Exercises for applying philosophical tension to real leadership challenges
Each exercise translates the Orion Dialectic framework into concrete practice. These are structured provocations (not therapy worksheets or corporate templates) designed to help you hold philosophical tension in real situations.
Define your presence with three deliberate words
Choose three words describing how you want to be experienced when at your best. Practise one of them 10% more deliberately this week.
Identify what truly deserves your energy
A simple audit of yourself to find the one thread giving your work coherence and releasing distractions quietly draining your authority.
See the real dynamics without becoming cynical
A practical way to map stakeholders, influence and incentives, and then choose one clear-cut move to shift reality without drama.
Design one adaptive test without theatre
A structured approach to testing change in complex systems where the answer isn't yet known. Design small, learn fast and avoid the trap of certainty.
Replace emotional enforcement with a clear structure
Find one boundary you're currently enforcing through tension, guilt or frustration and redraw it clearly, structurally and deliberately.
Pick one that addresses a real situation you're facing—not an abstract "should."
Follow the prompts. Don't perform. Don't optimize. Just work.
If Nietzsche and Machiavelli disagree, that's information... not a problem to solve immediately.
When both voices say yes, act decisively. When either says no, pause and reconsider.