New Trend: “Infinity Factor” used to describe the energy system within interdependencies and Polarity Management

Listen to my interview with Dana Wilcox on the story of and genesis of “infinity factor.”

I was sitting with Dana at the end of a week in Chicago where we had been participating in a learning community that has been meeting for over 15 years around issues of Realtime Strategic Change and Polarity Management. I asked her about the term infinity factor and where it started. The interview was in front of a large window looking out on a busy Chicago street and happened to be just a few feet way from where she had been the moment the phrase came into existence.

The term, “Infinity Factor” in part, highlights that there is a natural dynamic or energy system that is present in human systems. This energy system is represented by the infinity loop wrapped around interdependent pairs. This new language emphasizes the energy system is a naturally occurring phenomenon that is there to tap. The infinity factor can help to illuminate and help us more effectively use other models in OD like Appreciative Inquiry, Real Time Strategic Change, Gap Analysis, or even Bion and Basic Assumption groups. On the other hand, the “Polarity Map” is a useful way to help systems and groups tap the enegery system and manage the tension in dilemmas we face. The management or tapping of the underlying energy system can be a purposeful and choiceful one - meaning that awareness of the polarities and infinity factor theory expand the choices available to us. If we are unaware of the energy system, it is still going on, we just have fewer choices that could otherwise ease our conflicts and support our individual or group development.