People with the theme Context look back. They look back because that is where the answers lie. They look back to understand the present. From their vantage point the present is unstable, a confusing clamor of competing voices. It is only by casting their mind back to an earlier time, a time when the plans were being drawn up, that the present regains its stability. The earlier time was a simpler time. It was a time of blueprints. As people with Context look back, they begin to see these blueprints emerge. They realize what the initial intentions were. These blueprints or intentions have since become so embellished that they are almost unrecognizable, but now this Context theme reveals them again. This understanding brings them confidence. No longer disoriented, they make better decisions because they sense the underlying structure. People with Context become a better partner because they understand how their colleagues came to be who they are. And counter intuitively they become wiser about the future because they saw its seeds being sown in the past. Faced with new people and new situations, it will take them a little time to orient themselves. They must discipline themselves to ask the questions and allow the blueprints to emerge because no matter what the situation, if they haven't seen the blueprints, they will have less confidence in their decisions.
Advising those with Context:
• When you ask this person to do something, take time to explain the thinking that led to the request. They need to understand the background of a course of action before they can commit to it.
• No matter the subject matter, ask this person to collect revealing stories, highlight key discoveries from each one, and perhaps build a class around them.
• Ask this person to collect anecdotes of people behaving in a way that exemplifies the cornerstones of your organization’s culture. Their stories, retold in newsletters, training classes, websites, videos, and so on, will strengthen your culture.