Foundational Toolbox for Life

During the Action Circle Cycle “Foundational Toolbox for Life”, guided by Alex Weissenfels, the participants learned about the components of the Toolbox (Mindsets and Attributes) and how they can be applied to better understand the perspectives of ourselves and each other in the service of facilitating effective communication and collaborative problem-solving.

Members can earn a total of 8 CEUs by viewing the video for the gathering and responding to the questions related to the specific objectives for each component of the Action Circle Process.

Gathering 1: Setting Intentions (2 CEUs) 1. Describe behavioral principles related to the process of “Setting Intentions” to establish the questions to be addressed for the cycle. 2. Describe the social significance of “Setting Intentions” as the first step before engaging in conversations related to complex social challenges. 3. Reflect upon the potential application of this process to your life.

Gathering 2: Exploring Possibilities (2 CEUs) 1. Describe behavioral principles related to the process of “Exploring Possibilities” in relation to the questions established for the cycle. 2. Describe the social significance of “Exploring Possibilities” as the second step of engaging in conversations related to complex social challenges. 3. Reflect upon the potential application of this process to your life.

Gathering 3: Making Decision (2 CEUs) 1. Describe behavioral principles related to the process of “Making Decisions” to identify specific actions to effect change. 2. Describe the social significance of “Making Decisions” as the third step of engaging in conversations related to complex social challenges. 3. Reflect upon the potential application of this process to your life.

Gathering 4: Taking Action (2 CEUs) 1. Describe behavioral principles related to the process of “Taking Action” to commit to actions on the individual and collective level. 2. Describe the social significance of “Taking Action” as the final step of engaging in conversations related to complex social challenges. 3. Reflect upon the potential application of this process to your life.

Below are descriptions of the concepts discussed during this action circles:

The Zeroth Mindset = Observation: takes away the filters and the maps, clear off the workbench so we can observe without judgment, allows us to reset and recenter so we can view things with a fresh perspective.

4 Primary Mindsets: Operation, Organization, Synthesis, and Analysis

• Operation Mindset = what shapes our effort?
• Organization mindset = how do we allocate effort?
• Synthesis mindset = generate ideas, guess, imagine, explore possibilities
• Analysis = fact-checking, examine implications of conclusions

4 Secondary Mindsets: Semantics, Empathy, Strategy, and Tactics

• Semantics mindset = simplifying interactions, combines intuition and analysis, creates labels and establish rules, generally applicable formulas for solving problems
• Empathy mindset = combines operation and synthesis, removes labels and assumptions, influence impressions, helps navigate situations that change
• Strategy mindset = combines organization and analysis, fortifies paths, analyzes contingencies and unwanted possibilities, prevent plans from being disrupted
• Tactics mindset = redirects paths, synthesis + organization, innovative, remove barriers, find opportunities and solutions, think outside the box

4 Basic Attributes: Initiative, Resilience, Mobility, Intensity These are the different ways we can describe and develop mindsets and other skills. They can be thought of as the qualities of individuals in relation to specific mindsets (e.g., “she takes a lot of initiative in regard to organizing”)

• Initiative (“Driving”) = conditions you use to get started on something, deals with how you relate to your environment, motivating operations.
• Resilience (“Striving”) = the conditions you need to continue or persevere with what you’re trying to do, maintain quality under stressful conditions.
• Mobility (“Shifting”) = the effect you have on the world, how well you can start having an effect, how well you can stop or pivot, response latency, learn something new and able to apply, flexibly change directions without much energy or effort.
• Intensity (“Delving”) = how far can you push it? – increase the impact of effort – increased ability to handle complexity – going deeper and further.