A common theme encountered in discussions with my mentees concerns career progression.

Sometimes the starting point for that discussion is a general sense of dissatisfaction with circumstances at their current workplace or in their current role. When this becomes evident I am prompted to caution them against moving away from the problem in preference to moving towards a new and exciting prospect. This is where the door metaphor comes into play, as I ask them “Is the door you are considering going through an exit or an entrance?”

In my experience, those who try to move away from a problem tend to take it with them. This invokes the notion that one’s resistance is a form of attachment. “What we resist persists” (Carl Jung). The obverse injunction is “To get what you want, want what you get“. This draws attention to your ability to choose between focusing on your lack, or on your opportunity to improve the situation.

Choice doors

Doorway and gateway metaphors are frequently invoked when faced with choices or with a change of some kind (see header image). Which door or gate will you choose? Behind Doors 1, 2, and 3 are different outcomes, each of which has a different set of benefits, risks, and costs.

On the other side of each door, a new set of possibilities comes into view. Applying the Rule of 3, another set of three doors appears behind each of the original doors. As we elevate our thinking to the next iteration, we see that behind each of the nine doors in the second iteration, is another set of three doors. We now have 27 doors associated with the third iteration from our original choice.

The fractal nature of this metaphor is mirrored in the way goals divide up into sub-goals, for each of which we then have a set of tasks and activities. These in turn can be thought of as sub-sub-goals.

These nested layers also embody timeframes, with goals being long-term, sub-goals being mid-term, and sub-sub-goals being the tasks and activities we allocate to a day and time in our work planner or diary. (They can also be equated with the ‘rocks, pebbles, and sand’ that we use to fill our metaphoric ‘time-jar‘).

In another scenario, we recognise that more than one approach is desirable, and so we choose to open two or more doors simultaneously. This is commonly the case when updating our strategy. It also applies when we use a multi-pronged or vector-based strategy to achieve a major goal.

Open and Closed Doors

In an earlier post on the theme of regret as a catalyst for improvement, we identified open-door regrets (where action is still possible) and closed-door regrets (where the opportunity to act is no longer available). Does the closed door signify that you are inside wanting to get out, or outside wanting to get in?

Whether a door is open or closed is used symbolically in many ways, a few of which are noted in the chart below.

There are many door idioms, and doubtless, you use some yourself. The following chart offers a small selection of examples.

Strategic and Project Passages

Most strategic initiatives and projects involve multiple stages, sequenced and/or stacked in a logical order.

Agile methods, for example, use sprints to cluster work into a series of stages, each with a relatively short time frame. When the change we are considering involves a more complex transition process like this, instead of one door, we can figuratively align a series of doors within a change ‘passage’.

This is just another version of the roadmap of course, with the journey from ‘current’ to ‘desired future’ state involving milestones that mark the stages completed along the way.

The passage metaphor can be applied to most types of change, from rites of passage at key life stages, to career and role changes, and work processes such as those used in strategic and operational projects.

Thresholds and Portals

As we pause in the doorway, we stand at the threshold, symbolising a new beginning, a new era, a new insight. This is the space or state framed by the doorway rather than the frame or the door itself.

A threshold concept is like a key that unlocks our understanding of something that was previously mysterious or opaque. This is sometimes expressed as the passage from a lower to a higher level. We may prefer to use step or stairs metaphors when describing such level changes of course. (For an intriguing article on threshold concepts in academic writing click here).

Like thresholds, portals are not simply doorways. They transport us to other worldviews, realms, or dimensions. They change our normal perspective by opening us to new experiences or ways of perceiving things.

A portal symbolises both a path and a place. It represents the location or state in which transitional activity is enabled.

Motion required

Doorways, gateways, passages, and portals are of no use unless we move through them. Standing in front of the door achieves nothing.

Whether we are equipped with a goal and plan or not, for any change to occur requires us to move forward. Execution of a strategy or plan necessitates taking action. Our intention will remain a mere imaginary projection until we exercise our will – and do the work required to realise the desired outcome.

See also:
Strategic Causality
Attending to Attention and Intention
Choosing an organisational metaphor? Choose wisely!
Actors, Factors, and Vectors of Change
Regret: Your Improvement Catalyst