A practical guide · Benjamin P Taylor
Diagnose the dynamics
Use recent events, compare experiences, and form a working judgement. The output is an experiment to discuss with the people involved.
Choose a situation small enough to examine
Pick a team, a recurring meeting, a boundary between groups, or a piece of work. Say what it needs to achieve and for whom. ‘Our culture’ is usually too large a starting point. Two teams repeatedly failing to complete a handover is something you can investigate.
Ask people to make their own observations before discussing them together. Keep disagreements visible. A manager may experience abundant empowerment while a colleague experiences permission that disappears whenever it’s used.
For each judgement, name something that happened. Check an alternative explanation: are people unable to collaborate because they’re defending territory, because there’s no time, because their targets conflict, or because information cannot cross the boundary?
Your working diagnosis
All fields are optional. Choose ‘not yet clear’ where you need more evidence. There’s no total score or ideal profile. Your entries stay on this page; use Download to keep a copy before you leave.
Weight maps
Ask each person to mark which dynamics feel absent, workable, excessive, or mixed. Place their observations beside each other. Don’t average them away: the distribution can reveal different conditions, unequal discretion, or a boundary you’ve overlooked.
A weight map gives a quick picture. Follow it with examples and questions. A strong dynamic may be useful for the current task; ‘strong’ and ‘too much’ aren’t the same judgement.
Rhythm maps
Take a recent week, project cycle, or meeting sequence. Mark where each dynamic was active, how transitions happened, and what people experienced. A technical review might segment expertise, blend perspectives, empower an engineer to decide, and harmonise the resulting commitments. The same event can serve several dynamics.
Compare the formal diary with the real one: interruptions, approvals, conversations, waiting, and informal work. Look for long stretches where a needed dynamic has no legitimate place to happen.
Constellations and conversation
In a workshop, mark four positions in the room and invite people to stand where their current experience takes them. Ask what they notice, then invite movement towards what the work needs. Offer a seated or written version. No one should have to reveal a personal judgement in public to participate.
Use the movement to open inquiry. It isn’t evidence that a person belongs in a particular category.
Based on the diagnosis and application sections of the extended StretchCon material. The form is a working aid developed from those questions, rather than a validated psychological or organisational assessment.