The PRIMES by Chris McGoff

The PRIMES are fundamental and universal ways of viewing human and group dynamics, which allows anyone to work with these forces instead of against them. The PRIMES make it possible to get stuff done and change the world without creating more problems than you solve. They include keys to generating enrollment, enthusiasm and excitement among the very people you need to help you accomplish great things. They provide invaluable and extremely accessible insights into what gives a leader and a group, power, and what dilutes it and makes it impossible to be InPower. They are a must-read and must-master for any leader.

The book, The PRIMES, outlines a current inventory of 32 PRIMES. Working with Chris at The Clearing, I am helping identify even more of them. I recommend anyone interested in exploring The PRIMES to buy the book and explore the excellent videos and resources on www.theprimes.com. Below is a growing inventory of The PRIMES that I use and reference often in my work helping groups and leaders step INto their power to change the world. Links to the videos are included below. If you have any insights or would like to explore how these concepts apply in your own business, please contact me.

PRIMES I Use Frequently in Consulting, Coaching & Life

• A CLEARING
• CORE PRIME
• CHASE-LOSE
• IN-ON
• RIGHT VS. RIGHT
• STAKE

A CLEARING

Manage complexity with deliberate intentionality.

A CLEARING is a new PRIME, which is not in the book. It is a simple and powerful concept that we find evidence has been useful to humans throughout time – in retreats, sabbaticals and spiritual practices. A CLEARING allows leaders and groups to manage complexity and “overwhelm” with intentionality.

A CLEARING allows leaders to focus on the fewest most essential things that will cause possibility to be realized and extraordinary outcomes to be achieved. It’s also useful for less dramatic goals, but that’s its power – if you want to get anything done, call A CLEARING to focus on it and no matter what the problem is, you’ll leave A CLEARING with more insight, power and maybe even a solution.

The key to A CLEARING is the intentionally drawn boundary around the area or issue of focus. Setting this intentional space creates an opening where:

• possibility exists and
• we can place our intended outcome – the reason the space was created.

In drawing this boundary, we allow through the door ONLY what is essential to the intended outcome and keep everything else – including fear and jugement and “we tried that before” kind of unhelpful input – outside. Within the safe space of A CLEARING, created to allow possibility and to focus on one purpose alone, new ideas, new approaches, new potential realities can emerge.

Creating A CLEARING is an unnatural act, but it is a gift every leader and every group should give themselves when focusing on something that matters. You can create A CLEARING for anything – yourself, a discussion with a colleague or a friend, a meeting with a small group and a meeting with a large group. It can be set up in a physical space, a temporal space, a virtual space or a mental space. As long as you set the boundaries and are explicit about what is inside and outside the space – and people agree to work within this construct for the desired outcome – the magic of A CLEARING will help you move closer to the outcome and accomplish great things.

CORE PRIME

Powerful groups forge five essential agreements.

CORE PRIME

The CORE PRIME is a simple yet powerful way to chart the course for CHANGE OR TRANSFORMATION. It outlines the five essential agreements that must exist between people on a CHANGE OR TRANSFORMATION journey together, but it can also be used to help an individual plot out their own plan for growth and evolution. I use it to help design strategic planning projects and to identify where groups are getting stuck. The CORE PRIME offers a lot of insight into how to get unstuck as well as how to eliminate resistance before you encounter it. In a coaching context, CORE PRIME offers excellent strategies for using with people you’re trying to influence at a motivational level. See STAKE to see what I mean.

For a short course in the CORE PRIME, watch the video and for more information look over the description and download the chapter available there.

CHASE-LOSE

Pursuit of meaningful outcomes inspires teamwork and leadership.

CHASE-LOSE

The power of CHASE-LOSE is subtle and it matters most when you’re trying to work ON the business. The essence of its wisdom is that when you want to achieve a goal not directly tied to business outcomes – which many of us are trained to see as “overhead” such as culture, leadership, teamwork or innovation – the best way to do this is not to focus on it directly! For example, if you want to foster leadership among young managers, don’t hold a seminar and talk at people about leadership in the abstract or send them to a climbing wall together. Instead, hold a problem solving session designed to unstick them on some of the issues they’re dealing with IN the business at that moment in time. View their challenges through the lens of leadership principles and show them how those principles make the work easier and them more effective. Coach and support them in their work so they understand the direct correlation between the leadership principles and their ability to get the job done. Don’t CHASE leadership or you’ll LOSE it. CHASE the outcome they want to achieve so they can see it in action and adapt their leadership style to achieve their goals. CHASE-LOSE gets you a twofer – intentionally built culture AND outcomes IN the business. I use CHASE-LOSE in the design of every single one of my coaching and consulting efforts. If I can’t help you further a meaningful business outcome for yourself, then we’re wasting our time with each other.

For a short course in CHASE-LOSE, watch the video and  for more information, look over the description  and download the chapter available there.

IN-ON

You are either working IN your business, or ON it.

IN-ON

RIGHT VS. RIGHT

The most important arguments occur when rights collide.

RIGHT VS. RIGHT

Everyone – leaders and followers alike – knows the feeling of being in a pitched battle of wills in which no one will give in for fear of “losing” the fight. Often we end up in those situations even when we try hard not to. Regardless of our intention, when we end up there, things almost resolve without difficult feelings that end up impacting future interactions. By contrast, when we can get into spirited debate to suss out a situation without someone needing to lose, it’s often a win-win that results. The gift of RIGHT VS. RIGHT is in helping us see how to turn those battles into win-wins easily. The key is to understand that the person you’re arguing against has a good point in there somewhere. If you find it and honor it – publicly so everyone sees you’re aware of the other’s good intentions – then the argument shifts to a passionate conversation where everyone is recognized as trying to pursue a meaningful outcome. At it’s best, RIGHT VS. RIGHT discussions become problem solving exercises where everyone works to make sure the most right gets done.

For a short course in IN-ON, watch the video and  for more information, look over the description and download the chapter available there.

STAKE

People have different motivations; inspire them all.

STAKE

STAKE does a brilliant job at mapping out the essential dynamics of human motivation in a group setting. When you want to motivate a group of people to do things differently you need to be aware that there are six separate motivations for change and that within any group, all six will be present. Within any group of people, some will be more motivated by the an emotional pull towards an outcome, or an emotional repellent; some will be drawn to the analytical rational for change or analytical case against it; and others will be motivated by the potential financial risk while others will be compelled to pursue the possibility of financial gain. When the group reaches agreement on these six elements of the “What’s at STAKE?” agreement identified in the CORE PRIME, each person will find their own reasons to tip the energy of the group from clinging to the current As Is situation we know, to brave the future unknown To Be we haven’t met yet.

For a short course in STAKE, watch the video and  for more information, look over the description and download the chapter available there.

(Images of The PRIMES are (c) 2010 by The Clearing, Inc.)

I will continue to update this page as I reference and use The PRIMES on this web site. However, I strongly recommend that you buy the book and follow the PRIMES Blog to get a more in depth understanding of these concepts. To bring them to your whole team, contact me about strategies for introducing them productively and in service to specific outcomes that accelerate your business and leadership interests.