13-climates
'no man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.' - John DonneIn 1974, my partner Thomas Zambiel and myself [Samuel Cray] worked together to create a system of contextual problem solving for teams, diagnosing not only individual members, but giving a sense of the culture and ingraining that sense into the DNA of the results for each member.Within the Zambiel-Cray Social Index system, there are 13 Climates, each with their own unique mapping. ZCSI system considers you as a portion of a greater social system, your climate as much about your context as it is about you. As well as being contextual, a ZCSI Screening is ephemeral, as in, each one has an expiration date. That is to say, when you get the 'Scripture' Climate, you are not a 'Scripture' type, you currently have something to learn from the 'Scripture' climate in a fashion closer to the I Ching than to the Myers-Briggs.Read below for guidance on how to interpret each Climate.// Please Note: I deviated from Zambiel and Cray's initial view of these Climates by introducing the Day and Night format of the printouts to format them as we have. Keep that in mind when utilizing this interpretation - S.E. Figura
Scripture - The TransmissiveTo think on communicationScripture indicates a challenge in communication. The significant variables to be considered here are glyph width, glyph height and glyph density. Width and Height determine the type of communication that is currently perilous, the width indicating the distance created through this communication or lack thereof, the height pertaining to the level of difference between you and the party/parties you are communicating with. The typical glyph density has to do with amount of communication. A very dense glyph can indicated an amount of over-communication, a light one can be indicative of under-communication.For example, if you have a densely packed glyph that is long and short, you may consider the communication patterns between you and an intimate loved one. The height indicates someone that is relatively lateral with you in terms of social power. The length can indicate a rift growing through persistent, ineffective over-communication. New communication strategies are likely in order.
Grid - The AllegiantTo think on communityGrid is about larger social dynamics. The atom of the grid is single person, the colorings of each atom indicating an allegiance, these 'neighborhoods' of allegiance being a social grouping. Thomas [Zambiel] finds it helpful to view this Climate at a 'squint', allowing you to pull out the shapes of communities more clearly. I, for one, opt to outline the 'communities' with a bold marker. Whatever your technique, identifying the shape and size of these communities is central. The Y axis can be viewed as the hierarchy of groups, while the X axis is a given team at a particular level in this hierarchy. It is important to understand here that bigger communities are not always better. A page with no variation can indicate too much groupthink, a sort of memetic inbreeding, while a chaotic page with absurdly small (less than 12 atoms) communities can indicate too much dissonance and a lack unified direction. From these indications, give some thought about what may be causing these clusters to behave the way they do, perhaps identifying some of the clusters by name.
Island - The IntrospectiveTo think on the selfNot to entirely contradict the rest of our system, but, the Island Climate is about a singular person: You. We found, as we continued to hone the system, that there are particular occasions when someone is so ingrained in the wellbeing and success of a team, that they have forgotten to tend to their own self.This island suffers from erosion along the coast and sometimes within its deeper body. The best way to make sense of this design is to make a hierarchical list of disciplines and activities you are interested in and make a list of those disciplines and activities you are currently spending your time doing, in order of most time spent on that task to least amount of time. Take the top picks from each category and place them in the middle, moving further out to the coast and even into the ocean with the activities that you have not been tending to.Circle areas where items from both lists are in close vicinity. These are cohesions, areas where you are likely satisfied with your life. Draw lines between the items that appear on both lists that are remote from one another. These are rifts and indicate a vector for growth.Also, consider the erosion patterns. Though something is near the coast, that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. If that thing has a wealth of land to stand upon, it can show that this is a good place for that activity. Perhaps you just don't have time for reading the way you might want to, but the little bit of time that you do put in is good enough and cohesive this your lifestyle. Conversely, an object being near the middle, even in a cohesion, does not mean that it is necessarily a good thing. If there are many breaks in the body of the island, this can indicate that you are perhaps spending too much time on things which have no healthy bearing on your life. For instance, if you are massively interested in drinking with friends and you are spending a lot of time drinking with friends, you will find a cohesion, but, perhaps it would be better suited as a more remote interest that you spend slightly less time doing if the ground beneath that area is erosive.
Constellation - The AdapterTo think on the linkingConstellations are vastly remote bodies linked only by equally remote sentience, a strange symbol emerging out of associations only available to those not too closely linked to any of the constituent bodies.This Climate indicates there is a situation that you have a level of objectivity or, at very least, distance to see in a way that is not clear to others. The atoms or bodies in your own constellation could be people, network devices, resources or entire systems. Think what shapes you might be able to see because of your distance from things. While those closest to them may have intimacy with their own affairs and, thus, try to push you out on the criteria of inexperience, sometimes it takes someone millions of miles away to find Orion in the dark.
Genome - The GeneticistTo think on DNAWhat is essential, atomic and undividable for you and your group? Genome seeks to aide you in exploring this. This Climate is a readout of the DNA of your group.The best way to determine the concerns of your group is to align this design with the Baringer-Holt Business Study Geometry. On the X axis, you will find your stacks align with the vectors that you are most concerned with (ex. purchasing or training). On the Y axis you will find the rows of concern highlighted within the proper column (ex. core competencies or lean development).Having a better understanding of what is currently activated within your group can help you better find what you will need to change to better achieve your group's goals.This was Thomas' idea, if anyone asks...
Notation - The ProgrammerTo think on functionNotation expresses a process, a mapping of events when performed in succession, lead to a particular outcome. Notation is about exploring processes, whether they are labor or automated, digital or analogue. Notice the patternicity of the printout. This is the primary reading method for this Climate. Think about the process that may need fixing and consider it's rhythm. Is it monotonous, repetitive, drumming or is it more chaotic, reactive and branching. Does your printout match this? If not, do you think it is an indication that your process could change to meet the printout a little more closely or is it, perhaps, that your sense of this process is granularly incorrect? Could a perspective shift help you better understand this process, help you hone in on what the process is, what you want it to be and, therefore, what you need to do to bridge that gap.
Party - The SocialiteTo think on friendshipParty is somewhat like grid in it's focus, but with a slight difference. If grid is about the culture of an environment, Party is about relationships and social intention of a smaller clustering of people. Party adds a vector for time and is more intimate in it's consideration.The major parameters of this Climate are the count of bodies, size of each body and clustering of bodies. A large number of bodies may indicate a corporation, whereas a small number may be a team or a family. The size of the bodies indicate importance to you, to the point that one of the bodies in this climate may be indicative of you. The lines extending from each of the bodies are to be understood as either intentions or as a history. It is solely up to you which applies for each. If two intentions cross, consider the angle of overlap. A more perpendicular overlapping can be significant of conflicts to occur, while a more parallel one indicates a more cooperative moving. Two histories crossing illustrates two bodies that have met at some point in the past, the circumstances of that meeting dictated by the dimension of the angle between their histories. An intention crossing paths with a history signifies someone following in the footsteps of another, the angle determining whether this following is a rewriting or a continuation of that person's history. The X and Y axes of this Climate are simply measures of closeness (whether philosophical, emotional or otherwise) between bodies.
White Noise - The FabricatorTo think on the impossibleIn the poverty of objectivity is an opportunity for creative supplantation. White Noise, as a design, much like the thing it takes its name from, is compellingly chaotic. Forms are much harder to parse here than from many of the other designs, but, do not fret. This is by design. This Climate was created to indicate a need for creative thinking. The foggy, abstract nature of White Noise allows for the viewer to make something more of this design. The room for interpretation is vast. Much like the Grid, White Noise can be explored using a pen and a 'squint', finding forms, whether nebulous or representational, and marking them out with the pen. This is by far the loosest of the Climates, meant to provide you with the ability to play and explore. Be willing to get lost and you might be surprised where you find yourself.
Manifold - The ProjectorTo think on dimensionsA page is particularly useful for mapping two dimensions. While three dimensions can be projected onto a page, it is a clever lie. Useful, too. But not true. The Manifold is an attempt to map many more dimensions than 3 onto the page.Find the points of the manifold shape and mark a straight line from end to end on the page through the point. This will give you a read out of all of the dimensions you are working with. With this, you should be able to assign the various dimensions, for instance, expense, time, resources, people, any quantifiable entity really. You will start to find out what the shapes around and within the manifold mean as you determine these dimensions, the same way that a square emerges of an X and Y dimension, and a cube from an additional Z. For instance, you may find a shape determined by the higher reaches of expense, the higher range of people and the lower range of achievement. Such a shape is almost certainly about the managing staff of your group.Also look at the size of the shape created by these relationships. This will give you a sense of how related these two dimensions are with one another. Labor and expense for instance, are almost always completely linked.
Tapestry - The StorytellerTo think on historyThe Tapestry is a thread of collective narrative, the significant days and weeks segmented row-by-row and column-by-column. The tapestry is important because its consideration can give greater insight into movement into the future. To know what you have been can give greater clarity on what it is you should be, or at least, it can help you better understand the distance between now and where you want to be.It is best to determine the dates covered in your tapestry first. Explore the significance of this body of time and explore what the story here might be. I have historically written on the tapestry and colored it in with markers to try to explore some of the events that occurred in this time period and their significance in my current story.
Frequency - The CyclistTo think on periodicityPeriods of activity are only made sense of through periods of rest, interruptions. We sleep in order to put away some of what we've learned from the day into our mind. Each line in this Climate can be viewed some sort of 'sprint' or 'development cycle'. More generally, it is a period of activity, the light areas significant of times of 'doing' and the dark ones significant of 'resting'. Where possible, it is good to find areas of pattern throughout the printout, circling them, perhaps in the same colored marker. There is strength in pattern, so long as it is balanced. A pattern too heavy in rest will lead to atrophy, while a pattern heavy in doing will lead to burnout. Explore strategies for balance if you find one to overwhelm the other.
Bubble - The ConstructorTo think on intention and boundaryProjection expresses an N * 2 dimensional intention object (somewhat akin to Manifold), where N is the count of circles. Each circle signifies a different intention of the group, the color of each circle signifying the cohesion of those ideals. Different colored circles do not always equate to dissent, however. You must consider the overlap of these intentions. If two conflicting intentions have a lot of overlap, it is worth considering how to consolidate these things or allow them to occupy different spaces. You don't want Marketing to take up concerns beyond their scope within Human Resources, but, has that happened? Are Marketing stakes starting to drive the behaviour of Human Resources and choke it out from its own best purpose? How can you extract these concerns from one another?
Animation - The ContinuationTo think on changeIf you have ever seen a sprite sheet, you would understand the way the Animation Climate is animated. Each section of this climate can be understood as a 'state'. As you move to the next state and the next state, you get the appearance of movement.Considerations with this Climate really come down to the type of animation you are left with. Does the animation move? If so, how? Does it loop multiple times, returning to an original state or does it continue to blossom and transform? How does this changing relate to the change occurring to you and your corporation? Does this animate in a way that pleases you or is there something that could be changed about it?