Phase 3. The System hardens into a pattern of Power without Love.

Inertia sets in; processes continue to move in the direction they are moving. The system becomes increasingly differentiated and individuated and hardens into distinct territories. The Power processes predominate while the Love processes are submerged.   The Top System falls into a pattern of Power without Love.

This is the outside view as a Top System blindly and reflexively falls into a pattern of Power without Love. None of this scenario is visible to system members. All they know is that their relationships are becoming more tense and strained.

Life on the inside of a system of Power without Love

From the outside we see a general story, one that happens with great regularity regardless of the specific players involved. A Top System enters an environment of complexity and uncertainty and the general story unfolds – not always, not for everyone, but with great regularity.

Meanwhile, on the inside, a very different scenario unfolds, one that feels personal and specific to these particular people. From the outside we see this scenario as being the consequence of the pattern the system has fallen into. From the inside, the scenario is seen as personal, the consequences of one another’s actions – issues specific to you and me – and not as the consequences of system processes.