Description

The present state refers to conditions as they exist right now for an actor (person or group).

Categories

The conditions in the present state can be organized into several groups of like items.

1. Issues: These are things in the actor’s present circumstances that the actor would like to move away from. Examples: lousy healthy, being overweight, too much stress, conflict, food insecurity, an unreliable car, a lousy boss, fear, and so on. Examples for organizations: hiring problems, financial problems, lousy culture, too many customer returns, bad publicity, and so on.

2. Desires: These are things that the actor would like to have that they don’t yet have. Examples: play the cello really well, a new house, more or better friends, learn how to play bridge, peace of mind, financial security, and so on.

3. Likes: These are conditions that the actor has that they like.

4. Other: These are any condition that is not a like, a desire, or an issue.

Issues, likes, and attractions are associated with feelings and emotions. This is one way to identify them.

Rationale

Here are some reasons why being skilled with describing the present state is worthwhile.

1. Reality: Have an accurate view of reality.

2. Utility: This skill is useful for learning, problem solving, critical thinking, and so on.

3. Collaboration: Enhances collaboration because their are not differing views about current reality.

Present State: How To

Generation Question(s): Ask open-ended questions

Examples of the Present State

The examples in this section illustrate both the issues and attractions of the present state. For brevity, I have listed only three issues and three attractions in each example. However, in most cases, the list of issues and attractions is much longer.

Business Example

JB, the owner of a sandwich shop in a college town, faces the following issues:

1. Graduating employee: JB’s best employee, who frequently manages the shop in JB’s absence, is graduating and relocating. JB currently lacks a suitable replacement.

2. Exterior maintenance: The shop’s exterior requires repainting.

3. Long customer lines: JB is experiencing a decline in sales due to frequently long customer lines, resulting in people either leaving or choosing not to join the queue.

On the other hand, JB has the following attractions:

1. JB recently saw an add for an online marketing class. JB would really like to become better at marketing.

2. Last week while traveling, JB discovered a new sandwich recipe that will likely sell very well.

3. Another business has approached JB about partnering for a catering service.

Notice: Issue are things we want to move away from. Attractions are things that we want to move towards.

Relationship Example

DD and JB are in a long-term relationship. Last night, they were talking over a glass of wine and came up with some things that they are interested in; these attractions are:

1. DD and JB are both interested in buying land and having a custom house built.

2. Both of them would like to travel back to Ohio to visit friends and family.

3. Both would like to learn how to Salsa dance.

They also talked about issues that they like to fix:

1. They spend too much time battling each other instead of working effectively on solving problems.

2. Both of them want to eat a healthy diet, but they too often opt for meals that are fast and unhealthy.

3. The kitchen is jam packed with stuff and disorganized. It is too overwhelming to think about doing anything about it.

Issues

The present state usually has issues.

An issue refers to something that exists in the present state that the actor does not like and would prefer to move away from if they could.

Examples of Issues:

• Being overweight
• Stress and anxiety
• Feeling unliked or uncared for
• Low levels of sales
• Lousy meetings; too long, boring, whatever
• People not working together well enough
• Partners not spending enough time together
• Important tasks not getting done

Attractions

An attraction is something that is not yet in the present state that the actor would like to move towards.

Examples of attractions

• Healthy weight for a person who is overweight
• Peace-of-mind for a person who experiences high levels of stress and anxiety
• Feeling loved and cared about for a person who feels unloved and uncared about
• High levels of sales for an org that has low level of sales
• Super productive and enjoyable meetings for an org that routinely has meetings that everyone hates.
• Wonderful collaboration for an org that presently has lousy collaboration.
• Becoming financially independent
• Visiting New Zealand
• Learning how to cook really well

Facts

1. Sometime an attraction is a mirror image of an issue. Examples:

   1. (not enough money) mirrors into (ample money)
   2. (lousy fitness) mirrors into (great fitness)
   3. (poor listening) mirrors into (skilled listening)

2. Sometimes an attraction stands on its own in the sense that it is not the mirror image of a concern that exists in the present state. This often happens when we see something we like and want to have this. Example: Watching a great concert and deciding to learn how to play the guitar. Example: Listening to friends describe a trip and decide that we would like to visit this place.

3. The Goals (Goal State) refers to the best conditions that can exist in the future for an Actors.

4. Problem Solving involves taking the right actions to move from the present state to the Goals (Goal State)