The DNA of Shapership

What gives Shapership its transformative impact

As a way of being, Shapership invites to adopt the "Altitude Attitude" and to open the "Soul Compass". It is an integrity of the Being based on a full connection between Open Mind, Open Heart and Open Will (see hereunder).
It gives Shapers the capacity to see / think Big and Radical (which means back to the essence), to adopt a helicopter view yet in tune with Reality, to act from a deeply connected perspective, way beyond Ego awareness, and to open meaningful and progress-generating trails for the entire human "Eco-system".
Are you among the purpose-driven people who "know" our ways of Life - and to destroy Life - must make place for other ways to see, think and act? Do you also feel, in your heart, an aspiration to live a meaningful Life, in tunes with your aspirations and values?

This is the Shapership Attitude. Now, here is how to put it in practice.
The Altitude Attitude:
scaffolding Imagination about the Future

As a way of doing, Shapership derives its power from the articulation of 3 very simple elements that all Shapers activate, as anyone can do in his/her everyday life. We climb a metaphorical scaffold and from the top, we have new perspectives and points of view on our Present and Future "Reality.

Level 1: Creative Resistance
The BIG NO!

Instead of keeping conforming to obsolete models and dominant worldviews that limit Thinking and possibilities, it is looking at Reality as it is with fresh perspectives, seeing and challenging the "way things are" - conventional Wisdom, beliefs, prevailing ideas and stories - as well as recognizing our daily participation in the status quo.

Level 2: Transformative Vision
The BIG YES!

It is seeing reality as "it could be". Freeing Imagination, broadening perspectives, connecting to Aspirations for a desired Future and finding Inspirations in the present.
It is daring to "have a Dream" of a more beautiful world, creating Direction, Desire and HOPE. It is also discovering seeds and pockets of the Future in the Present, concrete evidences and initiatives which show us that "what is possible is richer than what is."

Level 3: Anticipative Experimentation
The CREATIVE HOW

A transformative Vision calls for transformative actions and requires courage to completely reinvent the way things operate, to shift from one paradigm to another.

It is now time to make the transition path that allows us to get there together visible.
Imagining a strategy and landscape of Innovation, transforming Initiatives, and visionary Actions, to tilt the system and travel towards a viable Future. Creating the conditions and ecosystems of actors to get started on the implementation of the Future. What is needed is a flexible transformation strategy that pulls us away from the idea that progress is about solving the problems of the Past. Then, indeed, it's Jazz: "Jamming together", a kind of collective improvisation guided by "Desire".

When connected, these elements form the "DNA" of Shapership and create a self-reinforcing loop and allow to disrupt a system with a Purpose.This is at the same time a way of being and a practical method.
Now is time for wise decisions
Now is time for Open Mind (Curiosity), Open Heart (Compassion), and open Will (Courage)

Making choices is very emotional, it is taking a stand. And that is best done with an open Mind (Curiosity), open heart (compassion), and open will (Courage) as opposed to closed Mind (Stuck in one view), closed Heart (stuck in one skin) and closed will (Fear). Presencing rather than Absencing. Co-creating rather than destroying.

All along our conversations with our clients, we hold the space so they can practice Radical Thinking (back to the roots) and adopt The Altitude Attitude: a helicopter view - yet not detached from Reality or the material at hand - to "tango" with it and be in tune with the world.
Connecting Body, Mind and Soul, they can see, sense and act, guided by the grounded Reality of what is being called for in the world and by their inner Soul Compass, which knows "what needs to be done". This gives them a direction, a meaningful purpose larger than themselves, guiding rules and strategies which are in harmony with Reality and its fundamental Uncertainty. They jump into the unknown, "acting" with a Vision.
Their strategies and approaches are emergent, agile, responding to a world they also take part in creating. They know "No one can predict the Future. All we can do is choose our contribution to the circumstances out of which the Future will take its shape."

That's done through the practice of the three leverages of Shapership.
More about these three fundamental elements at the heart of the Shaper's Mindset
Level 1: Creative Resistance
The BIG NO

While most people accept a given situation as "just the way things are", Shapers perceive the status quo as something to be overcome or disrupted. Creative Resistance emerges from looking at Reality square in the face and sensing the need for something else to be born.
By looking at reality in a fresh way, Shapers initiate a creative reconstruction of what is possible. While Creative Resistance is a durable attitude, it is not enough on its own. As the great scientist Buckminster Fuller said:
"You never change things by fighting the existing Reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete".

Level 2: The Transformative Vision
The BIG YES

Shapers embrace "what could be" and set out to bring it to life, reinforced by a deep commitment to a meaningful and Transformative Vision which is making alternative Futures visible. It is Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream", which opens the hearts of millions of people. It is a big YES to a desired Future, something that "needs to happen" because it represents the Hopes of many and enhances the Dignity and the meaning of human Life.
So, even if others think it is impossible, Shapers fully engage and make the impossible possible!
Using this vision as a lens, Shapers open up new paths towards the Future, embodying the change they want to see happen in the world.
As they go about practicing what they preach, their transformative vision becomes the axis upon which they align their thoughts and actions.

Level 3: Anticipative Experimentation
The CREATIVE HOW

A transformative Vision calls for transformative actions. To begin to shape new realities in an alternative Paradigm, Shapers often need to completely reinvent the ways things operate.
To achieve this, they abolish Competition and create new forms of Collaboration.
They rally a dynamic ecosystem of actors and partners, so that Anticipative Experimentation becomes a space for co-creation. Whether it is through a movement, a company, a community,
Shapers unite people around shared Purposes and make the transition path visible.

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