What are Energy Field Maps [EFMs]?

Although we know a great deal about the way fields affect the world as we perceive it, the truth is no one really knows what a field is. The closest we can come to describing what they are is to say that they are spatial structures in the fabric of space itself. [Talbot]

Newton’s world of cause and effect required great effort (forces) to make things happen. Since the emergence of the quantum world, we see that it is possible to accomplish this through manipulating non-material structures–i.e. fields–which are the basic substance of the universe.

One explanation of the way fields work is to consider fish in an ocean. As the water moves in synchronism with the swell, the fish all appear to move together from side to side or up and down as though connected by some invisible connector. We know that it is the water of the ocean, however, fields in space behave the same way, we cannot see them and they (unlike the water of the ocean) have no material substance, however, they link all material objects in space. “Physical reality is not only material. Fields are considered real, but they are not material” (Wheatley 1994 p. 50).

The Newtonian Science Organisation	The Quantum Science Organisation
An organisation is a collection of choices looking for problems, issues and feelings looking for decision situations in which they might be aired, solutions looking for issues to which there might be an answer, and decision makers looking for work.	Organisational order is generated through fields. These fields are conceptual controls–it is the ideas of a business that are controlling, not some manager with authority. One of the most powerful fields is shared meaning or the unconscious common ground within an organisation.

In the field view of organisations, clarity about values or vision is important, but it’s only half the task. Creating the field through the dissemination of those ideas is essential. The field must reach all corners of the organisation, involve everyone, and be available everywhere. We need to imagine ourselves as broadcasters, tall radio beacons of information, pulsating out messages everywhere. We must fill all the spaces with the messages we care about. If we do that, fields develop–and with them, their wondrous capacity to bring energy into form. [Wheatley]

Inspired by Tosey and Smith (1999), we have developed an Energy Field Map [EFM] (used with individuals) or Cultural Field Map [CFM] (used with groups) to facilitate the understanding of values-systems from an energy field perspective. Each dimension of the chart is a field of motivational energy emanating from the underlying values.

The pattern in the centre of the hexagon above maps your priority value priorities on each of eight motivational energy field dimensions.

Key questions to ask are:

• Which are the strongest fields?
• Which are weakest or non-existent?
• Given this is the motivational energy I am 'radiating' to those around me, how will people relate to me?
• What would they see me doing?
• What would they hear me saying?
• How would they feel in my presence?
• How does the pattern of my energy fields compare that of my team or organisation?
• What does this mean for myself and those with whom I work?