Using 4-Quadrant Model to View Organizational Values
Since individuals and managers work for and within an organisation, it is important for them to be aware of the cultural climate and resulting governance systems in which they work. This is important for three reasons, firstly if the individual is unaware or unclear about these then they do not know how any course of action that they take contributes to the organisation’s goals. Secondly, if the culture and governance systems are not clear to him, the individual may be cynical and desperate believing “No one cares about me or what I do.” Thirdly, if the coach is going to make a real impact in the organisation it is difficult to do this a) without understanding the organisational context, b) without the support of the board or at least a company director or high level executive that is fully supportive of the coaching work. So, with this understanding, the minimum benefit is that the coaching of the individual is more likely to meet the needs of the sponsor/boss.
The really big benefit occurs, however, when the unclear or inappropriate cultural and governance systems are brought to the attention of the leaders/directors and they then seek guidance on how to change this. Put another way, the organisation may be unaware of the nature of the chaos within its structures that is causing conflict. Several consulting and coaching organisations are now using the four quadrant model of Ken Wilber to help understand the impact of the organisation on the individual and vice versa. A more detailed understanding of these concepts can be found in Wilber’s book (A Brief History of Everything) and on his website (www.integralinstitute.com). There are also some great talks and video conferences on his other website (www.integralnaked.com) where Wilber, Fred Kofman, Deepak Chopra, Geoffrey Gioja of JMJ Associates and many others are recorded.
The benefit of this model is that it allows an understanding of the subjective (intentional) and objective (behavioural) aspects of both individuals (teams) and the organisation. The table below is taken from the website (www.jmj.com/OurApproach.asp) of JMJ Associates who use this diagnostic model almost exclusively in their extensive businesses.
|
SUBJECTIVE |
OBJECTIVE |
INDIVIDUAL |
Intention
|
Behaviour
|
GROUP |
Culture
|
Systems
|
Table . The Integral Approach to making the Impossible Possible
The lower left quadrant of the Table describes the inner life of the organisation, e.g. values, ethics, mission, stories about the company, whereas the lower right quadrant describes the external manifestation of this culture, including vision, structures, policies, financial procedures. So, the bottom two quadrants relate to the corporate (group) mindset (left) and its behavioural strategies regarding execution and achievement (right).
The upper two quadrants relate to the individual. The left hand quadrant relating to values, attitudes, beliefs, commitment etc, and the right hand quadrant to his manifestation/actions in the workplace, including goals, plans actions etc.
The real benefit of Wilber’s model as modified by those in many businesses, including Organisational Coaching (e.g. Bert Parlee, www.integralcoach.com) is that it allows us to look at the impact of change in one quadrant on all the other quadrants, because what happens in one quadrant always impacts on the other three. By way of example, imagine an individual who wants to achieve promotion (intentional/upper left) and he plans to double his sales. But in so doing he ends up ignoring or even bullying his colleagues in order to achieve this (behavioural/upper right). Imagine also that the same company has a board of directors of gentlemen (and women) who want their workforce to be happy and peaceful in a family-like way (intentional/lower left). They also have a policy in place of reprimand and censure of any perceived bullying. There will be a lack of congruence between the employee's intentions and that of the board; therefore his behaviour is likely to result in censure rather than promotion. The needs of neither employer nor employees will be met, even if the individual trebles his sales! The coach’s role is to assist the client in becoming aware of the presence or absence of congruence. In the absence of congruence, the client can now make choices re all four quadrants. He can change his intention and decide not to go for promotion in that company (upper left), he can change his behaviour/methodology re how to achieve promotion (upper right) and either get increased sales without bullying or choose to become an advocate of the company’s non-bullying policy, or both! He could attempt to change the board so that they become more concerned with profit than the welfare of the staff (lower right). This could be a difficult task! He could also accept the good staff welfare culture, but attempt to get changes made to the criteria for evaluating this so that his behaviour was not seen as bullying (lower right).
This model creates a very useful method of checking for congruency between employees, managers and owners/directors. As an aside, it is also useful for life coaching, outside the business arena. In this case, the coach replaces the organisational lower quadrants, shown in the table with those that exist in the organisation in which the client is involved, e.g. society, community, family, club, charitable organisation etc. That way the coach can help the client become more aware of which quadrant to focus on, understand, or alter in order to create congruence.
This model is really useful for evaluating chaos and congruence in an organisation. Yes, it is good to coach individual in an organisation,, but without addressing organisational congruence, it will be difficult to effect long-term change.
