Countering Dividers
Dividers are driven by negative patterns of behavior due to Messages—the negative side of the RAFT—and by negative patterns of Resource Transfers. Where you identify these negative patterns, use the corresponding opposite positive patterns.
Supporting Connectors
Connectors are supported by positive patterns of behavior due to Messages and positive patterns of Resource Transfers. Don’t miss Opportunities! Make sure you see the existing Connectors. Support them and, if you can, drive them.
Don’t “Create” Connectors
As an outsider, do not try to create Connectors. Use Connectors that exist; you will not be able to create significant ones that do not already exist. New Connectors proposed by outsiders do not take root (no history) or are not significant (no long-term commitment).
Reviewing Options
New options are not inherently good just because they are new. Options are only conflict-accountable if they address the patterns we have identified. If they do not address the patterns, they will not mitigate negative impacts or support positive ones. This is really important!
Two challenges in using the Patterns
While saying “use the patterns” sounds simple, few people seem truly comfortable making use of them.
Too simplistic. Many people feel that by using the patterns, they will miss something important in the context and they will wind up worse off than they were before. Nothing could be further from the truth. Using the patterns is precisely what allows projects and programs to improve in directly observable ways.
Too time-consuming. Others feel they have to run through every single pattern every single time they observe a change on Dividers or Connectors. They worry that little will be gained from the time spent. In all new disciplines, the inexperienced need more time than the experienced. However, as people grow more experienced in their use of the patterns, and they have seen how their work is improved, they find they move through the list much more quickly until the identification of the patterns becomes intuitive.
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