Is
your business in danger of you or your team being so certain that the truth gets
rejected? We are entering a world of
post-truth in politics – the truth no longer appears to matter and the people
with the most certainty in their position seem to win.
The
outcome of the UK referendum and US Presidential elections were shocking
because they were largely unexpected.
Many people were pretty certain that life would go on as normal and
didn’t think too deeply about the issues at stake. Many were lulled into complacency by their certainty
that things would not change so they didn’t explore what the other side were really
saying and what was mobilising them.
The absence of truth
In
the UK the general consensus from academics and experts was clear and there was
a lack of openness to the views of those who were saying change was
needed. In the months running up to the
referendum it was frustrating to see that both sides were becoming increasingly
certain about their views. There was no
open and reflective dialogue, untruths were being declared as certainty and
people on both sides shut out their opponents in totally polarised debates where
the truth became meaningless. The total
absence of exploring the truth (or untruth) in any given slogan meant that
people had little option but to vote with their feelings and emotions. This meant that deep undercurrents and
resentments were brought to the surface and the primal threat of lack of autonomy was
triggered in many people, urging them to vote Leave.
It
has also been interesting to see that while only 52% of the UK voted for Leave
the current UK Government is acting as if there was a 100% vote for Leave. They have become totally dogmatic in their
approach and seem to be immune to reflecting on the economic consequences of a ‘Hard
Brexit’ which includes being out of the single market. I fully understand that this approach could
be a cynical ploy to improve their negotiating stance but it is neglecting the
needs of 48% of the voting population and businesses who want some clarity. This does not seem politically astute. The imbalance in their approach could derail
their project by creating unintended consequences.
The Paradox of
Opinions
While
being certain has a number of benefits like confidence, providing direction,
clarity and leadership, if it is not balanced it can create unintended
consequences like a loss of different viewpoints, hindering collaboration,
stifling of innovation and fixed views that can ultimately lead to poor
decisions.
In
order to avoid the unintended consequences of certainty it is important to have
a healthy level of being open and reflective.
This means you are more interested in exploring the truth than being
right. You are more interested in the
value of diverse viewpoints and improving decisions, even if it is uncomfortable,
because you know it stimulates innovation and the effective management of
ambiguity.
Natural tension
There
is a natural tension between being certain and being open and reflective. It takes courage and high levels of
self-awareness to be able to admit that you may have been wrong. This is because our brain will feel a drop in
status if we admit that we were wrong and a drop in status triggers the same
parts of the brain that signal physical pain.
A drop in status is one of the five primary threats that puts us in
fight or flight mode, triggering a surge of neurochemicals that disrupt our
thinking, make us more pessimistic and narrow focused (for more on this Click Here).
On
the other hand some people neatly avoid these feelings by being very open and
reflective. They pride themselves on
their ability to collaborate, listen to ideas and take on board various
viewpoints. However, there are also
unintended consequences of being very open and reflective. These include being inconclusive and having
unclear views. Decisions can get delayed
or swayed by the latest opinion being voiced.
This can hinder your ability to influence others and may give the
impression of a lack of focus or direction.
The
beauty of the Paradox of Opinions is that the unintended consequences of both
Primary Traits disappear when we can balance them with one another. This means you can be confident in your
opinions, yet continue to explore different viewpoints and adjust your opinions
when appropriate.
The
proverb for this paradox is; “Greater
knowledge can only be obtained by allowing what you already know to sit in the
background while relentlessly pursuing a fresh new way of seeing the issue and
being willing to be ‘wrong’ about one’s previous knowledge.”
This
Paradox is illustrated below:
It
has two primary traits:
- · Certain, which is the tendency to feel confident in one's opinions.
- · Open/Reflective, which is the tendency to reflect on many different viewpoints.
This
creates four sub-traits depending on the relative strengths of the primary
traits.
When
they are both strong you have ‘Balanced Versatility’ and the trait of ‘Truth
Exploring’ which means the tendency to explore different viewpoints and
formulate conclusions without becoming fixed in one's opinions.
When
the gentle trait of ‘Open/Reflective’ is strong but the dynamic trait of ‘Certain’
is weak it creates a ‘Passive Imbalance’ and you may become ‘Inconclusive’. This is the tendency to lack certainty in
one’s opinions while at the same time being very open to the ideas of others.
If
you have a high level of the dynamic trait of ‘Certainty’ with weak ‘Open/Reflective’
you can create an ‘Aggressive Imbalance’ and become ‘Dogmatic’. This means demonstrating a tendency to be
certain of one's own opinions while at the same time not being open to
different ideas.
When
both traits are low you have a ‘Balanced Deficiency’ which can lead to ‘Uncertain
Disinterest’. This is a tendency to lack
confidence in one's own opinions while at the same time not reflecting on different
ideas and opinions. Many of the people
who don’t vote fall into this category in the context of politics.
Awareness creates power
I
was recently training some Directors in Coaching Skills and there were some
light-bulb moments for the participants when we discussed of the principles of
awareness and control. In particular the
following concept: I am only able to
control that of which I am aware – that of which I am unaware controls me; awareness
empowers me. This can be translated
into the idea that higher than normal awareness leads to higher than normal
performance.
When
they got this concept they became noticeably more motivated to learn, practice
and apply coaching techniques with their people. They realised that their role is not to just
provide all the answers but to ask questions to raise their people’s awareness
because with awareness comes the power to make new and more effective
decisions.
This
also applies to the Paradox of Opinions.
How effective are you at raising your awareness and the awareness of
your team? Are they relentlessly
exploring the truth? Or are they
slipping into the imbalances mentioned above?
Our
politicians also need to become more aware of the imbalances in their
opinions. If they don’t adapt there will
certainly be more disruptive outcomes than they expect! Many famous brands have slipped into
oblivion by being far too certain that they were right and missed the shifts in
their market. Others disappeared because
they did too much flipping and flopping by following the latest fad and losing
sight of their core principles. Neither
of these strategies work and in our current highly uncertain political and
economic environment you and your team need to consider where you stand, and
where the truth really lies.
Increasing self and
team awareness
Many
clients are now taking advantage of the powerful individual and team insights
available from the Harrison Paradox Report to identify the difference between a
strong trait and a real strength. A
strong trait may be unbalanced and it is only a real strength when it has the
appropriate paradoxical trait to compliment it and thus avoid the unintended
consequences.
To
explore any of the above issues and to see where you stand on the Paradox of
Opinions, as well as the eleven other Paradoxes in this unique assessment, just
contact Gloria at info@InspiredWorking.com.
With best regards
David Klaasen
No comments:
Post a Comment