Phases

What does fame, our lives, the moon, the seasons, water, projects, electrical current and emotions all have in common?

They all go through phases. Let me explain.

Fame

The American actor T.J. Miller writes, “Slowly but surely, I went through different phases of fame, and each rises you further into isolation and alienation.”

It is a common story, told and retold in a number of books, plays, TV shows and Movies, not to mention real life.

An artist finds their talent, then shapes and hones it through a variety of struggles and mishaps, devoting themselves to their own vision, often derided by family, friends and peers. Slowly rising through the ranks of recognition and success, often at great personal expense, with and without support of those closest to them. In achieving their vision, they look back at the wake of destruction, broken relationships and missed opportunities, and wonder if it was all worth it.

Each step along the way is another phase of fame.

Our Lives

We are born.

As a baby, babies are helpless and totally dependent on others, mostly parents, for their survival and wellbeing. Babies are not very mobile, and they cry for all sorts of reasons. Hunger, affection, being uncomfortable.

As a toddler, toddlers are still pretty much helpless and almost totally dependent on others. Toddlers are more mobile and there is a purpose to their crying, and beginnings of other forms of expression.

As children, children are more able to control their environments, but still have an extremely high degree of dependency on others. Children are mobile, and they have rudimentary language skills as they continue their physical development. Their brains are developing too, and they are voracious learners.

As adolescents, they begin the ascent into young adulthood. More control over their environments, less dependent on others for basic needs, and their language skills advance exponentially. Their bodies begin to play tricks on them as they continue to mature, and those who surround them learn that emotional control is not yet within their grasp.

Young adults become adults, become older adults, become seniors … and then we die.

This set of phases is linear in nature, and only repeats itself if we bear children and raise them along the way.

The Moon

At an average distance of a quarter of a million miles, the Moon presents itself to us through a different kind of phase, a phase cyclical in nature. As it orbits the Earth and dances with the shadow of the Earth cast by the Sun, we observe a consistent pattern, oversimplified into the New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Half Moon, Third Quarter, Waning Crescent, and Full Moon.

These phases have been useful to us in helping to create our calendars, keep track of time, and enjoy the beauty of the heavens above. The phases of the moon posed questions that led to much of our astronomical understanding of the structure of the solar system and the establishment of the scientific method. 

Our annual seasons go through a similar, cyclical set of phases. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall as we journey around the sun. A consistent pattern, one that is repeated over and over again for as long as we’ve been a planet. We have come to recognize the phase transitions between the seasons, looking for the signs where the sweltering heat of summer gives way to the gentle rains and more moderate temperatures of fall, or as the snows of winter melt and the plants bloom and renew themselves in the splendor of spring.

Water

Water goes through phases, depending on temperature, pressure, and purity. Below thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit, at normal surface pressure, with a high degree of purity, water presents itself as ice. Between thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit and two hundred- and twelve-degrees Fahrenheit, water exists in liquid form. Above two-hundred-and-twelve degrees Fahrenheit, water exists in a gaseous form.

Cool steam below the transition point of two-hundred-and-twelve degrees, and it returns to a liquid state. Cool it again below thirty-two degrees and it becomes a solid. These phase transitions happen naturally and have also fallen under human control to a large degree.

There are many other examples of phases that we experience. Let us go back to ourselves. Let us discuss the phases of emotion.

Emotion

Emotional Phases. While there are more to describe than will fit in a single article, here are several dyad cycles of emotions, with “surprise” as one of the dyadic elements.

In the surprise-sadness dyad, one often feels a sense of disappointment as a result.

In the surprise-disgust dyad, one often feels a sense of revulsion as a result.

In the surprise-anger dyad, one often feels as sense of outrage as a result.

In the surprise-joy dyad, one often feels a sense of delight.

In the surprise-trust dyad, one often feels a sense of curiosity.

In the surprise-fear dyad, one often feels a sense of alarm.

The key learning here is that when we can control our emotions, we can exercise some level of control over the phase response indicated by the dyadic pair.

For example, if we can move our emotional state from anger to sadness as it relates to surprise, we can change from outrage to disappointment, more destructive, more intense to less destructive, less intense.

It also works in reverse. If we turn our disappointment in anger over a surprise, we can raise the emotional energy from less destructive, less intense to more destructive, more intensity.

Let me be clear that this is not an either/or or on/off binary choice. Emotions exist on a continuum and may change rapidly, or very little, depending on circumstances, maturity, health, and a variety of other factors.

Projects

Project work is often grouped into units known as phases. For example, in many Information Technology Projects, work is divided into the Phases Initiation, Planning, Design, Development, Deployment, and Closure.

Sometimes, a large deployment project may be divided into the Phases of Proof-of-Concept, Pilot, Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 through Phase n.

Professional Project Managers have many, many ways of dividing a project’s work breakdown structure into phases.

Electricity

In the illustration, two electrical waves have the same frequency, the same amplitude, but are offset in time by the distance between points A and B. These waves are said to be out-of-phase. 

According to yourdictionary.com, out-of-phase is defined as:

“A signal that has suffered phase distortion so that the sinusoidal waveform has been unintentionally altered in phase, or period angle.”

Identifying and exploiting this distortion allows engineers, electricians and scientists ways to troubleshoot problems and design tools and machines to further the “current” conditions. (Pun intended).

We use “Phase” to describe almost any transition. 

As adolescents enter their teenage years and go through the transitions of physical change and social growth, we say they are going through phases.

As I writer of these articles, I think of my writing as entering a new phase as I explore subjects that are outside of my normal sphere of thinking.

In Advertising, the three phases consist of Awareness (Why), Consideration (How), and Conversion What)

In American Football, the three phases of the game are Offense, Defense, and Special Teams.

When attempted something large and complex, we often use a phased approach: Proof-of-concept, Pilot, Small Segment Roll Out, Multiple Segments at a Time Roll Out, Business As Usual.

I am sure other examples come to mind as you consider the ones I have offered.

All of these words around phases bring us to a point we are all quite familiar with. Change abounds in our lives. It permeates most every aspect in our lives. It affects most every aspect of our lives. By dividing change experiences into phases, we attempt to describe, to manage, to otherwise deal with change.

Change happens. Life goes on. Understanding Phases helps us deal with problems and opportunities alike.

What phase are you in?