Strategy Development

Creative Tension

The practice of Creative Tension involves learning to hold both an individual or collective vision and a clear picture of the current reality. Doing this will generate an energy within ourselves called “creative tension”.  Adapted from Robert Fritz’s work (Path of Least Resistance and Path of Least Resistance for Managers), Creative Tension is a tool to consider how we might stay with the tension and leverage it to create action.

Often, we use the metaphor of an elastic band to describe this tension.  As you stretch the band, you create tension.  If your vision is at one end and current reality is at the other, the greater gap between the two, the greater the tension and the greater the motivation to move to resolve the tension.

Sometimes problematic emotions can occur when we feel the tension. When we feel negative emotions, we sometimes lower our vision (compromise) or even deny there is any tension. The stable point of the system is its vision, so in attending to the vision  we can eventually work towards stability. The ability to hold on to a vision is very powerful despite all of the challenges we face.

Creative Tension Chart

To build a collective approach to building a creative tension chart.  You can see a template in the graphic here that can guide your discussion and work.  You can complete the exercise using the template, or you can adapt the content to any other creative format that speaks to your group.  Keep in mind that once you have detailed your collective vision and current reality we will continue to use this chart to identify some action steps for your project.  See if you can put in as much descriptive detail as you can for both your vision and your current reality. 

Integrated CSL Frame

The INTEGRATED CSL FRAME provides a comprehensive way to think about and to build transformational strategies. It outlines four main domains of action that need to be held in balance and tension as you unfold your CSL activities. All four are critical to a complete CSL approach. And all of the other CSL tools and practices are woven through and support them all. They can be used in a more conceptual way to keep you on track or in a more linear way as you create weekly and monthly to-do lists and action plans.

The four components are:

Building Capacity: how to develop personal, interpersonal and systems thinking capacities as a foundation for the work, building a practice of reflection, a common culture and language, and a way of approaching the work.

Nurturing Networks:• how to create and expand the near and extended connections and relationships that you need to create transformational change, creating a common vision and plan for change through generative conversations and connected work.

Emergent Learning:• how to work through a consistent practice of curiosity and on-going learning that includes personal and collective reflection, informal feedback, story telling and formal research.

Taking Action: how to hold a focus on the practicality of “doing what is in front of you”, being willing to try things out that make progress toward your vision and address deeper structures and processes, knowing that, through taking action, opportunity will open up and adaptation can happen.

SYSTEMS MANDALA

The Integrated CSL Frame has been developed from the Mandala for Systems Change is a framework developed by the Centre for Systems Awareness.  The mandala provides a way of understanding the components that contribute to systemic change holistically.

There are four components all equally important to creating systemic change. The objective is to first create a vision of the change we imagine and then to articulate the mechanisms necessary for change in each component.

We often find ourselves focusing on one element of the mandala, but it’s important to hold and not lose sight of the other elements while we’re doing this; they’re all equally important.

Capacity Building - What are we trying to grow? What capacities do I need to grow?  What shared capacities do we need? 

Practice - What are we trying to accomplish?  What practices/processes do we want to develop?

Community Building - Who is the ‘we’?  Who is not included and should be?  Who are the key partners?

Research - This is not a traditional definition of research, but rather asking ourselves, “What are we trying to learn?” and “How can we tell we are successful?” We need to embed some sort of reflective process to grow and improve.