Your four layers of freedom — or not.

Four layers of freedom or constraint; and what to use to grow freedom

In some aspects of your life you have freedom, but in other aspects you are subject to constraints.

You’re subject to four layers of constraint, if you’re part of our modern economy. Little is fully in your circles of control or influence; most is outside your circle of influence.

1. Your personal maps of meaning. You are subject to those of your inner maps that you are not fully aware of. The maps that you use to to understand yourself, others, and the world you live in. The maps that tell you what another’s actions mean, and define your response. For example, that say, if you are junior to me in the organisation, any disagreement with me is a challenge to my authority. We always have maps we are subject to, because we have not yet even realised they are there. So we are constrained to navigate with dysfunctional maps
2. How you interact. You learnt fast, in your first few years, patterns of interaction with others. From then on you are subject to the set of patterns you learnt to use. Few consciously and regularly evaluate their effectiveness in each context. And then acquire new ways of interacting. So you are constrained inside repeating patterns of interaction, regardless of who the other person is.
3. How your organisation is structured, and its processes. You are subject to the hierarchy; maybe it is a…