Shrink-Wrapped in Our Own Thinking: Thinking That Transforms Presented by Ariane David, PhD Senior Partner The Veritas Group Senior Lecturer California State University, Northridge [email protected]Non-Positional Thinking and The Uncertainty Contingency Yolo County Department of Child Support Services Ariane David, PhD The VERITAS Group California State University, Northridge Woodbury University ADavid @ TheVeritasGroup.com
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Shrink-Wrapped in Our Own Thinking:Thinking That Transforms
Presented by Ariane David, PhD Senior Partner The Veritas Group
Senior Lecturer California State University, Northridge
We each live in a universe of our own construction.
Its organizing patterns and logic are perfect for physical survival,
but absent the beasts they can be a real barrier to clear thinking.
Uncertainty is the first contingency of non-positional thinking.
Organizing Patterns > Positional Thinking The Tyrant Brain
Tyranny of Knowledge*
Tyranny of Emotions*
Tyranny of Logic *
Tyranny of Knowledge
Choosing existing knowledge simply because it’s the knowledge we have.
Assuming that the knowledge we have is better than knowledge we don’t have or the knowledge others
have.
Doing what worked in the past only because it worked in the past, without examining how appropriate that
strategy is in light new information, including assuming the future will be like the past.
Tyranny of Knowledge: examples
General’s Dilemma
Fulfilled Expectations
Success Double Bind
Every organizing pattern is permanently grounded in emotions (as well as sensory experience). Thus, every
one of our responses is also grounded in emotion.
Emotions affect logic, but cannot be dealt with logically.
Tyranny of Emotion
Tyranny of Emotion: examples
We take cognitive shortcuts in our reasoning to help us make sense quickly, but fail to verify
the accuracy.
Shortcut errors
Stereotyping
Biases
These had important survival value on the savannah!
Allport & Postman 1942
Tyranny of Logic
What is logic?
What determines if something is logical?
Can logic be wrong?
Tyranny of Logic
Logic is nothing more than the rules you’ve made up for navigating within your constructed universe!
These rules are based on how easily and powerfully one thought gets connected to another: thoughts that connect easily are
seen to be logical.
There are as many different systems of logic as there are beings on the earth.
Logic is subjective like taste. Nothing is ever “illogical”; things are just “differently-logical”
Why does this matter in non-positional thinking?
Tyranny of Logic: examples
Zero-sum illusion*
Baboon trap*
Lost Key dilemma*
Zero Sum Illusion
Believing that there is a limited amount of “solution”, including “either/or”, “middle-of-the-
road”, and “fixed position” thinking.
Think politics!
Baboon Trap
Thinking for the short term, not how current actions lead to future outcomes.
Seeing only parts, but not how they’re related or how they form a whole.
Attachment to unworkable situations. Ex. Our LIVES!
Lost Key Dilemma
Looking for information/solutions/answers somewhere only because that’s where the
information is easy to access. Ex. case load, education, quarterly reports, Deming, Vioxx.
Not everything that can be counted counts; not everything that counts can be counted .
(Variously attributed to Albert Einstein, W. Edwards Deming and a half dozen others)
The opportunity lies in a new way of thinking, one that is based on how we actually think
rather than how we believe we think.
It is called Non-Positional Thinking
What Non-positional Thinking Is:
It is based in the knowledge that human thought is fallible, that we cannot trust what we think we know (uncertainty).
Non-positional thinking is a way of being.
It rises above the “position” to view other positions equally.
We never arrive at being a non-positional thinker; we can only strive to think non-positionally.
Non-positional thinking requires commitment and perseverance.
What Non-positional Thinking Is Not:
Non-positional thinking is not a short-cut to effective
reasoning.
A linear process, recipe, or check list for how to think (we
cannot think non-positionally until we grasp the fallibility of our
thought).
A tool-kit of techniques and methodologies.
A destination or a position in the middle.
Non-Positional thinking is Based on
Four Contingencies
Contingencies of Non-Positional Thinkingand Intellectual
VirtuesUncertainty > intellectual humility
Curiosity > intellectual openness
Discernment > wisdom
Commitment > courage
Uncertainty Contingency: Humility
Uncertainty means realizing that our knowledge about the world is massively unreliable, that it is our personal constructed
universe.
Our constructed universe is not the world, just a good-enough representation of it that allows us to survive(ish).
Certainty that our constructed universe is the world leads to almost all of the world’s problems.
Humility is the realization that we and all humans, and our knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions are fallible.
Uncertainty doesn’t mean being paralyzed by doubt,
but rather being aware of the fallibility of our knowledge..
Uncertainty Contingency: Skills
What is it that I am not seeing the seeing of which would change everything?
The Ability To:
Being able to accept hold in our minds the notion that human beings, and our knowledge and beliefs are fallible,
and...
that we base our point of view on assumptions that may or may not be accurate.
Keep ALL conclusions, no matter how excellent they are now, open to future scrutiny.
Doubt constructively, with the intention of learning.
Realize that our beliefs cannot tell us anything about the world.
The uncertainty contingency makes us realize that we can’t be certain what color the ball
actually is no matter how obvious it seems.
The curiosity contingency makes us want to find out.
Curiosity Contingency: Openness
Curiosity means that (in the light of our uncertainty) we are eager
and determined to discover what we don’t know, the knowing of
which could change everything.
That we are eager to see the merit in the other points of view.
It leads to the impartial gathering of relevant information.
Curiosity Contingency: Skills
Enthusiastically and impartially seek and collect the relevant information.
Maintain an open-minded outlook with respect to our own beliefs
and to the assertions of others.
Honestly ask and answer, “Do I really want to know what lies outside my point of view?”
The Ability To:
What is it that I am not seeing the seeing of which would change everything?
Discernment Contingency: Wisdom
Attempting to see things truly as opposed to looking for
confirming evidence; desire to weigh evidence impartially.
Recognizing and questioning our own assumptions and biases
and seeking to go beyond them.
Judging the merits of our own point of view by the same
standards we use to judge others’ points of view.
Discernment Contingency: Skills
Attempt to see things as they truly are. Be truthful (at least to ourselves).
Weigh information fairly, i.e., judging the merits of our own beliefs with the same rigor and by the same standards by which we judge the merits of others.
Recognize when information is factual, tangible, provable, anecdotal, or opinion, including assessing the credibility of the sources (including ourselves) and what they have to gain or lose.
Identify and question assumptions and the assumptions of those we tend to believe.
Heartily seek an impartial solution.
The Ability To:
Commitment Contingency: Courage
Commitment is the overarching principle. It means being
determined to move beyond our own point of view, assumptions,
judgments, and conclusions (organizing patterns) even in the face
of our own fear.
It means having the courage to acknowledge and act on those
discoveries, including being willing to change our dearly held
position.
It means tolerance for differing, even opposing, points of view.
Commitment Contingency: Skills
Accept new evidence even if it conflicts with previous beliefs.
Be courageous enough to acknowledge it.
Discard hypotheses that have proved inadequate.
Adapt oneself to the facts of this world.
Persevere even in the face of our own discomfort.
Operate in a demonstrably fair and tolerant way.
The Ability To:
What is it that I am not seeing the seeing of which would change everything?
Strategic Believing and Doubting
Strategic Believing and Doubting
We need strategic believing for those things that we tend to dismiss or that repel us.
We need strategic doubting for those things we’re certain of, things that we think need no questioning.
Neither comes easy to human beings.
Both are necessary to non-positional thinking
What is it that I am not seeing the seeing of which would change everything?
Strategic Believing: Believing What is Most
Doubtful to Us
The intention is to act “as if” we believed an unattractive proposition in order to see the merits of the argument before we attempt to debunk it.
The purpose is not to accept the proposition, but to try to see all the things about it that we hadn’t seen before, including hidden merits, in order to to understand it.
It is not just about listening to different views, or being respectful of them,
but being able to restate them impartially. (Note to myself: maybe this shouldn’t be here and should be in the “to do” part as part of the tool kit.)
Strategic Doubting: Doubting What is Most Believable
to Us The intention is to open-mindedly scrutinize appealing assertions or beliefs. The
purpose is not to reject them but to better understand them.
It involves conscious and willful skepticism for our own dearly held beliefs and other assertions we find particularly attractive.
In non-positional doubting we are testing for validity.
Strategic doubting comes from the realization that we can’t be certain of what we know.
Strategic Believing and Doubting
Breakout Exercise
Strategic Believing and Doubting: Breakout
Find a partner (preferably someone you don’t know well)
Strategic believing:1. Think of a current conflict/disagreement you have with another (adversary).
2. Assume the position of that person’s best friend or other person who advocates the adversary’s position (ok to make it up).
3. Pretending to be the advocate, make the case for the adversary’s argument to your partner.
4. Switch
Strategic doubting5. Using the same situation, assume the position of your adversary.
6. Pretending to be you own adversary, tell you partner everything that’s wrong with your position.
7. Switch
Problem Solving and Decision Making
Getting Rid of the Bridge Bat Problem
Bridge-Bats Bind: Classic Problem Solving Methodology
What is the issue or problem?
What information do I have?
What information do you need to solve it?
What is the plan/methodology for solving the problem?
What are possible solutions?
What are pros and cons of each solution?
What is your solution?
Bat Breakout and Discussion
Break, 10 minutes
Non-Positional Problem Solving
A View of the Problem From Higher Up
Non-Positional Problem Solving
Is based on the notions that
Beneath every apparent problem lies the actual far more complex and hard to see problem. Solving only the apparent problem usually leads to worse problems.
The actual problem involves people and how they think about the problem.
Discovering what the actual problem is is the most important part of
finding the solution!
There is no problem that doesn’t have a solution if we are willing to change the way we think about it.
Constantin David
Classical Problem Solving Methodology
(doesn’t work for a complex problem; never
has!) Identify the issue or problem.
Gather information about the problem.
Identify possible solutions/decisions.
Determine the pros and cons of each solution.
Choose a solution.
Do it.
Review the outcomes.
First ask What is the goal?
– Is the goal to solve the real problem or to validate my position?( Ex. To
solve the real problem or get rid of the bats? To serve the customer or
to serve the needs of managers?)
What is my attitude?– What will I lose if I am wrong? (note: we ALWAYS have something to
lose.)
– Do I really want to know (or do I have my mind made up)? Is there
anything that could persuade me I’m wrong? If the answer is YES,
and you are actually in uncertainty, then curiosity comes
next.
A Different Approach: Finding the Actual Issue is the most important part
Next Discover what is the problem or issue actually is
– Are we looking at the same problem? What do I believe the
problem to be? Is there another view about what the problem is?
Are we talking facts of feelings?
– What are the facts? (observables, behaviors, results?)
– What are other explanations for the observables?
– What human dynamics are involved?
– What assumptions am I making? Is there any evidence to back
them up? What if I’m wrong?
– LISTEN! Non-Positional Listening*
Non-positional Problem Solving: Finding the Actual Issue
Non-positional Listening Non-positional listening is not easy. Our organizing
patterns keep kicking in, telling us we know what’s going
on.
The way around this is to listen to hear something that
you have not heard before.
Non-positional Problem Solving: Finding the Actual Issue
Next Discover the real underlying (human) problem
– How does the culture keep the problem in place? (organizational
habits – “the way we do things around here”.)
– What is it I’m not seeing about this problem? If you’ve heard it all
before, you’re not listening.
– Have I honestly sought information that disconfirms my beliefs?
(strategic believing and doubting.
– Language: does it mean the same to all of us? Neutral or
positional? Is it biasing our understanding?
Non-positional Problem Solving: Finding the Actual Issue
Non-Positional Solutions
The easy part
What are possible solutions for the actual problem?
Which one best fulfills the real goal?
What is the reasoning process I used in order to reach this conclusion?
What effects will this decision have on the larger system now and in the long run?
Solving the Bridge Bat Problem
Bat Facts
This information was readily available to anyone at the time of crisis:
500,000 bats eat 10,000 pounds of bugs every day Bats are no more prone to rabies than squirrels,
chipmunks, raccoons or other wild animals No cases of rabid bats were reported in the area While there were several cases of bat bites, they did not
break the skin All bite cases involved people trying to handle or interfere
with bats, or of bats that got trapped
Bridge-bats - what is the real problem? Breakout
Austin Bats Create an Industry
Creating a Learning Organization
Two Kinds of Learning
Adaptive learning – Based in fear
– Uses blame to succeed
– Purpose is survival
– Defensive
Generative learning– Based in curiosity and openness
– Uses accountability to succeed
– Purpose is growth and self-expression
– Creative
Non-Learning Organization: Positional Problem Solving
BLAME
Problem
Fear
Blame / Fault
DefensivenessDenial
Distorted Information
Ineffective Action /
No Learning
Fear /Blame
No learning can take place in the space of blame.
Learning Organization: Non-Positional Problem Solving
Problem
Quality information
and communication
CollaborationEffective action
Organizational learning
Openness / Curiosity
Accountability
Mistakes are the price we pay for learning.
Workplace Issue
Breakout
You say WHAT? Stuck in Organizing Patterns
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” – HM Warner, Warner Bros, 1927
"I think there is a world market for about five computers“ – Thomas Watson, CEO, IBM 1958
…and the winner
“Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.” – Grover Cleveland, US President 1905
Non-Positional Thinking: Thinking That Transforms Everything
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
– William James
It is much easier to believe than to think.
– James Harvey Robinson
The Uncertainty Proposition
“Question everything at least once in your life…” (not “something” but “everything”!)
“Doubt is the organ of wisdom.”
Rene Descartes
Parting Thought…
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble,
it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. – Mark Twain
Shrink-Wrapped in Our Own Thinking:Thinking That Transforms