The last couple of years have been an amazing journey for me. Creating this article is a good example. It all started with a previous article on victimhood on my Dutch site Patrick Schriel Coaching & Training which was picked-up by a local radio station. They asked me to do a radio interview about people who complain all the time, victimhood and the drama triangle. To prepare I a bit I wrote the drama triangle: persecutor, rescuer and victim article, which I also posted on this site.
Shortly after that I received a comment from someone working for David Emerald team letting me know there is a book called The Power of TED (The Empowerment Dynamic). One thing led to another and I agreed to do a review on David Emerald’s book.
In the drama triangle: persecutor, rescuer and victim I concluded that there is an antidote to the drama triangle: the winner’s triangle, Instead of being the persecutor you can become more assertive. Transform victimhood into vulnerability and take responsibility for your own life. And once you stop being the rescuer you can become caring towards others, helping others only when they ask for it.
The Power of TED takes on another approach. TED (The Empowerment Dynamic] is an antidote to the drama triangle. David Emerald presents TED to us as a story in which the lead character David is taking some time off at the beach to contemplate on his life, his divorce, and all the things that went wrong in his life. He wants to find an escape from his own victimhood. It is there where he meets Ted who introduces him to the creator, challenger and coach roles.
As a story the power of TED is brilliantly simple, as all good things are in life, but the message and examples are very recognizable, uplifting and can lead to real transformation. I’ve seen other explanations of the drama triangle before and how to escape from it, but Dave Emerald takes this to a whole new level. His message is simple but clear: Most people are living their lives from within the victim orientation seeing all the things that are happening to them as problems. As they try to solve then, what they get in return are more problems in their lives to solve.
Once you find an escape from the “dreaded drama triangle” you can take on the role of creator, focusing on your goals and visions. At this point the drama triangle transform into TED where creator is the opposite of victim, challenger the opposite of persecutor and coach that of rescuer. You now focus on solutions instead of problem.
If you enjoy books like Who move my cheese?, The one minute manager and Leadership and self deception you will definitely like The power of TED. It’s written in the same style with the potential to change your life.
If you want to know more about David Emerald, please visit his site The Power of TED.
The power of TED is highly recommended!
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