Contextual Lens Protocol · CLP 2.0
16 contextual lenses — including 3 new additions — that help leaders, educators, and organizations examine the filters shaping every decision, conversation, and culture they build.
What it is
A published interpretive framework for reflexive leadership and deeper discourse.
The CLP gives individuals and teams a shared language for examining the contexts that shape how they think, communicate, and lead at every level of an organization.
Examine the lenses you bring into every room and understand how they are shaping the outcomes you are responsible for.
Build a shared language that makes collaboration more intentional, discourse more rigorous, and culture more equitable.
Citable in academic work. Designed for educators building reflexive, evidence-based classroom discourse.
A facilitation-ready framework for retreats, workshops, and culture-building that moves beyond compliance into real transformation.
How it works — the 4-step protocol
01 · INPUT
Read, listen, observe
Take in information. Notice what themes arise and how you are processing them.
02 · PROCESS
Choose your lens
Select the contextual lens that deepens your understanding. Less is more.
03 · OUTPUT
Engage explicitly
Speak, write, or discourse through your lens using evidence and personal narrative.
04 · REFLEX
Reflect and act
Consider how your thinking has evolved. Find a Reflex Partner to push you deeper.
A glimpse at the lenses
The full CLP 2.0 includes all 16 lenses with definitions, reflexive questions, and facilitation prompts. Below is a selection to show the range and depth of the framework.
How past events and legacies shape the present context.
"How does your life history shape your lens?"
How laws, power structures, and civic systems shape your worldview.
"How have your ideas and experiences with politics shaped your lens?"
"Does everyone have what they need? Who is being made invisible in your decisions?"
"How might your positionality inhibit or enhance how you understand others?"
"Are there other perspectives missing from this conversation? What needs to be clarified?"
Full definition and reflexive question included in the CLP 2.0 download.
Full definition and reflexive question included in the CLP 2.0 download.
Full definition and reflexive question included in the CLP 2.0 download.
9 additional lenses with full definitions and reflexive questions in the download.
Created by the individual. What lens prompts deeper reflection on others' stories? What lens will aid the growth of those within your sphere of influence?
Free preview — full lens from CLP 2.0
Equity Lens · New in CLP 2.0
Equity is a principle explicitly and intentionally designed to recognize an individual's unique positionality, including identity, lived experiences, and current context, in order to provide structures and resources that support learning, growth, and development. Applying the equity lens is transformative for the collective, not only for the individual.
Reflexive question: In the decisions you made this week, who benefited most and whose needs were made invisible?
What people say
"The CLP helped me to understand my point of view was valid and gave me language to explain why."
CLP User · Educator"This framework should be expanded so that other audiences have access to this valuable tool."
CLP User · Leader"The CLP helped my students deeply engage with the readings in ways I had not seen before."
CLP User · TeacherInstant PDF download. Facilitation-ready.
Citable in academic work. Use it today.
Jackson, A. J. (2024). Contextual Lenses Protocol. MindUteach.