Scene One: January 23, 2007:
Leaning into our discomfort around inclusion

Exercise Four: Structure of the Land

What is the relationship between behavior and structure?

Patti Digh and David Robinson, facilitators of this session wrote:

Water follows the structure of the land...
Behavior, like water, follows the structure of the land.
We're trying to bring an awareness to underlying structure.

Think about this statement: "You got to where you are in your life right now by moving along the path of least resistance." Is this a true statement?

According to Robert Fritz, author of The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your own Life (Ballantine Books, 1989), "Once a structure exists, energy moves through that structure by the path of least resistance. In other words, energy moves where it is easiest for it to go!

Fritz builds his ideas on three premises:

  1. We humans are like rivers; we've gotten through life "taking the path of least resistance."
  2. The path of least resistance is determined by the underlying structures of our lives.
  3. The "fundamental underlying structures" in our lives can be changed -- we have the power to change them!

Fritz says everything has an underlying structure that are both physical (such as buildings, highways, bridges, architecture) and non-physical (the plot in a novel or play, the rhythm and form in a poem, the culture in an organization). He says that every structure is made up of "parts that relate to one another." When the parts interact, he says there is an "inclination toward movement." He says every structure has this tendency toward movement--which simply is the "tendency to change from one state to another."

Finally, Fritz says structures determines your behavior! Think about this the next time you walk into the building you work in! He says, "human beings act in accordance with the underlying structures in their lives."

Questions:

  1. Think of a time when you know that you took the path of least resistance? What was the structure that facilitated your taking that path?
  2. Think of a time when you did not take the path of least resistance? What change did you make in the structure so that you could succeed?
  3. How did you feel making this change in the structure?
  4. Where do you see that you could make changes to the structures that impede diversity and inclusion efforts?

Check back soon. We're going to add some more questions and ideas to this exercise!

Patti Digh and David Robinson of The Circle Project were the presenters for the first session, January 23, 2007, on inclusion and engagement in the workplace. Diversity and Inclusion Intentions are one of the main constructs of diversity and inclusion work.

Scene One was the first session of the 2007 NW Diversity Learning Series held in Seattle Washington, Life theater - Inclusion and Engagement: Challenging and Expanding My diversity Competency: Moving Beyond My Comfort Zone. The Series is organized by The GilDeane Group, publishers of DiversityCentral.com.