User:Annafdubuis/Janus Thinking

Janus Thinking is an approach to human unique ability to choose between two good options. Janus Thinking argues that the choices people make are dependant on two opposing worldviews people have that inform the ways individuals approach their life goals or purpose. These two approaches based on two contrasting worldviews, Lambda and Theta, are applied, among other domains, to luxury marketing and particularly into marketing of diamonds, as well as leadership, governance and Corporate Social Responsibility.

In Roman mythology, Janus is the Greek god of doors and gates and beginnings and endings and is most often depicted as a man with two heads, each facing opposite directions. Janus Thinking is derived from the idea of dual perspective, and the concept of paradox. It was developed by Dr. Isaac Mostovicz, who is a consulting academic in the fields of luxury marketing and the diamond industry.

Theta and Lambda

The theory behind Janus Thinking is that people fall into two worldview groups, Lambda and Theta. The typical Theta´s ultimate life purpose is characterised by seeking affiliation and control. Because of this, Thetas long to fit in or contextualise themselves within a desired group and use socially derived understandings as the basis for their approach to life goals. A Lambda’s ultimate end goal is based on seeking freedom and uniqueness. As a result, they are more likely to make choices based on how it will help them stand out and how a decision benchmarks them against others. These two worldviews can be used to depict how people make choices in everyday life, from purchasing luxury goods, to leadership and governance.

Theory of Luxury

The Janus Thinking approach to luxury is that luxury is not a need but is a desire. Since a desire can give us a purpose to live for and aspirations to target, luxury is important for people to express their values and goals.

In an interview with Luxist, Isaac Mostovicz, founder of Janus Thinking, said,

At its essence, luxury is overspending on something unnecessary. We might not really need it, but we somehow feel that special tinge of excitement or satisfaction afterward. It is impossible to explain such behavior with logic unless we understand first what luxury implies and how important this "needless need" for luxury really is.

Taking into account the two worldviews of Janus Thinking, these aspirations and desires will vary between the Theta and Lambda personalities and they will have different understandings of what luxury means. That means that the definition of luxury depends on how each individual interprets it. It is possible to identify the facets of luxury that people base their choices on and to show how the Theta and Lambda worldviews relate to these purchasing decisions. The table below explains the concepts of Theta and Lambda relating to the purchasing behaviours of luxury consumers.

Facet	Theta (Q)	Lambda (L)
Superfluousness is...	Independence to choose the social setting	Independence to choose the challenge
Extreme quality is...	Embedded in the product - natural fibres such as silk and linen	A man-made accomplishment
Expensiveness is...	"a lot of money"	"above my budget"
Rarity is...	In the product - diamonds are rare	In the person - "it was difficult for me to find"
Aesthetic appeal, or polysensuality is...	Described in an intangible, qualitative, subjective way which is embedded in the person "Fits me perfectly", "Part of me", "I feel alive"	Desbribed with a tangible, concrete and quantitative product focus "Pure", "Large", "white"
Time incorporation is...	Product-related timelessness - as in antiques	Process-related - a lot of time invested

Leadership and Governance

Janus Thinking also uses the theory of choice-making behaviour to look at leadership and governance in organizations. In a leadership context, Janus Thinking argues that leadership is the emotional ability (or inability) to act upon one’s own worldview, being either a Theta or a Lambda. While choice implies that two good options are always available from which to select, one should make choices in accordance with the leader’s worldview, looking for affiliation (Theta) or achievement (Lambda). Organisations that do not have clear leadership, lacking the emotional skills to make decisions correctly based on their worldviews, will suffer from these tensions and struggle to define future strategies consistently.

Looking at the role of leadership in the development of an ethical society and corporate social responsibility (CSR), the Janus Thinking concept examines how different ethical outcomes are driven by different leadership approaches.