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The Invisible Gorilla- And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us by cognitive psychologists Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons outlines the trap of six “everyday illusions” that cloud the decisions that we make from those of little consequence to those that can have life and death implications.

You know those people that have to have the last word? It seems that I might have a wee bit of that lurking in my DNA. There are a couple of things that I just had to say about this book before I am complete.

First, it was a tad humbling to see some of my sacred cows being sacrificed. While reading this book I was reminded how much I trust and rely on emotions and intuitive hits as a source of information. Time and again Chabris and Simons Illustrate the false information that anything but solid analysis can render. This includes some of the writings of my hero Malcolm Gladwell. (gasp)

Secondly, I was somewhat discouraged after reading how often seemingly valid scientific investigations are poorly designed and/or executed and therefore unreliable. Even though the authors offer some guidelines for determining robust data, I was left wondering how easy it is for the average person to determine what information to trust. Unfortunately the net result of reading this book left me still in the camp that would seek out poets, painters and sages as my guides of choice over solely relying on the black and white “truth” of the scientific method. Does this mean that my ENFP DNA rears its head in the end?

Finally, the bottom line for me here is twofold. First being aware that we often operate under faulty assumptions about the accuracy of our cognitive abilities and how understanding the nature of some of these typical errors can keep us from making BAD decisions. Second, differentiate between areas where objective analysis is possible and when we have to rely on other ways of knowing and deciding. In either case practicing taking time for reflection is undeniably important.

What do you rely on to guide your day to day decisions – big or small?

The Invisible Gorilla- And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us by cognitive psychologists Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons outlines the trap of six “everyday illusions” that cloud the decisions that we make from those of little consequence to those that can have life and death implications.

This book is so chock full of interesting facts and insights into how we delude ourselves every day that I could write any number of articles. One that struck me as relevant to the MBTI was what Chabris and Simons had to say about confidence. In fact they had a lot to say on this topic as there are 32 references under this heading in the index.

We tend to equate confidence with ability. We seek it out when situations are uncertain or complex. We read books that advise us to raise confident children as the overall guiding principle for success in life. We chose leaders based on perceived levels of competence over others who are more capable and qualified. One startling example given was George W. Bush’s response to the very confident answer from CIA Director George Trent when asked about the strength of evidence about weapons of mass destruction. George is not the exception – we all tend to believe and trust confidence.

Confidence is often equated with Extraversion. Extraverts typically respond faster and louder which adds to the portrayal of confidence. One ‘take away’ from this discussion on confidence is the cautionary advice regarding group decision making processes. When this is done out loud people will often defer to the person with seniority or most influence. A secret ballot that elicits every person’s honest response is a more accurate way of determining an answer free from political or social factors.

The Invisible Gorilla- And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us by cognitive psychologists Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons outlines the trap of six “everyday illusions” (perhaps “delusions” would be an appropriate word) that cloud the decisions that we make from those of little consequence to those that can have life and death implications.

Before we get into any discussion of the award winning research that this book introduces watch this video first. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo

We depend on our senses to give us input into the world around us. How else can we understand our reality? I am curious “Did you see the gorilla in the video?” If you didn’t, don’t be harsh on yourself. This experiment has been duplicated many times in different conditions, with different audiences, in different countries with consistent results: about half of the people miss seeing the gorilla.

Chabris and Simons go on to describe this phenomenon which is the first of the six everyday illusions as “inattentional blindness.” This occurs when something unexpected shows up in our field of attention. The thing that surprised the two researchers was the level of surprise expressed by the participants in the study who missed seeing the gorilla. Disbelief!

One of the assumptions people typically make is that we assume that if an object is visually distinct or unusual we will surely see it. Another aspect of this is that we may also assume that if we miss seeing something that it is intentional and we ascribe motivation to the failure to see.

The authors gives some examples of how this might impact people in day to day situations. From courtroom testimony where “inattentional blindness” played a role in a conviction. The jury just could not believe that the convicted didn’t see what “in their opinion” was right before his eyes. As well as the example of the nuclear submarine that surfaced directly under a Japanese fishing vessel despite the state of the art sonar and experienced crew and even after the captain did a manual periscope check for ships in the vicinity.

The biggest implication for me personally in this section of the book was the impact that talking on the phone while driving has on our attention. Yes 77% of us assume the problem is with “holding” the phone and talking, but Chabris and Simons debunk that proving that driving while having any cell phone conversation dramatically impairs our visual perception and awareness. Again as with the gorilla we are less likely to notice the unexpected and be able to react in time.

If you think this doesn’t apply to you consider the people you rely on – like the radiologist who is looking at images requested for you by your doctor, the management responsible for safety and discriminatory practices in your workplace or the staff who fail to notice bullying in your child’s school.

This book is chock-full of information that may be new and even shocking about what we think we know and how we might just be deluded.

In MBTI terminology Feeling is one of the two preferences for making decisions. It is not about making decisions based on emotion but rather based on values and how the decision will impact the people involved.

The English language being as complex as it is, has many meanings for the same word. When we ask “How are you feeling?” to mean “What emotional state are you experiencing?” many people with either Thinking or Feeling preference cannot give a specific answer.

Self-awareness is one of the Emotional Intelligence competencies and it is a valuable exercise to ask and answer “What am I feeling?” with some specificity. Sometimes the awareness of our current state is sufficient to shift it – if necessary. “Fine” as an answer is less than enlightening.

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People with a preference for INTP seem to have finely tuned radar that let’s them look at any situation and literally “see” the underlying principles involved. Understanding the requisite guiding principles for the best result and then operating accordingly is second nature. Therefore they may also measure the success of an endeavour by how closely the result matches these guiding principles.

What may not be second nature is fully understanding that others do not necessarily process the same way. People with different preferences may need help to make the connection between a particular principle and the behaviours that go along with it.

I can imagine that it is disappointing to the INTP when the people act in a way that goes counter to agreed principles. It is worth taking the time up front to help make some links.

“If we say we agree on these principles what does that look like in action?”

It may also seem too obvious but keeping a running check in will keep “drift” from being inevitable.

“Does this current direction align with our principles?”

Do you have a set of operating principles for how you conduct your business (or career)?

Seven women from book club gathered for a three day cottage get-away… a little kayaking, swimming, walks to town, shopping, reading and talking books, dinner on the verandah, sunset watching on the dock. Nothing that we did was spectacular, after all we have known each other for years, however we all remarked at how special this time was, totally awesome actually, and how good we all felt. One of the women passed on an email that summed it up quite nicely – I don’t know the source, but I am sharing it anyway with the invitation to add “nurturing relationships” to your exercise routine.

I just finished taking an evening class at Stanford. The last lecture was on the mind-body connection–the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.

Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality “girlfriend time” helps us to create more seratonin–a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes. But their feelings?–rarely. Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters, and evidently that is very good for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

There’s a tendency to think that when we are “exercising” we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged–not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking! So every time you hang out to shmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very very lucky.

Imagining possibility, considering possibility, implementing what is best from that possibility is critical for both creativity and on a purely practical level, for getting unstuck and finding viable practical solutions. People with a preference for Intuition expand the field and see possibility beyond what is immediately apparent. Laura McGrath is a coach and facilitator who combines a preference for Intuition with her gifts of critical thinking and organizational genius to help individuals and organizations imagine and take action on more creative, more effective and fulfilling answers.

In a recent blog post Laura paints a vivid picture of what happens when possibility itself gets stuck in the endless looping of internal overwhelm – when the cycle of action / reflection gets reduced to to imagining alone.

I have copied Laura’s post here below to show how she invites us to use Sensing as a way to evaporate the overwhelm of possibility run amok.

In my room the world is beyond my understanding;

But when I walk I see that it consists of three or four hills and a cloud.

~Wallace Stevens

The most daunting part of the journey is, I think, the part I make up in my head when I am alone, when I withdraw, when I cut off from support, when I look at the immensity of the task. I sit in my room, and it is all beyond my understanding.

But if I venture out, if I take one step and then the next, if I do the first thing, and then do the second thing, and let the obvious third thing arise when it’s ready, then I see that it is all very simple really: three or four hills and a cloud

There is a shift in what Canadians say they want in a leader from what we have experienced as the archetypal ‘in charge” leader to a more people focused approach. A recent survey by Psychometrics Canada identified what current leadership looks like by temperament and then compares that to what people indicate as the profile of their optimal choice.

Current leadership profile:

• 40 % SJ Temperament – “someone who is thorough and orderly, and focuses on organizational stability and consolidating systems”
• 30% NT Temperament – “someone who is pragmatic and analytical, and focuses on creating far-reaching and comprehensive plans”

Survey results for “ideal leader”

• 67% NF Temperament – “someone who is democratic and involved, and focuses on working with and through people”

The article in Psychometrics Quarterly newsletter goes on to say

The other three temperament groups were selected much less frequently. NT leaders, who adopt a strategic, long-range focus, were seen as the ideal leader by 13% of respondents. SP leaders, who like to tackle problems resourcefully and have a timely cleverness, were seen as ideal by 11% of respondents. Leaders with an SJ temperament, who tend to be traditional and act as a stabilizing force on their organization, were seen as ideal by 7% of those who completed the survey.

What challenge does this really indicate to current leadership? I wonder if influences such as the internet have had a democratizing effect that demands a different approach everywhere in the workplace, in parenting and in politics. No matter what your temperament type, it is not sufficient to give lip-service to the people factor. Are we really ready to create the kinds of structures, systems and leadership models that allow people to risk contributing freely?

Seth Godin, author of Linchpin and my blog of choice each day talks about the limitations imposed by the fear originating in what he calls our lizard brain.

“The lizard is a physical part of your brain, the pre-historic lump near the brain stem that is responsible for fear and rage and reproductive drive.”

This fear shows up as resistance that infects the voice in our head we listen to telling us “to go slow, be careful, not to risk, not to try, not to rock the boat, not to stand out etc. etc,)

There is a distinction I would like to add to Seth’s wisdom that comes from understanding the instinctual subtypes of Enneagram. In other words we are not all created equal in our motivation in this area. We are driven by needs for intimacy, for social needs and for security, safety and self care or self preservation needs. BUT we do not have these in the same intensity or priority. You can watch the clip of Enneagram author Helen Palmer below http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D86IVsoiqTE

If you recognize that self preservation or security needs are highly important to you, you need to factor that into how you decide what to listen to. These needs are not going to go away nor can you simply dismiss them. However, it seems to me that people with strong security needs often pay a price that they don’t acknowledge consciously. They will stay in a relationship or difficult work situation long past the time to take action because the familiar discomfort of the current conditions seems less painful than the discomfort of the what is unknown and insecure.

Avoiding is not a strategy or plan that works long term. Don’t wait for a crisis in order to make a plan of action. You can make a plan that is rational and well considered and respectful of who you are as a person. Sacrificing your power by relinquishing the steering wheel for the illusion of safety is anything but safe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D86IVsoiqTE