Ron’s Short Review: You have to dig through this one a bit to find examples of how this works at work. Our author focuses a lot on home and school. But the bottom line is: collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. This is the power of Teams.
I had just finished writing my blog post “Are you a Fighter Pilot?” The close of that blog says
“Did you stop to think?” was a question I often heard from my parents. As a teenager, I thought that was just the stock response for when I did something stupid. I didn’t realize at the time it was a recipe to avoid being stupid as an adult.
Stop multitasking. Stop to think!
The next thing I read was about a study titled “On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit.” Don’t you just love it when researchers speak in plain language? In other words, how accurate is your bullshit detector?
The scientist ran statements through something called a “New Age Bullshit Generator”. These generated phrases that seemed plausible but were a stream of buzzwords. They questioned hundreds of participants to see how profound they found the statements. All too many of them found the statements quite profound.
The conclusion of the researchers was that it may have been a “lack of critical thinking.” Really? The lack of critical thinking may lead to buzzword statements sounding profound? If I think about it I would agree with that statement. It seems to be profound.
Critical thinking requires critical questioning. There are many good models for critical questions. (I can recommend A more beautiful question by Warren Berger). Here are a few aspects of questioning to think about:
- Evidence: is it valid? What’s the source? Is it meaningful or profound bullshit?
- Perspective: Would this look different from a different perspective?
- Pattern: Does this fit a meaningful pattern?
- Relevance: So what?
Just because it sounds profound, don’t just nod your head and keep going. Get curious.
Try asking the 5 Whys? Here’s a simple example from Wikipedia on the 5 Whys.
Problem: The vehicle will not start.
1st Why? – The battery is dead. Solution: replace the battery.
2nd Why? – The alternator is not functioning. Solution: replace the alternator.
3rd Why? – The alternator belt has broken. Solution: replace the belt.
4th Why? – The alternator belt was well beyond its useful service life and not replaced. Leading to the root cause.
5th Why? – The vehicle was not maintained according to the recommended service schedule. Root cause!
How many times have your replaced the battery after the first Why? Did you stop to think? Did you get curious? Did you ask a few more Why?”
“Did you stop to think?” was a question I often heard from my parents. As a teenager, I thought that was just the stock response for when I did something stupid. I didn’t realize at the time it was a recipe to avoid being stupid as an adult.
Stop to think!
I’m continuing my series on an in-depth look at a wonderful little book that’s twenty years old this year. The title is Management of the Absurd by Richard Farson. You may want to consider dropping back and reading the previous posts about ABSURD! I think it will put each new one in great context.
Chapter 6 is titled: Most Problems That People Have are Not Problems
Farson calls this problems vs predicaments. Problems can be solved; predicaments can only be coped with. He goes on to say “Most of the affairs of life, particularly the most intimate and important ones are complicated, inescapable dilemmas – predicaments where no options look very good or better than any others.”
Horns of a dilemma
To me the key word is right in the middle of that statement: dilemmas! You’ve heard the old adage “on the horns of a dilemma.” It literally meant for you to think about your predicament as the horns of a bull. The reality is that you’re going to get gored either way! All you can do is to pick which horn will do the goring.
Right vs Right
In his book Primes Chris McGoff describes these issues as “right vs right.” They are not right vs wrong, that’s a problem to be fixed. They are right vs right. Either way is equally right (or wrong) but you have no other options, you must choose one direction and commit to it.
Solving a Predicament makes it worse
Farson continues to say, “A problem is created by something going wrong, by a mistake, defect, disease, or a bad experience. When we find the cause, we can correct it. A predicament, however, paradoxical as it may seem, is more likely to be created by conditions that we highly value. That is why we can only cope with it. Thus, a predicament is often made worse when we treat it as a problem.”
Frame the Issue Properly
In the corporate world most predicaments and dilemmas are framed as right vs wrong problems. People end up on one side or the other and will argue in favor of their point of view and the demise of the opposing point of view. But as Farson states that makes the issue all that much worse.
Be very careful to frame your issue correctly. Is it a problem that can actually be fixed? Or should we understand it as a predicament or dilemma that requires choosing between two rights or two wrongs? If we can only frame it properly we’ll be much more successful at coping with difficult situations.