Framing

Not interfering with another’s freedom to choose is, however, very different from neglect. The power to choose is strengthened by being aware of the range of options available and any past experience with these options. We generally organize our experience into frameworks. Around the tribal fire and the water cooler and now in digital chat rooms, humans share frameworks as a way of exploring and deciding what to do.

The Books of Moses are also known as the Books of Law. The Ten Commandments are specific rules that create broad frameworks to inform individual choice. They set out the simple rules that will guide good choices. These frameworks, as already noted, can empower creativity and personal choice.

Creating such frameworks is another fundamental aspect of the human character. We are predisposed to reflect on our experiences, perceive patterns in our experiences, and derive principles from these patterns to guide future choice. Our minds, operating as story-engines, are alert to analogy and metaphor. We draw lessons from past experiences and use these lessons to frame how we address new problems. We often frame our current condition in terms of past experiences.

The more experiences we have, the more diverse our collection of analogies and metaphors, and the more subtle we can be in discerning the nature of our experiences and finding the best analogies and metaphors. When frames are used mostly to connect experiences, rather than separate experiences, they can be very helpful tools for problem-solving.

Again and again, God offers and Moses communicates a set of effective frameworks. Again and again the chosen people experiment with other frameworks and suffer the consequences. Toward the end of his life, Moses remarks:

The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings… when you obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Surely this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not to heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?...” No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe. (Deuteronomy 30: 8-14)

Based on their experiences, the effective frameworks are already known or can be known. Behaving consistently with the frameworks is a choice. Business leadership and management are both aimed at influencing this choice.

Among the principal roles of the business executive are the identification, communication, and encouragement to observe effective frameworks. John Kotter, a long-time professor at the Harvard Business School, notes that leadership and management are both focused on essentially the same three organizational activities: each “involves deciding what needs to be done, creating networks of people and relationships that can accomplish an agenda, and then trying to ensure that those people actually do the job.” (Kotter, John; What Leaders Really Do, Harvard Business Review, December 2001)

According to Kotter the leader must set a direction, “developing a vision of the future (often the distant future) along with strategies for producing the changes needed to achieve that vision.” The business leader must also align people. “This means communicating the new direction to those who can create coalitions that understand the vision and are committed to its achievement.” Finally the leader must motivate. The effective executive persuades people that the direction set out is worth their attention and the proposed frameworks are worth disciplined observance. Kotter notes that the leader motivates by “appealing to basic but often untapped human needs, values, and emotions.” In all of these actions the leader is trying to frame and explain reality. In outlining this three step system, Kotter is trying to offer us a helpful framework.

Moses communicated a long-term vision, he aligned people and alliances that were committed to the vision, and he worked to motivate broad enthusiasm for the vision. This is a framework for our own effective action. Fundamental to this blog is a notion that we can find in the ancient wisdom of the Bible the basis for creating effective frameworks for our personal and professional lives. Creating and using frameworks is fundamental to your true self.