EDG Butterfly Map: Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers for the curious, the skeptical, and the brand new.
What is the EDG Butterfly Map?
It’s a visual framework for understanding the living tensions that make up your Genius. Think of it as a personal blueprint — a map of how you move through eight fundamental paradoxes of being human. Not a personality box. Not a label. A map you can actually use.
What do you mean by “genius”? Are you saying I’m gifted?
Not in the IQ sense. Genius, as used here, goes back to its original Latin root: the animating spirit within a person — the unique pattern of energy, instinct, and drive that belongs to you alone. Everyone has it. Most people have been conditioned out of trusting it. This work is about finding it again.
How is this different from a personality test like Myers-Briggs or the Enneagram?
Those systems identify type. The EDG Butterfly Map works with movement. It doesn’t sort you into a category — it shows you the tensions you’re navigating and what happens when you get stuck on one side. You’re not a type. You’re a pattern in motion.
What are “genius tensions”?
A genius tension is a paradox — two things that seem to oppose each other but actually need each other to work. Certainty and Wonder. Structure and Flow. Giving and Receiving. The map works with eight of these tensions. None of them are problems to solve. They’re polarities to move through.
What do the colors on the map mean?
The upper wings are teal — these represent the two positive sides of each tension, meant to work together like yin and yang. The lower wings are amber — these represent what happens when you get locked into one side compulsively, at the cost of the other. Amber isn’t failure. It’s a signal.
What is the EDG Point?
The EDG Point, also referred to as the crossing point, is the center of the butterfly’s body — the place where all eight tensions converge. It’s meant to be a throughway, a place of dynamic movement. But it’s also where many of us make hard right-angle turns: avoiding one side of a tension, overcorrecting, or locking down entirely. Learning to move through the EDG Point fluidly is what we mean by “full flight.”
What is “Genius in Full Flight”?
It’s the optimal expression of who you are — when your tensions are alive and moving rather than stuck or suppressed. It’s not a permanent state of peak performance. It’s more like having a working relationship with all of yourself, including the parts that resist, the parts that doubt, and the parts that haven’t been given permission to show up.
Is the EDG Butterfly Map based on existing research?
Yes, with original development layered on top. Its direct structural inspiration is Barry Johnson’s Polarity Map®, widely used in organizational development. The EDG Butterfly Map differs in vocabulary, visual form, unit of analysis, and philosophical orientation — it works at the level of the individual rather than the organization, and it assumes inherent Genius rather than a neutral starting point. The framework also integrates VIA Character Strengths research, the work of Carol Sanford, Robert Fritz, and others.
How does it connect to the VIA Character Strengths?
The eight genius tensions map naturally to the 24 VIA Character Strengths — giving you a bridge between who you are (your signature strengths) and how you move (your tension patterns). If you’ve already taken the VIA survey, your results will gain new dimension inside the Butterfly Map. If you haven’t, it’s a powerful companion tool.
Is this only for individuals, or can organizations use it too?
Both. The work starts with the individual because organizations are made of people — and when the people inside a system understand their own Genius, the entire system moves differently. The framework has particular traction in college and university settings, businesses, associations, and nonprofits, especially where leaders are willing to ask what becomes possible when every person in the room knows how to fly.
What is the Art of Genius?
The Art of Genius is a creative practice built on the Butterfly Map framework. Using doodling, visual journaling, and other forms of mark-making, it gives you a non-verbal way to work directly with your genius tensions — bypassing the inner critic and accessing what’s actually true for you. No art background required. Just a willingness to pick up a pen.
How do I find out what my map looks like?
Take the Genius Imprint Assessment — it maps your personal pattern across all eight tensions and gives you a starting point for understanding what tensions you are holding that could be turned into power. For a visual reference point for where you’re flying, where you’re stalling, and where your next movement is, Michele Jennae can provide further assistance with a short orientation session.
Where can I learn more?
The EDG Butterfly Map post archive is the best place to go deep. You can also explore the Every Day Genius Podcast, or start here if you’re brand new.
Still have a question?
Reach out via the contact page — I read every message.