Misunderstanding
A common cause of many behavioral wastes is when we simply do not fully understand the situation,one another or the impact of our actions. If we could improve our ability to understand all of these then we would have the capability to make great leaps in reducing our personal contributions to wastes, as well as helping others.Misrecognition
When we see something our first question is : "What is that?" Our minds solve this problem by pattern-fitting our current perception to our previous experiences. This is remarkable and we are very good at recognizing even distorted and obscured shapes, such as a friend who is yawning but half obscured.A woman was driving a car and brushed her hair behind an ear. A policeman saw her hand by her ear and recognized that as holding a mobile phone and stopped her. We see what we are looking for and miss what we are not.
We also miss many things as our minds helpfully correct what we see. A written article may be read by several professional proofreaders and still contain glaring errors.
The Solution
- When you think you have recognized something significant, pause and think again
- When you write something, get someone else to review it
Misinterpretation
When we believe we have recognized something, the next question is: "What does it mean? " The inference of meaning is a complex process including against our internal mental models. These models are simplifications we build to help cope with the messiness of the real world. For example, we build models of different types of people that let us classify others and decide how to interact with them.Misunderstanding happens when we forget that our models are not totally accurate. We assume people are identical to our simplified models of them. We act as if the whole business obeys the simple rules we have assumed for it. We forget that the map is not the territory and ignore realities that upset our nice, clean models.
The Solution
-Be careful with the meaning you infer from limited information
-Remember that there is often more than one valid meaning
Misjudgement
After interpreting what we have seen, we then sit in judgment asking: Is it good or bad, right or wrong? " In particular , we sit as judge and jury on each other, evaluating actions and finding our colleagues wanting.A common error is that while we forgive ourselves for mistakes by blaming a situation, we often assume that others err for dispositional reasons. To compound this further, having classified them as bad, we then assume this to be irreversible, in-built trait. Although this helps us feel superior and better ourselves, it taints our relationship with those we have condemned.
A major culprit is our values system, which we use to evaluate our experiences. Values act as social behavioral rules that help us live in some semblance of harmony with one another. They are generally useful in that they curb our more antisocial excesses, but we still tend to apply them more strictly to others than ourselves.
The Solution
- Understand how you derive the criteria by which you judge
- When judging other people and yourself, use the same criteria
- Seek to forgive and learn rather than blame
Misdecision
Once we have created our own meaning from our experiences, we must then decide what to do about it. If we have misunderstood an event then our decisions, no matter how rational, are doomed and we can then only compound the waste. Yet, even if we assume reasonable understanding , there are many decisions trip-wires that snag our thinking and lead us to wasteful decisions.Thinking too little
We live in a a real-time flow of experience in which we must make thousands of decisions each day, from what to eat for breakfast to how we respond to a customer complaint. The way we handle the vast majority of this torrent of demand on our cognitive processing is through a set of short-cuts that we acquire over time, including habits, rules of thumb and programmed responses. Organizational cultures often encourages this lack of thought , as they laud a "bias for action" and the heroes are those who are out there fighting fires (which they may have unwittingly lit themselves). It seems that there is never time to get it right first time, but there is always time to put it right later.
One definition of an expert is someone who has a large set of short-cuts so can rapidly respond to a range of situations. Through study, experience and reflection they build up their store of knowledge. However, when that knowledge is wrong or incomplete, then they will unwittingly err in their decisions. Having acquired knowledge about the topic , they then close the doors to new understanding and make increasingly dated decisions. This is often the reason for the young out -thinking the old. Where our decisions are based on old data, when we cease to be curious and focus on defending the crumbling castle, we fall into a spiral of waste.
The Solution
- Do not make important decisions hastily. Give time to reflect
- Listen to inexperienced people and the naive question they ask
Mistakes of reason
Ever since Aristotle, we have had still clearly defined logic available, yet we still both use and abuse logic in our decision-making and blunder daily through host of fallacies. Our need to appear rational leads us to regularly assert the reason and completeness of arguments that are, in fact, full of logical holes through which you could drive a fleet of busses.When faced with risky situations, our decisions become more complex because we now have to consider both gains and losses. The way these situations are presented to us and how we process them have a significant effect on our decisions. A gambler sees a large potential gain and ignores the high probability of a smaller loss. A drug addict focuses on the short term highs and ignore the long term consequences.
The Solution
-Recognize where you are making emotional decisions
- Understand and check the logic of your decision
Thinking too much
Robert Louise Stephenson once commented that :" It's better to travel hopefully than to arrive." When thinking becomes more attractive than acting, we avoid coming to any final conclusions, preferring to dally in our safe and fantastic dreams.This is the world of the visionaries and planners who live at the opposite end of the spectrum to their mortal enemies, the reactive of firefighters. Although businesses have fewer such purists, they tend to be found in positions of influence where they can potentially do more damage. It is not that dreamers are necessarily bad, but their dreams can often go beyond the capability of the company or the needs of the market. Exploration is sometimes useful and necessary, but explorers who make no maps will wander around in circles.
The Solution
-Beware of the analysis paralysis of excessive thinking
- Connect thinking to decisions and actions
Misbelief
The deepest level of inner waste happens in the beliefs and assumptions we adopt in order to support our understanding and decision-making. Many of our mistakes of reason and other dysfunctions are therefore based less on faulty logic than faulty assumptions.Beliefs about the world around us
In living our lives, we have limited time in which to explore and build a deep understanding of the complex world around us so we build simplified models to help us interpret and decide. The biggest problem with this is that we then treat the world as if it is made up solely of our models and miss much of the rich detail around us.As well as simple, our models are also often grossly distorted or just plain wrong , further corrupting our view of the world.
The Solution
-Continuously develop and extend your understanding of the world, challenging your own models
- Questions the references you assume are true and listen to new ideas
Belief about others
Some of our most important beliefs focus on people both generally and individually. What we believe about people directly affects how we treat them. A belief that people are self-centered and lazy leads to a system of strict controls, as opposed to the more friendly and trusting system that assumes people are honest and well- meaning.Our models of other people are often as simplified and distorted as other models and we keep a limited set of stereotypes. This is useful when we meet people , as with very little information we can stuff them into a classification box and henceforth know how to interact. Of course, it also means that we will largely ignore what they say and do and will actively push them back into the box. What is even worse is that they will go along with this. If you repeatedly tell a person they have a limited capability , they will soon believe you and no longer try to extend themselves.
The Solution
-Beware of stereotypes and bias corrupting your view of other people
- Adopt beliefs that help you work effectively with others
Belief about ourselves
Finally we have beliefs and models about ourselves , much as we have beliefs and models about other people. These , however, are modified by our need to feel good about ourselves. Self image and self-esteem are powerful influences on what we think and do.Much of our self-image is built by comparing ourselves to other people. This can be a dilemma if we want to look better than them, so we cheat by having different rules for each other. When I make a mistake, I excuse myself by blaming the situation, but when you succeed , I assume you were lucky. Thus, by tipping the balance, I can feel superior and so good about myself.
We also build our self-image from how others treat us or, more accurately and confusingly , what we think they think. But when they are also tipping the balance to build their own self-esteem, it is easy to end up with a much lower opinion of ourselves than we should.
Much of our self image was formed when we were young, had little understanding of the human psyche and our parents and teachers were clumsily trying to shape us into conforming members of society. So we end up with limiting beliefs that hold us back and waste our potential Once we see through this sham, the possibilities are endless for reducing waste in our lives, our relationships and our organizations.
The Solution
-Beware of arrogance or timidity born of an ineffective self image
- Know yourself to be equal and worthy.
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