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At its core, this framework rests on a simple but powerful idea: human flourishing is not an individual achievement alone. It is a shared condition that emerges when people, systems, and environments are aligned in ways that allow both human capacities to expand and human constraints to be respected.
To understand this, we must begin with clear definitions.
Human capacities are the strengths we bring to the world. They include;
- Judgment—the ability to discern wisely in uncertainty
- Ethics—the internal compass that guides right action
- Empathy—the ability to understand and feel with others
- Creativity—the power to imagine and build what does not yet exist
- Narrative—the ability to make sense of the world through shared stories
- Relational trust—the foundation of cooperation
- Transformational Energy Units (TEUs)—our finite capacity to adapt, change, and carry the psychological and emotional load of transformation.
These capacities are remarkable, but they are not unlimited. They exist within human constraints—the conditions required for those capacities to function. These include the need for belonging, the assurance of fairness, the presence of meaning, the experience of coherence (the ability to understand cause and effect in our lives), and a sense of agency (the feeling that our actions matter and influence outcomes). When these constraints are honored, human capacities expand. When they are violated, those same capacities begin to degrade.
