THE WORLD MATRIX
The final content matrix in the Matrix Model, one of the five content matrices about Self is the World matrix. I put this together to refer to any of the thousands upon thousands “universes of meaning” (e.g., domain, field, or area) of human experience. And there are multiple thousands. And in each area that you have traveled and explored, you have developed your own mental maps about it as well as you have developed particular skills so that you can live and operate within it. Each “world” is a domain, a field, an area, a dimension, an industry. It is a place where one can create a human domain for thinking, feeling, acting, living, etc.
When I grew up the world matrices that I soon became aware of was the world of Mathematics (my dad was a mathematics teacher), the world of Indiana University (that was the dominate factor in Bloomington Indiana), the world of business, ministry, medicine (hospital, doctors), dentists, and so on. Later I discovered the world of psychotherapy, then the world of NLP, Coaching, publishing, etc. What worlds did you first encounter in your adventure of life?
Now in each world or domain, if you enter it and stay there for awhile, you will probably find that you have some role to play. So whereas we have already covered self-esteem and value (Self), self-confidence (Power), social self (Others), and temporal self (Time), this is the place where you experience and know yourself in terms of your roles. Who are you in this particular world? What position or status do you have? What position do you want? What identity is required in that domain? What roles, rules, understandings, and so on?
It is in the World matrix that you and I develop our identity via the roles that we play. This becomes, to some extent, one of your role identities. The roles that you play, and the possible identities that arise from those roles, depend on how much you may identify with any given role. In the domain of family, you may be Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, etc. In the domain of work, you may be Employee, Supervisor, Manager, Leader, etc. Your status, standing, position, earned or attributed ranking, etc. establishes another aspect of your self.
As the contexts in which we operate, any given World that you live and operate also becomes part of your internal environment, the internal frames-of-reference that you use to make meaning of things. That’s why, given the roles you play in life, you— like all of us—tend to make meaning of things through the filter and assumptions of your roles. That’s why a business person will see and interpret things through economics, markets, sales, bottom lines, etc. in contrast to someone in the public sector who would see and interpret things through community, environment, politics, etc.
When you meet someone new and are asked, “Who are you?” or, “What do you do?” We almost always defer to our World matrix identity. We tell about the roles we play, the positions we hold, that title or status, etc.
The World matrix also directs you to identify the market or markets that you work in. What World does your business operate in and what worlds does it interact with? What services does your business offer in that area? And given that, what is distinctive and unique about you and what you do that makes it viable as a commodity? When you identify that, you have your unique selling proposition (USP). In addition to your knowledge about your own products, services, customers, etc., what do you know about your competitors— those who serve in the same area?
Every industry further requires its own unique business and management processes, that of developing, presenting, contracting, negotiating, building a HR department, finances, etc. Each further requires and involves its own critical knowledge and skills which enable you to operate effectively in that world. In that domain, do you need insurance? Do you need to have a professional membership in that industry? What are the professional associations that influence this field?
Every World also has a history and a future. How did it get started? Who where the key thinkers and developers? What has happened over the years or even centuries (if it has been around for centuries)? What is happening now? Is it a growth industry, stable one, or a declining industry? What are trends of the field you are in? Where is it going? Are you staying up with it? Are you reading the journals and books being produced?
Given the field you are in, what do you charge for your products and services? How do you go about setting the prices? What criteria do you use? What do others in this field charge for their products and services? What are the risks in this field? What are the opportunities in terms of new possibilities and untapped markets?
Putting it Altogether
The eight distinctions of the Matrix Model give us eight categories to start sorting out the complexity of a human being. The Meaning matrix is the variable that creates our inner reality, the Intention matrix sets the direction, and the State registers it in emotion and behavior. The five content matrices define the person in terms of value, competencies, relationships, time, and domain.
