A Construction Metaphor

 

 Chapter 3

A Construction Metaphor and Analogy

A young JJ in the back of Dad's truck next to his chainsaw
getting wood up the mountain near our home in Monticello, Utah.

All of my life, I have been fascinated by construction of all kinds. My dad was, among other things, a general contractor by profession. From ages three to seven, during the time I lived in southeastern Utah, I eagerly accompanied Dad everywhere I could. I was especially excited to tag along if he was heading somewhere that involved heavy machinery, power tools, lumber, concrete, bricks and mortar, or the hardware store. At age seven, my career plan was to someday be a builder—just like Dad.

While I did not end up pursuing a career in construction, architecture, or engineering, my interest in certain principles and processes pursuant to these subjects is alive and well to this day.  

Nature's wonders, including the famous
Delicate Arch in Utah, were the closest
things to a skyscraper that I grew up near.

Something else I've always been enamored with is city skylines and the skyscrapers that form them. 

Growing up in a tiny rural community in the middle of the sparsely inhabited, mountainous deserts of the Four Corners area of the United States, skyscrapers were nowhere to be found—unless you consider mammoth rock formations (e.g. Shiprock, Agathla Peak (aka: El Capitan), Delicate Arch, Natural Bridges, etc.) to be skyscrapers. Perhaps this geographic isolation from urban areas further fueled my fervor to eventually visit what were, for me, elusive cityscapes—an ambition I vigorously pursued as a young adult.  

Over the years, I've had the extraordinary opportunity to visit nearly every metropolitan area in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. From the magnificent dome of St. Paul's Cathedral in London to the cavernous city centers of Lower and Midtown Manhattan; from the unique urban sprawls of Chicago and Toronto to the endless beach condominium towers of Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties in Florida; and from the spectacular southern skylines of Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Miami, to the wondrous West Coast cityscapes of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver, I have been continually entranced with and thrilled by such sights.  

With my kids in Dubai, UAE.
January 2025

Recently, my family and I traveled to the Middle East where we had the chance to visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Doha, Qatar. Touring these ultra-modern cities—including the tallest building in the world at the time (Burj Khalifa)—was icing on top of the cake of this lifelong hobby of mine—and I know that similar modern marvels exist throughout the world, and more especially in East Asia and Indonesia. 

What a marvelous time to be alive! 

This lifelong interest in construction and skyscrapers led me to design the SAL Model using high-rise construction as a metaphor. Just as there are certain physical laws, principles, and practices of architecture and engineering that apply to the sound construction of building, bridges, dams, and homes, there are likewise certain metaphysical laws, principles, and practices of Self-Action Leadership that govern Existential Growth and successful long-term living. 

The SAL Model provides YOU and me with the incredible opportunity to envision, design, engineer, and then build your own life and/or career. What could be more exciting and engaging than developing and then directing your own destiny?  

SAR and SAL Projects

The purpose of the SAL Model is to identify disciplines and establish habits that will empower your ability to conduct self-action research in your life and career. 

What is self-action research, or SAR? 

SAR is action research applied by, to, and for the SELF.

As you may recall from BOOK the THIRD, Chapter 2, action research (AR) refers to: A four-step cyclical process of identifying and strategically solving problems. By way of review, action research also involves "four core processes." (1)

These four processes include:

Process 1:  PLANNING            Deciding how to deal with a problem.

Process 2:  ACTING                  Implementing your plan.             

Process 3:  OBSERVING          Paying attention and recording what is happening.

Process 4:  REFLECTING       Analyzing outcomes and revising plans for another cycle of acting. (2) 

Self-action research, or SAR, is the application of action research to the self. It is directly related to SAL and is defined as: action research applied by, to, and for the self to gain self-awareness, aid self-improvement, and solve personal problems. 

ACTION  RESEARCH

Action research applied by, to, and for the self to gain self-awareness,

aid self-improvement, and solve personal problems.  

The purpose of self-action research (SAR) is to strategically apply SAL principles in an effort to achieve specific, targeted objectives related to your own character development and personal growth. Self-action leaders can do this by engaging in a SAR project, which is defined as: A self-led research experiment or project aimed at increasing self-awareness, aiding self-improvement, and solving personal problems. 

Self-Action Research (SAR) Project

A self-led research experiment or project aimed at increasing self-awareness, aiding

self-improvement, solving personal problems, and bolstering Existential Growth.

Like any action research project or initiative, the goal of self-action research (SAR) is to learn, improve, and grow by strategically applying the four (4) core processes of action research (AR) to the self. A SAR project is similar to a SAL project, which is defined as: A self-led personal initiative aimed at achieving long-term objectives in the domain of Existential Growth for self and others. 

Self-Action Leadership (SAL) Project

A self-led personal initiative aimed at achieving long-term objectives

in the domain of Existential Growth for self and others.  

These definitions are similar in their substance and desired ends. There are, however, important distinctions between the two. In the 2017 academic journal article introducing the SAL Model in the Journal of Leadership and Management, my colleagues and I clarified the difference between SAR and SAL Projects thusly: 

"In a sense, SAR projects are conceptually indistinct from SAL projects because in both cases, the end goal is always to do what is right in the pursuit of long-term existential growth for oneself and others. The main differentiating factor between the two involves time frames. For example, SAR projects primarily deal with micro issues and goals that can often be addressed and completed (or solved) in relatively short periods of time (e.g., days, weeks, and months). SAL projects, on the other hand, deal primarily with macro issues that usually take much longer periods of time to address and complete, or solve (e.g., years, decades, or more). As such, SAR projects are more akin to short- and mid-term goals, while SAL projects focus on longer-term goals in support of one's personal and professional statements of vision and mission. SAR projects, therefore, serve as smaller, piecemeal initiatives within a context of much larger SAL endeavors. (3)

Another way of conceptualizing these terms is to view YOUR LIFE as one grand SAL Project that can then be filled with a variety of SAR Projects that facilitate your ongoing quest for Existential Growth (4). 

Or, you might view life as being filled with a few (or several) overarching and extremely important SAL Projects, each one of which is then broken down into a variety of smaller SAR Projects that collectively serve as the engine driving your long-term progress upwards into the higher levels of the SAL Hierarchy. 

The SAL Model incorporates the four (4) core processes of action research into four (4) analogous stages of SAL-oriented action. These stages—and their 23 sub-stages (or step-habits)—of SAL are likened to the stages of building a skyscraper. 

They form a practicum aimed at helping you develop the character and habits that lead to Existential Growth. Thus, the SAL Model is defined as: A comprehensive academic model of Self-Action Leadership and character development rooted in action research theory and construction science and metaphor. 

SAL  Model

A comprehensive academic model of Self-Action Leadership and character development

rooted in action research theory and construction science and metaphor.  

Self-Action Leadership MODEL

FOUR (4) Stages and TWENTY-THREE (23) Sub-Stages (or Step-Habits) of

Construction and Self-Action Leadership

Construction Process

STAGE 1: Pre-Building

    Step 1:  Gathering Information

    Step 2:  Consultation

    Step 3:  Acquiring and allotting financial resources

    Step 4:  Obtaining approvals and permits

    Step 5:  Planning and scheduling

    Step 6:  Assembling a cohesive team and crew

    Step 7:  Drafting blueprints

STAGE 2: Building the Foundation

    Step 1:  Conducting geological surveys

    Step 2:  Drilling down to bedrock

    Step 3:  Anchoring concrete/steel piles to bedrock

    Step 4:  Pouring a steel-reinforced concrete slab

    Step 5:  Earthquake proofing

STAGE 3: Building the Superstructure

    Step 1:  Punctually showing up to the work site

    Step 2:  Concrete, steel, wood, glass, brick, mortar, and drywall

    Step 3:  Plumbing, wiring, and insulation

    Step 4:  Carpeting, painting, and interior

    Step 5:  Landscaping

STAGE 4: Maintenance and Upgrades

    Step 1:  Security

    Step 2:  Structural reviews, safety checks, and quality controls

    Step 3:  Maintenance

    Step 4:  Blueprints review

    Step 5:  Inventory and change recommendations

    Step 6:  Replacements, renovations, and upgrades

Construction Process

Self-Action Leadership Process

STAGE 1: Planning & Preparation

    Step-habit 1:  Self-Education

    Step-habit 2:  Build Relationships

    Step-habit 3:  Self-Awareness

    Step-habit 4:  Self-Organization

    Step-habit 5:  Self-Recording

    Step-habit 6:  Self-Oneness

    Step-habit 7:  SAL-Constitution

STAGE 2: Developing an Integrity-Based Character

    Step-habit 1:  Honesty

    Step-habit 2:  Humility

    Step-habit 3:  Reverence

    Step-habit 4:  Rectification

    Step-habit 5:  Service

STAGE 3: Taking Action

    Step-habit 1:  Self-Discipline

    Step-habit 2:  Self-Action in public

    Step-habit 3:  Self-Action in private

    Step-habit 4:  World Altering Strategies*

    Step-habit 5:  Self-Rewards and Natural rewards*

STAGE 4: Observation, Analysis, and Change

    Step-habit 1:  Self-Observation*

    Step-habit 2:  Self-Analysis

    Step-habit 3:  Self-Renewal

    Step-habit 4:  Purpose Examination*

    Step-habit 5:  External Feedback

    Step-habit 6:  Self-Alterations

*See Footnote 5

Self-Action Leadership Model

The remainder of BOOK the FIFTH will explain in detail what each of these four (4) stages and 23 step-habits entail.  

If you are ready to dive in and begin studying the academic and practical nitty gritty of the SAL Model...

    Then keep reading!  

In Your Journal

• What personal or professional challenges are you presently facing that might make a good self-action research (SAR) Project within a larger Self-Action Leadership (SAL) initiative or objective?  

• What do you want your own skyscraper (LIFE) to look like two, five, ten, twenty, or fifty years from now?  

 

—Dr. JJ

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 428th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 236th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

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Chapter 3 Notes

1.  Kuhne, G. W., & Quigley, B. A. (1997). Understanding and Using Action Research in Practice Settings. In A. B. Quigley & G. W. Kuhne (Eds.), Creating Practical Knowledge Through Action Research: Posing problems, Solving Problems, and Improving Daily Practice (Vol. 73, pp. 23-40). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Page 25.

2.  Ibid.

3.  Jensen, Beaulieu, and Neck (2018). “The Self-Action Leadership Model: A Qualitative, Nomological Expansion of Self-Leadership Theory Rooted in Action Research.” Journal of Leadership and Management. 11(2018). Pgs. 10-30. ISSN: 2391-6087. Page 17.

4.  An outstanding example of a venerable self-action leader who dedicated his life to self-action research is Mohandas Gandhi. He wrote about his many SAR projects, or his “Experiments with Truth,” in an autobiography—a book I highly recommend to all self-action leaders.

5.  Neck C.P., and Manz, C.M. (2010). Mastering Self-Leadership: Empowering Yourself for Personal Excellence (Fifth Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Pages 15, 17, 19, 21, 27, 38. 

The Power of Picking Up Trash

I despise litter.

It drives me a little nuts, albeit in a good way.

Wherever and whenever I see trash out of its place, I admit to getting a little obsessed about doing my bit to clean up the planet. I'm sure my "litter fetish" probably annoys my wife and kids at times; but to their credit, they put up with my passion without complaining. My kids have even started to spot and retrieve litter all on their own!

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." 

—Proverbs 22:6   

In my new TEXTBOOKS on Self-Action Leadership, I included the following mantra: "Pick up at least ONE piece of trash every single day that I did not throw down."

Why is this mantra important to me?

Simple...

Because others have helped to clean up my messes at times throughout my life.  Now it's payback time. 

But in a larger sense, this practice is important to me because focusing on little things empowers me to not only make progress on bigger things, but can simultaneously prevent larger issues from becoming a problem in the first place.  Moreover, this mantra is as much a principle as it is a practice—and this particular principle positively influences a variety of different areas of my personal and professional life.

In other words, it's not just about the trash.

Flatiron Building in Downtown New York City (Manhattan)

Case in point: Consider the example of New York City in the 1990s under the leadership of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In an effort to combat serious crime issues that had plagued the city throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Giuliani decided to address the issue in an unusual way. His approach was simple: "Always sweat the small stuff." This policy entailed focusing on cleaning up trash and graffiti in the subways and clamping down on turnstile jumpers.

Why in the world would you focus on such minor offenses if you were dealing with an epidemic of violent crimes such as rape, murder, and armed robbery?

Answer: because BIG THINGS almost always start out as little things. Counterintuitive as Giuliani's approach may have seemed, it worked! As the NYPD began "sweating the small stuff," the incidence of far more egregious crimes began to fall precipitously. One murderer was even caught, not due to clever detective work, but because he had been apprehended for jumping a subway turnstile!

While that may sound like a mere stroke of good luck on the part of the Police, the reality remains that murderers get their start to crime somewhere, and the slippery slide into the dark side usually doesn't begin with a felony.

At Freedom Focused, we also believe in "Always Sweating the Small Stuff." It's not just a matter of keeping our people out of jail and avoiding bad press. It's a matter of making sure the small stuff matters. For example, in our organization, the Truth matters, details matter, polish and refinement matters, punctuality and precision matter, personal appearance and grooming matter, education matters, and professionalism and integrity are absolutely indispensable traits of all of our agents. And agents who would rather not sweat the small stuff are welcome to go work for someone else who is more comfortable with lower standards of personal conduct and moral character.

In encouraging you to "Always Sweat the Small Stuff," I am not asking you to become a prude or a perfectionist—although there are times when perfectionism is quite useful (e.g. when editing a piece of polished prose).  I know all too well from my own experiences that even true principles and right practices can be taken to unhealthy extremes.  I am merely encouraging you to continually fine-tune and strive to get better every day; and the best way to get better every day is to focus on troubleshooting and refining the "Small Stuff" with a recognition that little things matter. 

When we sweat the small stuff, the minutia of our lives and careers becomes our primary learning and training ground, thereby keeping us out of real trouble. Knowing this, and being a natural believer and man of deep faith, one of my most common queries to the Almighty is as follows: "Lord, please help me to learn from small mistakes and petty sins so that I might avoid colossal stumbles and craven debauchery."

Small Stuff Matters.

And what really matters is actually doing the stuff; talking about it is meaningless unless it impels us to take action.

No matter how eloquently a writer or orator may frame language, the most masterful sermons are always delivered through the medium of action. In the words of Benjamin Franklin: "Big Talkers; Little Doers"; "He who speaks much is much mistaken"; and, "The ant speaks most eloquently of all; and he says nothing." 

Or as Theodore Roosevelt put it:

"It is a sign of marked ... weakness ... if the people tend to be carried away by mere oratory, if they tend to value words in and for themselves, as divorced from the deeds for which they are to stand. The phrase-maker, the phrase-monger, the ready talker, however great his power, whose speech does not make for courage, sobriety, and right understanding, is simply a noxious element ... and it speaks ill for the public if he has influence over them. To admire the gift of oratory without regard to the moral quality behind the gift is to do wrong..."

What, then, is far more meaningful than this blog post about picking up trash? 

Answer: Actually picking up trash. This is why I strive to pick up one piece of trash a day—at the very least.

One solitary person picking up a single piece of trash per day may seem utterly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But what if every person on the planet adopted my mantra? There are currently trillions of pieces of litter strewn about Planet Earth; but that number would shrink considerably—and relatively quickly—if you subtracted 7.6 billion pieces of trash from the pile every single day.

Moreover, consider the collateral benefits of my mantra. Today it led me to don plastic gloves and carry a 13-gallon plastic garbage bag with me during my afternoon walk to the lake where I planned to swim (I am a triathlete and today was my day in the water). I was able to fill the entire bag after walking a mere mile. Along the way, several dozen cars and trucks passed by—undoubtedly noticing what I was doing. Putting myself in their shoes, I'm pretty certain what kind of thoughts passed through their minds as they observed my free-will and voluntary contributions to their community. One lady who passed me walking by even shouted out a sincere "Thank You" in my direction.

In addition, the seeds of this article begin to germinate in my mind and heart while I was filling that bag with trash. As a result, I am now sharing the message with YOU. 

Are you BORED out of your mind during this COVID-19 crisis? Now you have a simple way to get off of your couch and do something productive, worthwhile, and simple that will make you feel good and contribute something meaningful to your community in the process. And if there is as much litter where you live as where I live, you and your family and friends are going to have plenty to do for a while!

Three quarters of a century ago, my maternal grandfather counseled a group of young university students shortly following the end of World War II, as follows:

"Young [people], do not think your lives are unimportant. Do not think for a moment that you can exert no influence because you are young or because you are few. We have got to get away from the foolish notion that quantity is the important thing in influence. You know you can go into the laboratories on this campus and you will find that very minute amounts of particular substances can exert tremendous influences. ... One individual courageously choosing his own conduct in the face of all odds, doing right, can exert a tremendous influence. ... Let us choose so that every event that comes into our lives will be enriching so that we will be bigger than any event, come whatever calamity may. We can so choose that it will not destroy us. ... We can have freedom each in his own sphere. Each can contribute importantly to ... freedom."

So there you have it. You don't have to be President of the United States or the Director of the CDC to make a positive difference during the Present Crisis—or at any other time. You can choose to take simple actions that will make the world a better place and positively influence others to do the same.

Speaking of which, guess what one of my own motivations was for filling an entire garbage bag with trash today? A few weeks ago, I saw someone else doing the same thing in a local park. I was inspired and impressed by the man's example. I made sure to thank him, and the seed was thereby planted into my own mind and heart—a seed that has since grown up into a full bag of trash, properly placed in its steel receptacle instead of being carelessly strewn all over the sides of the roadway.

-Dr. Jordan Jensen

Carlsbad, New Mexico

May 14, 2020

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First there was Michael Brown.

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                    Now there are two dead police officers in New York City.