This post is the third of four based on Shawn Ginwright PhD’s The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves. The Four Pivots include:

Perspective.

We all have different perspectives and each of those has limitations. As a result, it is important to pivot to increase awareness of what might be obstructing each of our perspectives. This requires learning about others’ perspectives with curiosity and without judgment. It also requires taking a balcony view or a bird’s eye view to see the larger picture and being close enough to try to understand the experiences of other people. The balcony view enables us to see the root causes in a system. The perspective of a third position is described, where instead of taking my position or another’s position, I try to take a position of an objective, distant observer to a situation.

“We have to be relentless in examining our assumptions and work to build greater perspectives in our work.” – Ginwright

 

Ginwright suggests using a model of an iceberg to learn about perspective and enable us to see the core issue we are working to change, rather than just the event to which we are reacting. The iceberg includes (questions in italics are direct quotes from the book):

• Event: Am I responding to an event? What is my current perspective? What is the larger bird’s eye perspective?
• Pattern: What are the patterns and trends I see with this issue? How can I expand to see the bird’s eye perspective?
• Structure: What are the underlying structures and relationships that support these patterns? Instead of my first assumption/generalization, how can I consider the context and experiences of others in the situation?
• Mental Model: What assumptions do I hold about this issue? How can I shift my assumptions based on the bird’s eye examination of the event?

When we are aware of all the viewpoints, we avoid taking our first interpretation as the whole truth. This is an extremely important skill in self-awareness, rich collaboration, and transformational change

Possibility.

 

“For those of us working to improve our society, we have to take seriously our capacity to see beyond the challenges we face and the problems we need to solve.” – Ginwright

 

Instead of “problem loving” where we discuss problems, we need to “possibility create” and engage in active work of imagining solutions. This is where it gets really interesting for me, because a key is focusing on the language we use. Instead of words connected to oppression we can shift language that signify creativity and imagination. For example, instead of: fight, struggle, and deconstruct, we use words such as reimagine, design, and build. By doing so we are articulating what we want to see rather than what we want to eliminate. An example of this is a shift from words such as anti-racist to belonging, the creation of a space where all people matter.

Some strategies Ginwright suggests include:

• Word Play. During a meeting, agree to avoid language such as “we can’t” or “we shouldn’t” and instead discuss what we can and should do.
• Future Forward. Creatively imagine the future we dream of building. Use the phrase “what if” and brainstorm as many “bold and wild” ideas as we can.
• Possibility Planning. Learn about what people do in different situations (from the people directly) and bring this insight to the group in the form of stories. Then brainstorm “how might we” actions that use language of creativity and imagination (as described above): create, build, form, etc.

“Language frames our reality, shapes our thinking, and influences our behavior.” – Ginwright

 

Outlook.

Outlook is “attitudes and values about a potential future” (Ginwright). This requires the third position discussed earlier, where we consider our perspective, the perspective of others, and an objective, judgment-free, distant observation of the two perspectives. This is necessary for envisioning an outlook based on transformation. I may disagree with you, however you are a human. Instead of betting stuck in our affiliations or differences, we see a common humanity, in order to create something better for our communities.

In closing, I want to return to Belonging which I believe is truly the center of transformational change and common humanity. To quote Ginwright:

“Belonging is the capacity to see the humanity in those that are not like us and to recognize that the same elements that exist within them also exist within us.”

 

Resources:
The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves, Shawn Ginwright, PhD