YOUR FRAMES OF REFERENCE
September 19, 2018 2023-04-05 19:11YOUR FRAMES OF REFERENCE
YOUR FRAMES OF REFERENCE
Erhard, Granger, Jensen, and Zaffron (2013) talked about how your frames of reference are incorporated in your “wall of bricks.”
Erhard et al. (2013) noted that an entire wall of bricks represents your worldview. Your frame of reference is related to some specific something in your world, such as the way you view the group or your concept of leadership. Your frame of reference can also be viewed as a group of bricks within your wall of bricks.
Each individual brick fits and makes sense with the other bricks that surround it. For any group of bricks (frame of reference), the groups that surround it are consistent with and often reinforce the group of bricks they surround. At the very least, these bricks must not be in conflict with the group they belong to.
If you have gotten the picture, you will see that there can be no brick in your wall of bricks that is disallowed by, or inconsistent with any other brick in your wall of bricks. Everything in your wall of bricks makes sense with everything else in your wall of bricks. It all holds neatly together to form your worldview. It is important to note that you also have a group of bricks in your wall of bricks (frame of reference) regarding who you are for yourself and that that frame of reference (assumptions and beliefs about yourself) limits and shapes you as a person.
Let’s take this further in the context of the group identity. Picture in your mind a wall of bricks. As you picture this wall, imagine yourself as one of the bricks in this wall. You are connected to the other bricks. You belong on that wall. You fit with the other bricks. Other people do not really see a wall of bricks. They simply see a wall. You are part of one wall, just like the world does not really see the diverse individuals in one the group, they see one group.
Transformation begins when something does not fit. Imagine when a brick does not fit our existing wall of bricks. This is how we typically respond to something new. As an individual, when you are confronted with having your worldview examined or questioned, below your level of consciousness, it is registered as a threat (Erhard et al., 2013).
As an individual member of a group, you decide whether you can continue to be a “brick in that wall” or if you feel that you ultimately do not intend to fit in that wall anymore. However, this “threat” or “disturbance” that you are experiencing because different worldviews are being presented to you are beginnings of transformation.
Sign up for the Book of the Month Club and get exclusive access to Archbishop Jordan’s best selling book: The Group: Space for Transformation!
What about your life is “not fitting”?