<h1><span style="font-size: small;">Context</span></h1>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">You look back. You look back because that is where the answers lie. You look back to understand the present. From your vantage point the present is unstable, a confusing clamor of competing voices. It is only by casting your mind back to an earlier time, a time when the plans were being drawn up, that the present regains its stability. The earlier time was a simpler time. It was a time of blueprints. As you look back, you begin to see these blueprints emerge. You realize what the initial intentions were. These blueprints or intentions have since become so embellished that they are almost unrecognizable, but now this Context theme reveals them again. This understanding brings you confidence. No longer disoriented, you make better decisions because you sense the underlying structure. You become a better partner because you understand how your colleagues came to be who they are. And counterintuitively you become wiser about the future because you saw its seeds being sown in the past. Faced with new people and new situations, it will take you a little time to orient yourself, but you must give yourself this time. You must discipline yourself to ask the questions and allow the blueprints to emerge because no matter what the situation, if you haven't seen the blueprints, you will have less confidence in your decisions.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Action Items for   This Theme</strong></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">Collect memories through photographs and written materials --   they can be motivational for you.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">Read historical novels, non-fiction, or biographies. You will   discover many insights that will help you understand the present. You will   think more clearly.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">Before planning begins on a project, encourage your colleagues   to study past projects. Help them appreciate the statement that "those who cannot   remember the past are condemned to repeat it."</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">If you are in a role that requires teaching others, build your lessons around case   studies. You will enjoy the search for the appropriate case, and your   students will learn from these precedents. Use your understanding of the past   to help others map the future.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">Help your organization strengthen its culture via folklore. For   example, collect symbols   and stories that represent the best of the past, or suggest naming an   award after a person who embodied the best of the past.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Be ready to:</strong></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">Partner with someone with   a strong Futuristic or Strategic theme. This person's fascination   with what "could   be" will stop you from becoming mired in the past, while your   deep understanding of Context will stop him or her from ignoring the lessons   of the past. Together you are more likely to create something that lasts.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">Accept change. Remember that   the Context theme does not equate with "living in the past."   Instead, you can actually become   known as an active agent for positive change. Your strong Context theme should allow you to   identify more clearly than most the aspects of the past that can be   discarded, and those that must be retained in order to build a   sustainable future.</span></p>
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