Moments of Choice

July 2024

Recently I’ve found myself talking a lot about moments of choice. Why is that we so often look back on our actions and think, why did I do that? In the Power and Systems work I do, we help people and organisations step back and ‘see the system’, bring their attention to those missed moments of choice, and what else is possible.

The thing is, when we are in ‘top space’ it is automatically clear that everything is our accountability – it’s in the name, right? We don’t think about it, we know. And with everything coming at us from all sides, we just need to get our arms around it; so, in a completely subconscious reflex action, we suck up more and more of the work. If I can just get control of it, I will feel less stressed. But sucking up more work is not a good solution to feeling overwhelmed, quite the opposite, it just makes us feel more burdened. So why do we do it? Because we miss the moment of choice.

When we are in ‘bottom space’ we are close to the work and see what is going on. We know there are things that need fixing and can also see that those above us are not doing anything about it. Why are they ignoring it? Don’t they care about us? And in our lovely comfortable victimhood we can sit back and blame ‘them’. We don’t think about it, we just know ‘they’ should be doing something about this. But holding someone else responsible for your own condition is not a good solution to feeling like a victim, quite the opposite, it just makes us feel more oppressed. So why do we do it? Because we miss our moment of choice.

And what about when we are in the ‘middle’. The people above us want something we don’t have – more production, faster... The people below us want something we don’t have – more money, better conditions and resources... We are crunched between two often competing agendas. And we need to make it work. We don’t think about it, we just know. And what is our unconscious reflex response?  We jump in between and try and make it work. Is jumping into issues we have no solution to a great way to reduce crunch? It is not. We just become more and more torn. So why do we do it? Because we miss our moment of choice.

The impact of the system around us and our place in that system at any one time, has a huge bearing on our reflex responses, and yet as individuals and organisations we rarely even think about it. It is an invisible force that when addressed can unlock a whole new level of performance, satisfaction and partnership.

See more about this work here.