Welcome back to this series of writings dedicated to the work and worldview of Cultural Dynamics Strategy and Marketing. Here I explore how relationships influence our sense of control and happiness.

Settlers and Relationships

As Settlers, we have the potential to form strong bonds with our families, our work teams and communities. We like to be loyal and to be there for each other but, sometimes, we may place allegiance to a group, community or organisation higher than commitment to our one-to-one relationships.

A sense of duty and obligation (or rejection of duty!) tends to give meaning and purpose to our one-to-one relationships, but our behaviours are often motivated by larger causes and goals, such as representing an organisation, playing sport for our local team, or fighting for our nation.

Prospectors and Relationships

As Prospectors, cultivating the ground for some sense of happiness and a degree of control over our lives depends on our core strategy, which is to compare ourselves with other individuals. Continually, we monitor and assess our standing in the world in comparison with other people. Always comparing the way we think, feel and act with the way other people behave, we get a sense of identity by letting family, friends and colleagues (and iconic public figures) act as a mirror to deepen our understanding of ourselves and enhance our insight into our social value.

So, our everyday contentment and sense of control tend to be linked to maintaining and developing our everyday relationships. In this context, the rise and use of social media has been a dream come true for many of us, but it can also become a nightmare if we receive contradictory or negative feedback.

Pioneers and Relationships

As Pioneers, good relationships with friends and colleagues arise when we are able to continue meeting our Settler and Prospector needs without stifling our creative expression, or over-compromising with regard to our unique, individual needs.

Valuing difference and diversity lies at the heart of our everyday relationships, which emerges as we learn to accept ambiguity, paradox and the wonderful complexities of the human condition.

A marked change occurs when we start to develop a true relationship with ourselves! When this idea stops feeling like a theory or a metaphor and becomes truly embedded in our everyday lives is when we recognise the diversity within ourselves as well as the diversity of worldviews around us.

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N.B. All views and opinions expressed through these writings are solely my own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Cultural Dynamics.

John. email: jp.powderly@gmail.com