On the one hand, working at Axiom News provides an opportunity to do something which feels important, exciting and meaningful.

I believe this is because we are creating a cultural artifact here.

We are adding to the field of journalism and to the field of corporate communications — and ultimately society — thinking and ways of being that will generate changes in all those areas.

In fact, I believe we are in the early stages of creating a whole new field of action that will have widespread societal implications.

But while the experience is all that, to survive and thrive here, it’s integral that one be able to live in creative tension constantly.

That is, creative tension as Peter Senge defines it in his book The Fifth Discipline.

Senge describes creative tension as not an emotional state but that gap between one’s vision and current reality.

Here at Axiom News the vision is huge and we are keenly aware of it. Different elements of that vision are often shared. Conversations about the possibilities come up regularly.

We talk of the Axiom News circles emerging around the globe, and of supporting and connecting those; we talk of enriching our questions to evoke change in all the systems we work in; and of testing new media tools to zest up our impact.

And then we return to our desks for a 10-minute interview that doesn’t go quite as planned, but there’s a deadline and we’ve got to turn it into a news story for tomorrow’s post.

Glitches in posting arise and frustrating issues with client systems interrupt the flow of our days.

Some of us fret about our interview questions because we know they don’t quite hit the mark and the news articles too — we know they could do better at awakening, evoking and inspiring.

Frankly, the reality almost daily falls short of the vision — I’m guessing more here than many other workplaces, again, simply because the vision is so enormous.

But this is how we must live.

And Senge has some wise counsel on that front.

We must make current reality the ally. It is not our enemy, Senge writes.

Also, it’s not what the vision is; it’s what the vision does — that’s the critical point, he states.

“People often have great difficulty talking about their visions, even when the visions are clear,” Senge writes. “Why? Because we are acutely aware of the gaps between our vision and reality.

“These gaps can make a vision seem unrealistic or fanciful. They can discourage us or make us feel hopeless. But the gap between vision and current reality is also a source of energy. If there was no gap, there would be no need for any action to move toward the vision.”

The vision generates change.

Yes, there is still much to come to fruition here at Axiom News, but in the meantime we are on an upward climb:

• We are honing our story-asking capabilities
• The long-time dream of a global news network is coming to life through groups now working together in Belgium, Amsterdam, Cedar Rapids and Vancouver.
• We have just rapid prototyped a new video product line, another long-time aspiration.
• And we are daily reaching out to the grassroots of organizations, getting better and better at sussing out, magnifying, connecting and refracting the visions and gifts embedded there.

And we keep climbing.

You can comment below, or e-mail michelle(at)axiomnews.ca.