Thresholds in Delaware County

3. Develop The Possibilities

The third step in the decision-making process is to develop all the possibilities for reaching your goal. Since decision-making involves choosing among alternatives, you need to know what your options are before you can select your choice. At this stage, don’t eliminate any possibilities!

The symbol we use for developing the possibilities is a wheel. The situation is represented by the circle, the goal is the target, and the possibilities are the spokes.

Shown here is the original symbol for step three used in the 1972 edition of the Thresholds Manual by Burglass.

The accompanying caption reads:

" Surrounding every situation, there are 360⁰of possibility, all equally valid."

Mickey Burglass, the founder of the Thresholds teaching system for rehabilitating prison inmates, had a nack for simplifying (and disguising) the profound conclusions of philosophy and psychology. The ABC's of discovery on the right hand column are an excellent example.

When we teach these ABC's we are, in effect, explaining the only three ways the human learns anything, the basic tools of all education.

1. Sense perception.

"Nihil in intellectu nisi prius in sensu." Nothing in the intellect unless first in the senses.

2. Reasoning.

3. Authority of others.

Techniques for helping clients develop a list of possible ways to reach a goal employ the ABC acronym.

A...Accumulate information. Gather facts from friends, books, tapes libraries, agencies, schools, etc.

B....Brainstorm. List everything that comes to mind. Don't make any judgments. Just generate items, alone or with the help of others.

C....Consider or reflect on unique approaches and new combinations...Sleep on it. Take it up again.

One of the teaching aids used to help clients "think outside the box," while developing possibilities is the 9-dot, 4 line puzzle.

ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER, NOT THE PC SCREEN.

Try to connect all 9 dots with only 4 straight lines, without lifting your pencil from the page! Answer at bottom of this web page.

There are, however, certain blocks that hinder our search for possibilities. They are the JAM blocks

Jumping to conclusions, reacting with out thought.

Again and again...doing the same thing the same old way

Myths...Stories based on false beliefs, self-doubt and intolerance.

Step 2 Step Four

Answer down below.

Farther down

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Send mail to Decision@ThresholdsDelco.org with questions or comments about this web site.

Here's the puzzle solution

It's an old school room challenge. But it still works as an eye opener now and then.