What Kind of Energy Does your Organizational Identity Have?

In the world of physics, there is ‘potential’ and ‘kinetic’ energies. Kinetic is the one that is easily observed. It’s force and motion – it’s seeing things happen. Potential is a bit more challenging. It’s the amount of energy held in suspension that is waiting for its moment to become Kinetic. Think of a ball at the top of a hill yet to start rolling – it’s feeling the anticipation of what will happen.

What is most critical is to understand that there is no kinetic energy (movement) without a source of potential energy (motivation)

So what does this have to do with organizations and their identity artifacts…

Whoa, wait – rewind Justin – what is an organizational identity artifact?

An organizational identity artifact is any articulated component of who we are as an organization – think values statements, visions (what we call community aspirations), missions (what we call approach), outcomes, guiding principles, theories of change, beliefs, and assumptions. Add to this, strategic plans, branding, tag lines, etc. In short, these are the things that clarify ‘who’ we are as an organization and capture all the elements of our why and what (and maybe a bit of how).

Now back to energy and the relationship between potential and kinetic energy. Remember if we want movement, we need motivation. Yet we have fallen into a pattern of creating plans, frameworks, and guiding strategies that emphasize action (what we do or will do as a declaration) – this is fostering kinetic energy – look what we will do.

So what kind of energy do we want to see in these foundational identity artifacts…

POTENTIAL, not so much kinetic.

The beauty of potential energy is that it wants to become kinetic. And if we pay attention to the potential energy, we can often see where it will go and what it will do when it becomes kinetic (the action that converts the energy from potential to kinetic is self evident).

What does potential energy look like in an organizational context? It’s a combination of aspiration and obligation.

Aspiration is the desirable things we strive for. Things we want to have or to be true in the world no matter what. These things excite us and make us smile, cheer, and even feel righteous. We often say they ‘energize’ us (that’s a telltale sign you are hitting on potential energy)

Obligation is the declarations of desirable things we know need to be true to achieve our aspirations. While not necessarily exciting, they are compelling and self-evident. While they may seem challenging, scary, even impossible, we feel them as non-negotiables in achieving our aspirations.

Aspiration + Obligation -> Action -> Thriving communities

So take a look at your foundational identity artifacts (values, outcomes, beliefs, principles, visions, missions, strategic plans) and ask if they are packed with aspiration and obligation. If so, they will go a long way to drive the action needed to achieve your desired community goals.

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