The Death of "That's How We've Always Done It"

I've gotten really inquisitive into psychology of late. Studying the great masters - Freud, Jung, and Adler.

I have seen how Adler was a contrarian, much like ourselves at Circle Leadership.

While his contemporaries were focused on how the past determines our present, Adler dared to suggest we could consciously design our future. At Circle Leadership, we've discovered something profound: the push of the past with the pull of possibility doesn't need to be a tug of war.

Traditional strategic planning is dead...it just doesn't know it yet.

*SIDEBAR: FOR A DEEPER EXPLANATION. I HAVE ADDED THE THEORIES AFTER THIS ARTICLE

Most organizations find themselves caught in an exhausting battle, either fighting against "how we've always done things" or being held captive by it. While they're still crafting 5-year plans in a world that changes every 5 minutes, clinging to annual budgets in an economy that pivots quarterly, and writing mission statements that gather dust rather than drive action, Circle Leadership offers a fundamentally different approach.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Most organizational behavior is nothing more than collective habit - thinking patterns as deeply rooted as any personal trait. Leaders talk about innovation while their organizations remain unconsciously tethered to their past. The push of familiar patterns feels overwhelming. Yet unlike individuals trapped by their past, organizations have the unique ability to harness this push while embracing the pull of possibility.

A Human-First Revolution

Circle Leadership's framework isn't just another management methodology - it's a fundamental recognition that organizations are "just a bunch of humans working together for a greater good or goal." This simple truth exposes the absurdity of trying to drive organizational change without understanding how to work with both the push of ingrained patterns and the pull of purposeful evolution.

Breaking the Strategic Planning Delusion

Instead of exhausting ourselves in the tug of war between past and future, Circle Leadership introduces a more dynamic rhythm:

• A 10-20 year vision that creates a powerful pull toward possibility

• 3-year missions that harness the push of momentum toward conscious evolution

• 90-day tactical cycles that turn tension into forward motion

Values as Operating System, Not Wall Art

While most organizations treat values as aspirational posters, Circle Leadership positions them as the conscious architecture of organizational thinking. Values become the bridge between the push of our patterns and the pull of our potential - not what to think, but how to think anew.

The Leadership Paradox

True leadership isn't about winning the war against old patterns - it's about helping others become the best version of themselves to do their life's best work while in your care and beyond. This requires leaders to understand both the push of their own patterns and the pull of their team's potential.

Strategy Through Evolution, Not Planning

Circle Leadership advocates for continuous evolution through conscious design:

• Understanding the push of current thinking patterns without fighting them

• Creating meaningful pull through deliberately chosen futures

• Using spaced repetition to transform tension into momentum

• Measuring progress through actual behavior change, not just metrics

The Brutal Reality Check

Organizations aren't failing because they're losing the tug of war, they're failing because they don't understand how to work with both forces. Their leaders aren't struggling because of their capabilities. They're struggling because they see past and possibility as enemies rather than allies.

Purpose Beyond Profit

While others treat purpose as a marketing exercise, Circle Leadership positions it as the fundamental force that aligns the push of present reality with the pull of future potential. It's not about what you do - it's about creating the energy that moves everyone forward together.

A Final Provocation

If your organization's strategy could fit any other company with a few word changes, if your values could hang on any other office wall, if your purpose statement could be a LinkedIn post...then you're not leading evolution, you're caught in the exhausting tug of war between what was and what could be.

This is why Circle Leadership stands apart.

“The push of the past with the pull of possibility doesn’t need to be a tug of war.” - a Clarism

We understand that the push of the past with the pull of possibility doesn't need to be a tug of war. By understanding how humans really behave and evolve, we've created a framework that transforms organizational tension into forward momentum.

The magic isn't in fighting our patterns or being trapped by them...it's in understanding them deeply enough to consciously design what's next.

It's time to lead different.

Together we can...

#EvovleTheWorldOfWork

Want to learn more? Please read the "Deeper Explanation" that follows.

Dave Clare, CEO & Founder, Circle Leadership

A Deeper Explanation

There are two big ideas in psychology about what drives human behavior.

The first one, called determinism (which Freud championed), says that everything we do is caused by our past experiences and habits - we're basically running on patterns we learned growing up. The second idea, called teleology (which Adler developed), says that humans can choose their future and work toward it regardless of their past - we have the power to decide who we want to become.

While these might seem contradictory, modern neuroscience shows us that both are true and observable in human behavior. Our brains form patterns through repeated experiences (this is measurable), AND our brains remain plastic throughout life, capable of forming new patterns through conscious design (also measurable).

At Circle Leadership, we built a process that works with both these scientifically validated principles, while adding something essential: we believe in evolution...the natural capacity for all humans and organizations to continuously expand their capabilities and capacity for greatness.

This isn't just positive thinking; we can demonstrate how this works through proven mechanisms like spaced repetition and pattern formation.

Our clients' results consistently show this isn't just theory.

Organizations using our approach achieve measurable improvements in strategic execution, employee engagement, and financial performance. We can demonstrate exactly how changes in thinking patterns lead to specific behavioral changes, which in turn create measurable results.

We never say "You're doing it wrong" or "Your patterns are bad." Instead, we recognize that every pattern served a purpose in getting you to where you are today.

This isn't about philosophical debate...it's about practical results.

Your current patterns are simply the foundation from which your next evolution can emerge, and we can show you exactly how that evolution happens.

Our process works with both forces while honoring this evolutionary potential. Through 90-day evolution cycles, we help organizations understand their current thinking patterns as their evolutionary starting point, while simultaneously helping them design new thinking patterns that will create their chosen future.

We can measure progress at each step, making this a practical rather than theoretical approach.

This is why we focus so much on values as "how to think" rather than "what to think."

It's about consciously designing the next stage of evolution while respecting where you are now. The process works across different cultures and industries because it's based on universal human pattern formation rather than imposed ideologies.

Most other approaches either focus on fixing problems or forcing change, missing the natural evolutionary capacity within every person and organization. We see every current state as perfect for what was needed before, and every future state as an exciting evolution waiting to emerge.

And we can show you exactly how to make that emergence happen, step by measurable step.

The proof is in the results...not just in theory, but in the measurable improvements our clients consistently achieve.

Would you like to see exactly how this works in practice?