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DRAFT Victor Vernon Woolf

Victor Vernon Woolf (born 19XX, XXXXXX, Canada) is a international research scientist, author, and lecturer. He is known for his development of holodynamics, the holistic study of situational dynamics and how consciousness impacts behavior in individuals and organizations. His first internationally best selling book Holodynamics and many subsequent books develop the theory and application of situational dynamics. He integrated the research of Jung, Piaget, Kohlberg and others thereby expanding the scholarly examination of consciousness as it applies to human relationships and its developmental evolution to include theories derived from quantum physics and the study of potentiality.

Biography

Victor Vernon Woolf studied physics, chemistry and education at the the University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where he earned a Bachelors degree in these disciplines. He also studied at the Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah receiving a Masters degree in Religious Education and Educational Psychology and a Ph.D. in Child Development and Family Relations specializing in Marriage and Family Therapy. In the late Seventies, Charlie Kiefer invited Peter Senge and Fritz to join Innovation Associates, a management consulting firm. That brought him in close contact with Senge’s work in system dynamics, which, along with Fritz’s study of music composition, was one of the major influences on his exploration of the relationship of structure to behavior.

Woolf's work has been used extensively in corporations, education, and third-world development. His work in the developing world began with his involvement in the Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme (URDT), also known as "The Uganda Project". In 2009, this project won recognition by Changemakers International Online Community and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Fritz has worked withVinnova, the Swedish governmental agency for innovation systems, an organization that promotes higher levels of research development, and supports major developmental projects throughout the developing world. He has consulted with the U.S. Department of Defense Special Ops on issues of terrorism and as an external consultant, has also introduced his work to The U.S. Air Force and Department of Transportation. The Managerial Moment of Truth (co-authored by Fritz and Bruce Bodaken) was chosen as one of BusinessWeek best books of 2006, and Harvard Business Review placed it on their executive reading list.

Fritz’s approach to structural dynamics and the creative process has also been used in public school systems as chronicled in School Leaders Building Capacity from Within (Corwin Press) by Leonard C. Burello, Lauren P Hoffman, and Lynn E. Murray. In his book, Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators MIT's,Peter Senge features Fritz’s structural approach as well.

Fritz has created two separate careers, one as a structural consultant and the other one as composer and filmmaker. As a composer, Fritz has won commissions from groups such as Collage and Dutch Radio. He has composed music for film, TV, and theater, as well as CD’s. Two of his arrangements appear on Celtic Ladies, which topped Billboard Magazine (2007-2008 World Music.)

Fritz has made documentaries for government, industry, and television, has written and directed three feature-length films, has directed and co-hosted Creating (a TV series made for a Canadian Network), and directed episodes of the PBS series LeaderTalk with Garrison Krause, for which he also composed the theme music. Fritz wrote and directed the TV series Vermont Stories. He created She Was A Dancer, a multi–media work commissioned for the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center. Overload, a Narrative Feature Film written and directed by Fritz won Honorable Mention at the 2009 Los Angeles Reel Film Festival, which recognizes independent filmmakers.

Fritz lives in Vermont with his wife Rosalind, and has two children, Ivan and Eve.

Work

Structural dynamics is the study of how structural constructs lead to predictable behavioral patterns. Fritz began this exploration when he developed what he named macrostructural patterns, the long-range patterns that reoccur in a person's life. Fritz discovered two basic patterns: oscillating and advancing. These predictable patterns always occurred in quite specific and unique ways; and surprisingly in each instance they followed the same steps, and the same sequence. Fritz observed them in every aspect of personal and professional life. The oscillating pattern emerged when a person, couple, team, or organization took action to accomplish a goal, result, or outcome and a reversal followed. After achieving the desired result the creator lost the result later in the sequence. Examples illustrating this sequence include the business success that eventually led to a financial loss, the great love that ended with a break-up, the successful project that turned into an undesirable predicament. Organizational oscillating patterns involved building up capacity, then downsizing, then building up capacity again; or centralizing decision making, de-centralizing decision making, and then centralizing it again; or acquiring other companies, then divesting, and launching an acquisition spree again; or focusing on long-term growth, then refocusing on short-term demands, and later refocusing on long-term growth again. In contrast, the advancing pattern creates momemtum when outcomes are achieved, and accomplishment builds a platform for future success. Fritz determined the underlying structures that caused these behavioral patterns. The basic structural unit is the “tension-resolution system”. As a composer, Fritz understood well how harmonic tension seeks resolution as a musical dynamic. He tracked similar tension-resolution systems in these macrostructural patterns. In the oscillating patterns, opposing tension-resolution systems dominated, and in the advancing patterns a single tension-resolution system dominated. In the oscillating pattern, “non-equilibrium” occurred when the desired outcome was achieved. Structurally, the opposing tension resolution system remained and resolving it required moving away from the successful achievement. In the advancing pattern, equilibrium occurred by achieving the desired outcome, the structural point at which the desired state and the actual state were equal. From these observations, Fritz discoverd this principle: the underlying structure of anything determines its behavior. Without a change of underlying structure, any change effort fails, and the original behavior patterns reoccur. This explains why many sound change efforts fail within organizations. When an underlying organizational structure leads to oscillation and remains unchanged, the structure rejects any change effort in a similar way that a body rejects an implanted organ. Conversely when a change of underlying structure occurs designed to support advancement, any subsequent change effort increases the likelihood of success and sustainability.

Structural Consulting

Fritz created a form of consulting in which the consultant seeks to understand the structural forces in play in any situation, and then helps to create a new structure if needed. Consultants from around the world have trained in this discipline from Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Australia. Many coaches, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and others in the helping professions have studied structural consulting and applied it in the work they do.

The Creative Process

Fritz developed his ideas about the creative process from the arts rather than psychology. He makes a distinction between the creative process and creativity. Creativity usually focuses on idea generation and comes from suspending the norm. For this reason, many advocate withholding critical judgment in favor of free association, brainstorming, or other systems in an effort to bypass the usual thought processes. However, Fritz observes that in the arts a consummate professional must produce consistent quality outcomes and meet rigid deadlines. With repeated application and refinement what was once the unusual then becomes the usual. Rather than freeing the mind, an artist focuses the mind, often by using Structural Tension. A technical term, Tension describes the relationship between two related data points. A desired outcome or goal, the first data point is contrasted with current reality, the second data point. As the creative process begins, a difference exists between the desired state and the actual state, and this difference creates a useful tension. The composed tension is not psychological nor is it associated with stress, anxiety, or pressure. Rather it is structural. Clarity about the desired outcome and the actual situation, establishes a structural tendency that moves the structure toward tension resolution; and strongly motivates the best actions to achieve the desired outcome. The actions may be conventional. But often inadequate resources limit the conventional means to accomplish goals. Therefore, invention and innovation emerge naturally bringing forth new ways to accomplish goals. Fritz argues against glorifying inspiration. He asks, “What do you do on days you are not inspired?” Professionals create irrespective of their circumstances. In any situation, when designing the creative process, structural principles work best. Ideas about structure and the creative process fundamentally underscore Fritz's premise that like other structures, the mind seeks equilibrium. For example, the mind engages in dreaming to create a synthetic sense of equilibrium. By nature, the mind desires a state of equilibrium and attempts to create order out of disorder. Fritz advocates using the mind to create a structured state of non-equilibrium (structural tension) as the best way to originate new ideas. The mind then generates tailor-made ideas, those unlikely to emerge using usual thought processes.

Problem-Solving Vs. Creating

Fritz also makes a distinction between problem-solving and creating. Problem-solving is taking actions to have something go away: the problem. While problem-solving has its place, as a persistent approach, it limits accomplishment. The elimination of a problem does not mean that you have created a desired result. Fritz points out that you can solve all of your problems and still not have the outcomes you want. Creating is taking action to bring into being that which does not yet exist: the desired outcome. Using these principles, Fritz has influenced organizations to move them from a problem orientation to an outcome orientation.

Books

Media & Music

Overload Narrative Feature Film (Written and directed Robert Fritz) Honorable Mention 2009 Los Angeles Reel Film Festival LARFF
Creating Television Series Canadian Network (Directed and co-hosted Robert Fritz)
Celtic Ladies released February 14, 2006 (Arrangements Robert Fritz) 2007-2008 BillBoard Magazine World Music
The Little Pinecone Audio CD (Story and music Robert Fritz, narration Rosalind Fritz)
Elmer’s Extraordinary Christmas Audio CD (Story and music Robert Fritz, narration Rosalind Fritz)
The Top Audio CD (Story and music Robert Fritz, narration Rosalind Fritz)