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Definitions


Pragmatism: the meaning of ideas/thoughts/values is determined by their consequences — by what actions results from them. (e.g. “By their fruits you will know them.” Bible—Matthew 7:16)

 

Project: An idea for a product or service which will or is addressing some market/society need, opportunity, problem or issue. 

 

Challenge/question Cq: Question, doubt or barrier that you face in developing and implementing your Project.

 

Pragmatic Inquiry®: The discipline to reflect on the evidence of experience to examine and challenge the assumptions, values, vision and hypotheses driving your Project. The aim is to learn and “begin again.”

 

Our Values and Our Vision are what guide us as we choose and confront the problems, opportunities, issues, trends, challenges and competitive situations that face us. 

 

Values Statement: 

“A Value is any belief, principle or virtue held so deeply (consciously or unconsciously) that it guides our Behaviors, Decisions and Actions.” 

Ron Nahser

 

A Behavior is an Action that gives evidence of a Value.

 

Vision Statement:

 A Core Purpose defines the fundamental reason for an organization’s existence from a market perspective — the needs it meets (“What business are you in?”). It is based on and grows out of the Values

 

A long-term aspirational Goal is not quantifiable, is highly intuitive and is used to motivate and inspire. It is based on and grows out of the Core Purpose (Includes a Vivid Description–what it will look like when we achieve our Goal.)

 

“Education is | not the filling of a pail, | but the igniting of a fire.” 

William Butler Yates

 

 

Question: “What is PathFinder Pragmatic Inquiry?”

 

Answer: “It’s Strategic Planning for Individuals, as well as for Organizations.”

Carolyn Woo, Dean 

Mendoza College of Business University of Notre Dame

Beta Gamma Sigma Board Meeting, June 2000

 

What is Pragmatic Inquiry?

Pragmatic Inquiry is a discipline which aims at igniting values and vision to drive sustainable organization performance in serving market/society needs.

 

Pragmatic Inquiry provides a practical method of reflection and learning for personal and organization success for which the PathFinder Lab Journal “(PathFinder)” serves as a guide. It offers a flexible framework of exercises to help you — individually or as a group — look at a situation, problem, opportunity or idea from several angles to put it in a more realistic context. With this better picture, better investment decisions can be made.

 

The method of Inquiry is based on Pragmatism; so-called “Classic American Philosophy.” It is an original American insight that the meaning of ideas is determined by their consequences — by what action results from the ideas. This takes us far beyond the usual misunderstanding and stance of “do whatever works” to a stance of putting ideas and beliefs to the test in action. It offers the thoughtful management practitioner and student a simple, efficient way to inquire into and act on the pressing questions and challenges they have on which they must decide and act.

 

By adapting the stance of a Pragmatic Inquirer, you avoid the two traps of either staying with an idea, position or strategy too long, or reactively changing it without any basis of values, purpose or goal. Also, too often, leaders implement partial solutions or simple strategies for complex business challenges when a comprehensive, integrated approach, based on values and vision, is necessary. 

 

Central to this inquiry is to treat your career and the organization as living entities with values, a vision, character, talent, a service to provide, a goal to reach, a path to follow and a story to tell. As with any journey, there are questions: What is the purpose? Why do you believe in it? What is the destination? What is the best path? How to prepare? What investments need to be made? Who to travel with? When to go? How do you measure progress? How do you measure success? 

 

How Is PathFinder Different?

PathFinder Pragmatic Inquiry, while having broad application, has a very specific focus: it is to help individuals and groups make strategic decisions based on their values, by reflecting on the “evidence of their experience.”

 

There is no end to the strategic planning frameworks to be learned on the one hand and the organizational behavior, and competence models on the other, from which to choose in helping organizations and individuals be more effective. (Consider the number of Leadership books pouring from computers and printing presses the world over.) While these are useful, philosophical thought over the centuries has been developed to ask basic questions and Pragmatism in particular focuses on critical thinking and actionable questions.

 

Pragmatic Inquiry draws on philosophy and depth psychology by basing strategic decisions on not just behaviors and competencies, but on the values, vision and goals on which the behaviors and competencies rest WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A CHALLENGE/question and testing HYPOTHESES.

 

Leadership Challenge Inquiry—What is your Challenge/question?

Every Inquiry begins in the context of an organization addressing some market/society need, issue or problem that the organization thinks it can serve…better than the competition. 

 

The purpose of your Inquiry is for you to address a strategic issue, idea, challenge, or problem that you and your organization face — in serving that need — and frame it as a question, what we call a Challenge/question. Since it is the key “element” in the inquiry, we symbolize it as Cq

 

As one starting point, consider the larger context of the dramatic evidence of climate change, energy issues, and the increasing scarcity of resources all societies face in our efforts to build a sustainable world for us and for future generations. Every part of our carbon constrained, consumer economy — how we live together and exchange the things we need and value — has to be re-thought and re-designed. And the process of facing these enormous challenges starts with each of us. 

 

The premise of your Inquiry is to help define the problems you see, needs you think you can address, and then develop ideas for products and services to meet those needs. During your Inquiry, you will test those ideas, based on the evidence of your experience and learning. The outcome of the Inquiry will be to decide on the best course of action for you and your organization to take to test the Ideas; afterall, that is the reason for its existence. 

 

A major weakness of traditional problem solving approaches is the lack of awareness around the assumptions (unstated contexts or paradigms) underlying the issue — or even what the real issues are, which always involve meeting some need. This lack of awareness stems from a decision making process that fails to take into account the larger and longer-term context, align the competing views and different data around unclear questions and assumptions. This is as true for individuals as it is for groups.

The PathFinder, as the name implies, helps participants come to a decision leading to action, based on the evidence of their experience. Alignment with your personal values and vision—your “calling”—can be achieved through data evaluation from different perspectives and a rigorous and open interpretation of the data where “everyone holds a piece of the truth.”

 

We will look in depth at the three elements that are too seldom examined in most decision-making processes and overlooked in the day-to-day pressure of business:

1. Your Values and Beliefs which guide your behavior, decisions and actions.

2. Your Core Purpose — “what business are you in.”

3. Your Goals — what is the result, the aim, of accomplishing your purpose. 

 

During the course of your Pragmatic Inquiry, you will have the opportunity to think about the issues that are important to you, answer your questions, determine needs to be met, develop ideas and implement a plan of action.

 

The result will be a clear plan and strategy with compelling reasoning — told with your true voice, often as a story — to support it and engage others in the Path Ahead. It will be based on work you believe in — it will enable you to “Own Who You Are,” and follow your “calling,” and your unique marketable value as a leader. You will also have followed the advice of one of our greatest strategists and leaders:

 

“If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, 

we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.” 

Abraham Lincoln, “A House Divided,” June 16, 1858

 

Understanding Values

The basic premise of Pragmatic Inquiry is that at whatever level the issue or question or problem or challenge is framed — or at whatever stage in the person’s career — decisions and action ultimately rest on the values, purpose and goals of the individual and the organization. 

 

The Importance of Reflection

Executives all say they don’t have enough time for reflection. The structure of the PathFinder provides the method and place for thinking which gets beyond the extremes of either focus on data or the “stream of consciousness” which often does not critically challenge present thinking, assumptions and beliefs.

 

The goal is to uncover and position Values and Vision as the foundation driving strategies.

 

This point is simply shown in the earlier work of Jim Collins on which his best selling books Good to Great and Built to Last are based: 

 

 

 

PathFinder Pragmatic Inquiry for Strategic Decisions on Individual Career and Leadership Direction.

Every one of us in organizations or contemplating a career faces decisions on what to do next; which way to go. And each one of these decisions involves risk because time, effort and resources will be invested under conditions of uncertainty. That is why we have adopted the name PathFinder to describe the time and direction dimensions of strategic decisions.

 

Since the method of inquiry is based on a combination of pragmatic philosophy (the scientific method of hypothesis formulation and testing called “abduction”), moral philosophy and integral depth psychology it is valuable in personal reflection. Inquirers do this by examining the “evidence of their experience” using intuition as well as rational thinking.

 

“I write to discover what I think.”

Daniel Boorstin

 

Pragmatic Inquiry Outline

1. Begin Attentively!—Challenge/question

• As you move forward, what market need, problem, issue or opportunity do you see which your organization might address? (Why is it important to you and the organization?)

• Challenge/question : What challenge, question, barrier, concern, problem, issue do you face in meeting this need? (Who else is your Challenge/question important to, and why?)

• What is your preliminary answer now?

• How are your values impacting your answer — and your question?

• What actions should be taken? (What action is being taken now?)

 

Daily Log — Your place to put thoughts and ideas that may bear on your present inquiry or be the basis for new inquiries

 

2. Explore Openly!

 Look at your question from these 5 strategic perspectives and see how each

impacts your question. Gather data, experiences and trends:

 

Personal | Organization | Market | Society | Environment

 

3. Interpret Imaginatively!

 External Conversations: What are the conversations going on in your

Stakeholder Network?

 

Habits: What are known and unknown Stakeholder practices, patterns of culture, beliefs, barriers, strategies or tactics which lead or limit your progress?

 

Internal Conversations: Explore your inner voice through what you think others might say.

 

Maps and Images: What does your Project and Challenge/question look, feel and sound like now. What will it look like when it is successful?

 

4. Decide Responsibly!

 What is the question and answer now? What have you learned?

 

5. Act Courageously!

 Put your hypothesis to the test in action. What actions will you and the

organization take? How will you lead? What will you measure? Will they be 14 sustainable?

 

 

 

PathFinder Target Audience Needs:

 PathFinder Pragmatic Inquiry offers you and your team a way to:

• Better understand the reality in which you operate.

• Think critically about your thoughts and beliefs concerning a challenge or question you face.

• Learn to think more creatively.

• Think together to make the best use of multiple perspectives and talents.

• Make informed decisions to guide actions.

• Identify core underlying issues.

• Create a compelling vision and action plans driven by values, core purpose and goals.

 

To use more traditional strategic planning* “business-speak”: These processes have been proven to help individuals and organizations attain a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace by re- invigorating decision-makers to solve complex business problems and build stronger identity or “brands” for themselves and their organizations based on their unique marketable values.

 

And most importantly, strategy decisions need to be based on the Values, Core Purpose and Goals — the Vision — of the individual and the organization:

 

"Own who you are"

— the expression of your character, culture and your brand.

 

*Strategic Planning involves making the investment decisions/choices that determine the direction and success of individuals and organizations.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.