Prism Splits Spectrum of Values

A Prism takes in white light and ‘magically splits it’ into the spectrum of colors we recognize as ROYGBIV-the rainbow of  red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

The Prism Fame takes thinking inputs and splits out core values and vital determining factors, both positive and negative. In other words, in relation to the thinking focus issue and purpose, what are the must-have elements, and must not have elements. When we make decisions, research shows we decide primarily through emotions, justified by logic. And what drives the emotions? Our core values that seek to protect what matters most to us.

I used the Prism Frame when choosing both a neighborhood and a house when we moved back to the USA from England. I had each family member map out positive Prism values and negatives. My son wanted (+)neighborhood with kids to play with, pool in back yard, close to ice hockey rink with league team, access to school of the arts. I had positive values (+): close to ocean or other body of water, close to an active cultural downtown, warm weather most of the year, low maintenance house & grounds, house filled with natural light, space for a home office, aesthetically pleasing house design, within 30 minutes of international airport, not too close or too far from my ageing  mother. My minus values-ones I wanted to avoid (-) were- not on busy street, not too rural, not old house.  We first highlighted desirable geographic areas of the country and matched them against overall criteria. The ones that met all or most remained on the hit list of possibilities. Then we moved on to look at available homes in the area- online at first. In the small city where we ended up, we viewed 10 houses on a one day visit, and compared houses against everyone’s Prism Frame values. Nothing was just right, however, until we walked in the door of the house we now live in. (The final house we saw, wouldn’t you know it!)  Instantly we all just knew ‘this is it’!  While it had no pool it at least had space for one to be built. And we love it to this day, especially the light, the pool and the neighbors!

The Prism Frame helps choose between alternatives. It can also help flush out motivation and intention, when one is careful to draw them out, recognizing that people may have conflicting values within themselves. (I’m hungry-I need to eat something. And… It’s near bedtime so I shouldn’t eat so late.) It also makes visible value clashes across groups. Remember, we can only see how people behave, not what they think. So using a thinking tool like the Prism Frame is a way to pull people’s thoughts from their head out into the open. They are then easier to address, and hopefully fulfill. 

Do note, this tool, like all the others, does NOT attempt to tell anyone WHAT to think. It only makes their values ‘visible’ in order to take them into account. 

Think of an issue in your business that puzzles you. Perhaps you wonder why you aren’t getting much traffic to your blog. Could it be that there are conflicting values at play?  That one is working against the other? Or maybe that you need to select from among optional methods and pick the one that give you the most value for the time, money and effort required. While there are several InSight Frames you could use to look this issue- each of which would provide a different slice of information and feedback- right now I want you to apply the Prism Frame.

• choose your thinking focus issue (and purpose as to why you want to think about this)
• list out all positive values (what are key determining factors)
• list out all negative values (deal breaker factors)
• if you are comparing alternative choices, do this for each
• notice what will allow you to  have more of what you want and less of what you don’t want
• use Design Thinking to design out flaws to upgrade an option you want that has (-) values or to enhance a (+) option

This tool is more subtle and full of nuance than some of the others, and takes some getting used to. But since it is delivering on what matters to you in making your choices, isn’t it worth developing?