meaty bit:

The dynamic and relatively powerful Yellow paradigm is growing fast as this (indicative only) diagram above shows relative power of each Value Station. It seems prudent then to know something of the emerging Yellows - our future leaders - or you, the emerging leader. In this paradigm, we now have to move beyond just knowledge and rules and action and ideals to find a working blend - to prudent pragmatism. (p.s: Consider more on Prudence too, the first Virtue <-- here)

As a Systems Engineer teaching undergrads to 'think systems', I was amazed at how often this was thought by the students to be a straight forward process. I.e. Do this then that put them together and bingo... a working 'system' is produced. Unfortunately, systems get complicated fast, almost exponentially it seems as they are developed and as they grow in size (side note: read on Pathologies of Bureaucracies). While we try to create systematic broad methodologies, ITIL, PMBoK, ISO9000, etc to assist system building or control, the problem remains - the escalating complexity becomes too much for our brain to hold or for rules to cater to anomalies. We need a different approach; an approach of approaching systems. Confusing? Yeah, well, read on...

For a time, I taught Advanced Project Management in a well-respected industry organization. Now I 'get' the big picture style views required by PMs (I was one once) but I was required to teach 'process' as being the DESIRED outcome - I was subtly silenced when I tried to include a broader & more human perspective :-0 The systems perspective was, it seems, to come from experience [i.e. make lots of mistakes] - it wasn't encouraged, taught, or investigated. I was saddened for what those PMs had yet to go through thinking that they finally had the answers to good management (well they did but a softer leadership approach is actually needed for projects which are complex physical and human systems). Just a minor change in perspective would help them USE the processes holistically and grow themselves and their teams, remembering that they 'manage' a whole project. Programme Managers recognize the need for talented PMs but seem to miss out on how to get it (other that natural talent and experience). PMs need the broad, flexible, soft-process, AND a more-so people-oriented mentality that understands positive and negative feedback in large systems and can gauge it intuitively (or perhaps call it a meta-conscious manner). It seems the 'training environment' is saying to Don't think and act like a Project Manager, but if you do, you are successful and we'll employ/promote you!!! Be good little rule-followers, but don't forget people [except you have to find the latter part out for yourself].

the will [somewhat more, though some differences with a pure psych perspective come out in the discussion on the Paradigm Biases]

Another perspective:

Consider Will as a drive with decision & intent to actually Do. The outcome-oriented VS are on the Expressive side of the Dependency line. Velliety, meaning not enough drive &/or intent to actually implement some desire is more akin to dreaming - not outcome-oriented, and Submissive cultures, i.e. below the Dependency line. Now, I have really upset someone - I can hear the screams! :-o

Intellect:

This is covered in the horizontal axis of the PCVJ - improving rational capacity - the capacity to think about things and question and be logical. This stars as internal 'knowing', however limited [we don't know what we don't know], to a believing that we know, to later actually knowing based on empirical evidence [mainly from outside sources e.g. education] to understanding which tempers the knowledge through experience & insight/awareness.

Intellect is the container of cognitive knowledge. Note that it is Blue, denoting the propensity for knowledge & the resulting 'rules of' science, life, religion, etc in an effort to simplify the complex. I'd caution anyone favouring this arena ONLY to consider the comments about cognition & conation [above]. Stubbornness would evolve considerably from the absolutist aspects of Blue - the 'righteous' - the ONE way [read MY way] & the silo effect it creates. There are the potential benefits of tenaciousness, clear thinking, good knowledge collection & analysis... perhaps not a broad 'understanding' outside of one's circle. If rules of broadening their perspective are supplied [& accepted] and motivation invoked, this arena can brought into holistic thinking. Procrastination & closed-mindedness is a big killer here.

Emotions:

This is difficult to put into a group (company/nation) perspective just yet... but consider the energy some firms [Virgin? musical bands?] have! What is the energy? Emotion [heart] driving the physical [hand]! Perhaps we could look at it this way: Companies DO have A feeling about them... e.g. some places you like to work, some not so.

So for now, individuals:

Our feelings [well, I mean emotions] will tell us if we satisfying our deepest needs [which, beyond staying alive - the nature argument?, are emotional attachments - the nurture argument?] or not.

IF we are in touch with those emotions (this is partly where our values come from; feelings supply some too - remembering: feeling is also concomitant with conditioning ) we can make sure that we do satisfy them. From a psychologist's view, this could be considered the values of your Inner Child. Again, we're on the horizontal axis - now looking at the considerate conduct part or empathic behaviour (considering the feelings of others & ourselves). Knowing your inner child [which drives most people] can liberate the adult in us, giving us more personal choice over our life, rather that which conditions us from childhood. Moving UP the vertical axis - freedom.

This [the Inner Child] is a comfort zone for me now but it took quite a few decades. I was just a nerd/geek/headspace for decades - the head only gets you so far; ditto feelings. See dysfunction & moral blindness. Next: so where does Will fit?

Will:

Let's dig some more:

Where does Will fit in? It's the energy & drive to gets things done... Your energy has limits; use it wisely; prioritize. It comes from motivation - known or not. Your belief systems count as to HOW you use your Will, so here we are looking at the positive outcome-orientation aspect of Will - hence Orange [or Yellow] mindsets. It could as easily be used dysfunctionally if not balancing the heart-head involvement.

Take a reviewing glance at the VERTICAL axis [autonomy & freedom] on the PCVJ, then read on...

Note also, that this corner, in the above diagram, is Orange, so independent & somewhat egoistic or self-centred [whoa, slow down, that's not necessarily bad or good]. Let's just look at what Will IS.

Will, to me, is partly the driving force of effort [based on the Intellectual not Emotional choice-determiner hopefully] to satisfy those deep feelings; your motivating force about, or intending towards, some 'aim' or outcome. From Middle English, 'willen' means TO INTEND TO. Suggestions of focus, determination, energy, persistence, and belief meld here. What you visualize and believe in, you attract. INTENTION is important!

Consider: as people, we FEEL deeply, we then CONSIDER that in depth & breadth & DECIDE on an action, we DRIVE to DO to that end. Emotion > Thinking > Will to Action = Holistic [authentic] living [as preferred to dysfunctional living, we wish!].

Recall the earlier comments on conation [intention, choosing, proaction are components]: thence comes experiential knowledge [from the DOing]. Will is directly related to your CHOICES, hence freedom/s [or freedom of choice, if you like]. This is very much the comfort domain of Orange & Yellow [well, compared to the other Value Stations] . Conation will show more in the Paradigm Biases [coming up].

From history: Will [determination, resolve] is sometimes considered one of the Knightly virtues.

Another aside: This is a VERY GOOD REASON to focus on POSITIVE goals - if you focus [become intent] on what you DON'T want, that's what you get!!! [remember the psychology of affect - you can be attached to negative aspects]. So, learn to reframe what you desire in positive terms. See The DaWei Laws or THE 7 IDIOMS

So, one needs a goal, a vision, a direction, a preferred destination... before WILL is effected. I.e. I intend to... [a goal] invokes your Will. To me, Will would seem to peak at different times - as one is emerging from a previous paradigm. That is, when one has built enough emotional 'energy' or self-actualization potential to 'choose' the next step - the coming together of emotion & thinking (see Stages of Change).

Yet another aside: There appears to be a huge short-term benefit [in this society, the West] in being dysfunctional in certain ways: SHAME - the feeling of not BEING good enough, and GUILT - the feeling of not DOING good enough, are large drivers of some successful people. Success in this case measured in position, power, looks, money, etc. A can of worms here!!! Another story...

A discussion on motivation [elsewhere here] may help to understand Will better.

note to self: publish here - correlations PCVJ with motivation theories related to WILL - CORE MOTIVATION: McLelland [Need for Achievement]; Miner [Role Motivation Theory]; Vroom [Expectancy Theory]; Adams [Equity Theory]. GOALS & INTENTIONS: Ajzen [Theory of Planned Behaviour]; Locke & Latham [Goal Setting Theory]. PERFORMANCE: Weiner [Attribution Theory]. SELF-EFFICACY & EXPERTISE: Bandura [Social cognitive Theory]; & again Vroom [Expectancy Theory]. see Locke: Path to Satisfaction

Elements of Will:

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A thought:

"One of courage, with audacity, will die. One of courage, but gentle, spares death. From these two kinds of courage arise harm and benefit." Tao Te Ching

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Was is Henry Ford that said,

'If you think you can or you think you can't, either way you are right.'

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We're still working on this bit (especially applying the Value Stations): So this para might be a bit misleading but then again may help develop a view of this dynamic. You may now recognize that Oranges can be seen as pushy, striving, and 'willful' Reds can be fierce and angry-looking, hence Emotive, sometimes seemingly without restraint. The third corner, the Intellectual, scientific, rule-based understanding, putting-things-in-boxes aspect is very Blue. All aspects are necessary & emerge at different times in differing degrees. When we operate with them together and simultaneously, we have reached that integrative level - in the flow - of Yellow [& includes the experience of...].

Methinks Will comes from deep drivers, not necessarily overt thinking or feeling... from an aspect of confidence or faith/belief in oneself to make your dream/vision/goal happen. We INTEND and then act towards our aim (even if we don't know how to articulate it at the time). What is your vision [you DO have one for your life, don't you?] and are you getting there? Which way are you intending to go? Intention is a compass for behaviour [you don't have to follow it, and you won't without WILL].

Are you who you want to be? Are you where you want to be?

If not, why not? (Tom Cruise)

In the HTC diagram, see the balance of the Intellect, Emotions, and Will as the essence of Holism. You don't see Green there - the Green station may miss out on some 'Will' for action to actually create their ideal but is the precursor to holism, being to the right of the Holism Divide. Their Will is aimed at pleasing everyone, harmony, consensus, an 'ideal'... not the outcomes that enact the ideal which they subscribe to.

Will is embodied in the particular Value Station's values so may be expressed differently at different stages of growth.

Yellow: Yellow's 'Will' energizes them to use creativity to get pragmatic solutions to Green's [& other VS] ideals (see the Synergy Star for solution finding). Yellow is the balancing paradigm [consider the BESS approach to ethical dilemmas].

Jumping first to the middle position (Holistic Thinking), the mindset of Yellow is the melding of previous value stations, previous ways of 'being' and of one's experience. Melding, as you are now capable of combining and navigating ALL of value stations as the need calls. I say 'call' because it may be very intuitive for you - knowing without knowing, being in the space between breaths, doing just 'because', navigating through other people's 'fog' to get them through without them running onto rocks. You are the chameleon of emotions, thinking style, and behaviours and you probably have a lot of fun as the 'world' has a different meaning now. You have the holistic ethics of the big, BIG, picture where you find a 'right' (of several 'rights'), or several 'right' solution/s for the situation - pragmatic NOW, authentic NOW, action-oriented (or not) NOW. You are juggling, balancing, changing dynamics, entertaining, guiding, and empowering - intuitively. This is integration of the self (remembering, whether self is an individual or a firm, etc - though not many firms yet, I suspect).

But I'm ahead of myself... back to basics: Let look at...

The Three Dimensions of Paradigm Bias

just starting on this again after some interlude... I write as I go so I may just have notes-for-self [NFS] in here at times if I don't get it finished [or at least enough to get you by]! You can always email me if it's important to you to get my knowledge/perspective/understanding/Black Hat view.

Will-Intellect:

I call this a bias towards hard [as in unfeeling] drive. The intensity & energy of Will with the pure cognitive abilities can give very focussed thinking. It's also a way to burn out your head - ask me - experiential knowledge :-o

Keep stressors in Eustress where poss [know your limits]

Will-Emotion:

NFS: Conative part: vision [dreaming, future-orientation, purpose], motivation

As above, keep stressors in Eustress where poss. Negative behaviours of this bias are, not surprisingly, quite irrational.

Intellect-Emotion:

In this bias, IF knowledge [I, Blue] & feelings [E, Red] come together with an informed decision THAT SATISFIES DEEP EMOTIONS, then commitment will emerge. If not, then inner conflict will reign with no likely [beneficial or wise] outcome. This model is saying that to be wise, we have to balance our head & heart. Of course, to get a good decision into action we need motivation & the actual DECISION [from Will] to act [invoke the hand].

From the balancing act, comes holism. From my personal experience, it seems the ORDER to follow in pursuing HOLISM, is HEART, HEAD, HAND, in balance.

Note the influencers of intuition & personal experience that create this bias. I see intuition as a right-brained communication from our mind. It can be uninformed & inexperienced and not worth much to getting to holism. Or, it can be a way that our parallel-processing brain tries to communicate to the outer world of existence. IF you are fortunate and have crosslinked your brain, you can articulate your 'intuition. for others, this is a journey in itself. WHAT do you believe that you know. Another discussion about conation.

until another time - so much to say...MG

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4Hs: Head, Heart, Hand, Holistic:

Let's look more at my different slant to add to the above Holistic Thinking Chart, which I call the 4 Hs that I used while teaching 'systems' to get a message through to students. IT students tended to want to stay in the head + action side (hard systems) and forget the heart (people) side of systems (even though included in 'soft' systems aspect). So they liked hardware and/or software, but ignored or downplayed the wetware (people) and so the Human-Computer Interface (HCI) or users were not too important. My business students usually 'got it' with business systems though they were not necessarily good at the hard technology!

Linking to above and the PCVJ Chart: the Intellectual head (PCVJ's Rational on the horizontal axis), Emotional heart (PCVJ's Considerate Conduct [empathy & behaviour] still on the horizontal axis); and Will (not specifically shown on the PCVJ chart) as the driver of the hand (emotional interest/energy > action > behaviour). When working together, we have the holistic perspective. Ah well, thought I'd throw that in... Let's see where it takes us later (if I get to think/write on it more).

2011: After some digesting, I have come to surface a fifth H: Heroistic - a new paradigm awaits beyond Yellow - or is it an ancient one? A sacrificial perspective for the good of man & 'nature'... I'm reminded of American Indians [perhaps others?] - food for thought! Anyway, not yet for these pages. Try here Global Values: The Crisis or here Global Thrival - more than survival...

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Interestingly, as a Yellow, you are now more aware of the missing links, the gaps of knowledge and experience of the world (and yourself) - sensitive to that chaos 'in and in-between'. You know that you know very little - you meet the extremes of chaos - nothingness & wholeness - and they come together here and need to be navigated and narrated in a different way. Knowledge is not enough; experience is not enough; feelings are not enough; power is not enough... an intuitive, seemingly mystical approach emerges; the story-teller emerges; the inspirational leader is created; obtuse paradigms!

So how does a Yellow learn and navigate remembering that that there is acceptance of and willingness to go through the cycle and stages of change [see Mastery]? Next: What learning cycle?

The Cycle of Competence:

At Yellow, the intuitive 'sense' is partly explained by the Cycle of Competence, where, by reaching this station, you have attained a high degree of meta-conscious competence - learn as you learn - a state of being in the moment. I saw the term 'Leaching' (coined by Nick Smith of www.life2point0.com) where Teaching and Learning combine - to learn the essence of one's own life lesson (could be called grokking too, apparently. Look it up in the dictionary - 'tis new to me too).

The so-called business & ethical dimensions [next] - ALL are ethical but it depends on where you are looking from. Reread the previous diagram.

Conflict arises if EITHER ['logical OR'] person/group believe they are the 'right' ones. The arrows come together in Yellow - suggesting that the Yellow's synergy & conflict resolution approaches[see Synergy Star, BESS] can be used to find the 'logical AND' positions to suit both dimensions.

Negotiation:

I like this bit too... so much to write!

After considering the Ethical Orientation diagram, you may be able to understand WHY the Business dimensions and the so-called Ethical Dimension are often at loggerheads. The former is about procuring 'outcomes', the latter about protecting 'rights'. BOTH are necessary and so the Synergy Star provides a creative and pragmatic way to resolve those differences in perspective. The so-called 'ethical dimensions' is called thus since most moral codes & laws seem to be based on the absolutist concept of right-wrong [cf. religion/law]. While conceptual national goals [e.g. constitutions & policy] are less rigid & more a guideline/vision, the implementation is via absolutist techniques, especially at bureaucratic [fed, state, & local .gov] levels possibly to make 'enforcement' simplified &/or automatic - interpretation is [seems] less important at this juncture. The courts, though law-driven, tend to be interpretive, thus less absolutist. I'm glad we have the separation of powers in Australia though we are increasingly rule-driven & engaging the presumption of guilt... a recipe for an UNcompromising conflict. Strange that Blues consider that compromise is their driver, yet their outcome is lack of compromise... some feedback loops missing, methinks. The inevitable dysfunction of one-sidedness.

Ethical Egoism:

A raw & unpredictable state of [self-interest] ethics

Deontology:

Conforming to the mores [duty, rules, laws, belonging to the group, & claiming principles] is characteristic of this stance. As is fairness & social contract.

Teleology:

Outcome-orientated [I/WE, i.e. for self & one's team/company] & somewhat unpredictable. Regression to either Red [egoism] or Blue [objectivism]

Ethical Altruism:

Obligation drives this stance often without concern for self. Tendency to idealism so care needed to maintain reality checks and momentum.

Virtue Ethics:

A flexible approach by finding fundamental principles in use at the time and navigating towards a pragmatic win-win. Living a virtuous life to develop 'character' and to achieve happiness [for all].

Regarding negotiation, each Value Station has its mindset, as follows...

This chart on how the different VS negotiate has fairly common perspectives to the Competing Values Framework [Quinn & Rorbaugh 1983].

• Compromise [Blue] is the 'control' or hierarchical culture [in CVF]; 50:50 outcomes expected

• Compete [market] is the same, though the PCVJ includes a 'less sophisticated/aggressive' way [I win: you lose] of competing which precedes the Compromise;

• Accommodate in the PCVJ is the CVF's Clan [called also Collaborate] view; and

• Collaborate in the PCVJ is equivalent to the Adhocracy [or Create] 100:100 outcomes [win:win] sought. Note that this is NOT compromise [i.e. less each, but what we each want 100% - required high creativity]

The last two use 'collaborate' differently!

Seemingly away from ethics for a bit...

Look at my choices - a story about Yellow: (note to self: may have to move this anecdote to Personal Journeys)

This is a snippet leading to another description of Yellow.

I spent many (recent) years teaching undergrads at Uni [and in 2012, just returned] and, through that time, I began to recognize past teachers that had challenged MY boundaries, drawn ME out, influenced my DIRECTION. One of the first was my mother who herself was lost and 'stuck' in her life... stuck as a power broker and power user, a Red, a queen in her world and she loved it because it was ALL she knew (and she was at her top - others feared her).

I recall that in my mid teens, she asked me about an advertisement in the local paper - an ad that promised to explain life and to offer a way forward, to question. She did not take the step; years later, I did - I began MY quest to NOT be stuck like her. Interestingly, I was 'stuck' in a 'NOT' attitude for decades. Aha, as you read more on the Value Stations, think on it... this could be a rebellious (Red) or black and white (Blue) thinking pattern - I was unwittingly both - under that Absolutist (or thinking) Divide. There were also two teachers at high school and one superb boss a few years later who influenced me subtly (another story there). A tautology? Influence IS subtle, isn't it!

I thought I was free or getting free - many (painful) life lessons later... and some education... and some subtle guidance... and some courage and determination... I am now far more free than I thought even existed back then. Freedom and influence was the dream that I chased, then caught, and passed in the darkest of nights, especially my 'Long Dark Night of the Soul' mindshift time. Looking at the PCVJ chart, freedom is along the vertical axis... onwards and upwards. Education (hence, mostly thinking capacity/ability) moved me along the horizontal axis. The compassionate/considerate aspect was slow & hard won through emotional pain.

This Yellow in me was only suddenly obvious to me when I started teaching System's Design at uni (btw: I didn't know about Yellows then). I had been in business for a few decades earlier and been a techie as well for quite a while, and was regularly designing something or other - my natural engineer in action [I'd spent several years previous studying civil/mech engineering] also but 'dropped out' after 3 years <duh>. I hadn't really given my perspective much thought until I had to teach undergrads to think and act like me... I had a challenge since most of the students were techies/nerds, like I used to be... However, systems thinking required a bigger perspective, NOT just the technology (which was their main/only interest). I had to drag them kicking and screaming... well, outmanoeuvre their blockages to learning outside their belief systems - many didn't make the shift. I was a sweet feeling when some 'got it'. In hindsight, I was working hard to influence the students to mix - people and business with their love of technology. I found it exciting/ challenging/ difficult/ frustrating and worthwhile teaching 'systems' (until the Blue bureaucracy got to me). I found de Bono's six thinking hats very useful then to get Nerds to 'role play' as that seemed acceptable to them to get them out of their own perspective - more tools available now.

I now know that there is ALWAYS more to learn, more than I can imagine (sounds absolutist)...! Why do I believe that... because I now believe (hmmm, circular argument)... I've spent my life trying to know but the more I know, the more I know there's even more than I can fathom to know. So I just believe (a concept of faith, not easy for me) and I move forward when I can.

Yellow is a challenge to describe... Yellow is complex and simple... chameleon-like but constant... humorous and deadly serious... They have the ability to 'be' like all previous stations. I can't say that I can do that all of the time but, hey, I'm evolving too into the chaos.

Look at Dr Dave's research - in this mobile and ever-changing world, the intuitive chaos management skills emerge in Yellow. Yellow is the world of transformational leadership - the world of subtle influence - the butterfly effect - the power of one.

Perhaps Dr Robinson's Da Wei Laws will clarify... It is 'Big Picture' stuff and beyond just-thinking as I hope you see the more esoteric aspects now emerge in the writings - beyond just psychology and explaining thinking and behaviour - now reaching for a holistic understanding of humanity (some even call it spirituality, but I won't write that here... yet, oops!) - towards developing a more intuitive navigation of the world and experiencing as you learn.

Consider this from Arthur M. Young 'Has There Ever Been a Paradigm Shift?' http://www.arthuryoung.com

Suppose I were to present a plate of food to a child to eat, and the child were to turn the plate upside down, spilling the contents about, and proceed to separate it into different ingredients -- to count the peas, etc. We have been given this marvelous world to experience, but science prefers to analyze it -- a worthy undertaking, but it becomes absurd if the food is not eaten. Analysis may be food for science, but this doesn't mean that the eating of the food should not be included in the theory.

This cannot be dismissed as mere application and anthropomorphic, because all life does the same. Plants control their metabolism to achieve growth and reproduction; animals learn mobility and are able to achieve short-term goals (including some long-term goals such as migration). This is not just technology; it is the basis of life.

...and elsewhere: Only by giving up the desire for perfect order will science find the doorways to a true science of life.

(Does this suggest perhaps intuitive navigation of life as a way forward for humanity.

i.e. knowledge & experience, plus recognizing one's emotion, plus action to satisfy the big picture? Does to me! [try reading some E.I. stuff - Salovey &/or Goleman]. mg)

Though getting to Yellow (and beyond) is perhaps not to be considered enlightenment,

I feel there is a similarity in the process to the Zen definition of Satori:

A jet black iron ball speeding through the dark night. mg

Ouch!

I now glimpse the edge 'past Yellow'... the edge of not me... just us! I must flow through chaos and meld into humanity.

Yellows, having arrived here and knowing what you know, what you have experienced, what you now can sense... read these bone jarring pages [to some] on Beyond Ethics and Global Values: The Crisis for an idea where human constructs need to go [to find that balance - sustainability]...

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In light of knowledge attained, the happy achievement seems almost a matter of course, and any intelligent student can grasp it without too much trouble.

But the years of anxious searching in the dark, with their intense longing, their alterations of confidence and exhaustion and the final emergence into the light

- only those who have experienced it can understand it.

Albert Einstein

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At this point, this is good reading:

van Wyk, CP 2002 Complexity-ethics and the Challenges of Morality in the Emerging South Africa. ‘Deon-Telos’, the Emerging Ethical Child

The Yellow paradigm, by my reckoning, is the Deon-Telos. If you want more a spiritual-focussed perspective, read Spiral Dynamics Integral or the philosopher, Ken Wilber and others. You could investigate the writings on Holons too - all helpful - all fit.

also recall another suggestion towards a Yellow existence - all things are connected:

Goddard, Jennifer; Tony Buzan; Jorge Castaneda (2012) The Most Important Graph in the World...and How it Will Change Your Life! (Kindle Location 1436). Proactive Press. Kindle Edition.

2012: As I prepare to delve into a Doctorate on leadership [transformational or beyond] and change [2nd Order/chaos], I discovered the above text to improve my reading speed and comprehension... and there was SOOOO much more in it than I sought - nice AND useful to my study! [2013: decided NOT to pursue it, sorry Dave! I 'feel' more useful doing what I am doing 8-D ]

enjoy

M