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In our ever-complex world, we’re faced with a constant barrage of challenging decisions to make. Often it can seem like we’re forced to choose between options that seldom seem to be ideal. Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis, from the University of Delaware and Cincinnati respectively, argue that there is another way that can drag us out of this zero-sum mindset and adopt a smarter way of making decisions.
In Both/And Thinking, they chronicle their 25 years' worth of research into navigating paradoxes to provide us with a new way of grappling with the very real challenges we face every day.
“As we are faced with dilemmas - choices between seemingly opposing alternatives - we feel compelled to make a decision to feel a sense of control and comfort,” they write. “On the surface, these choices appear as oppositional. In reality, they are interwoven forces filled with paradoxes - interdependent, persistent contradictions that lurk within each dilemma.”
Often when we get stuck in a rut we can intensify our efforts in a desperate bid to free ourselves from our malaise. Like trying to dig ourselves out of a hole, this intensification seldom helps and often worsens our situation. Smith and Lewis highlight three particular traps that can intensify our situation in the hope that awareness of them can help to jolt us from our stuck mindset and prompt us to think of our problem afresh.
Cognitive traps
The first trap involves the way we think about a particular problem or situation. We tend to bring various assumptions to any situation and the way we frame that situation plays a crucial role in how we approach it. We often fall into the trap of assuming that our current frame is the only perspective possible, when of course, the reality is usually very different and, like the blind men and the elephant, there are numerous ways of looking at a situation that is equally valid.
Unfortunately, the more skilled and experienced we become in any situation, the more entrenched the framing of our circumstances becomes as we grow ever more confident that our view of the world is “the” view. This basic construct underpins the so-called “innovators dilemma”, where market leaders become blind to different ways of doing things in large part because they’re “so” good at doing things in the current way.
Emotional traps
Emotional traps define how we feel about a particular situation. Smith and Lewis highlight how keen we are to feel confident, certain, and secure in any situation, and will often strive to limit any feelings of uncertainty whenever we can.
“We naturally want to take actions to reduce this discomfort,” they write. “To do so, we often avoid, reject, or move away from tensions.”
Obviously, this isn’t something we can do over the long-term, and resisting change will undoubtedly do more harm than good, so we must strive to overcome our in-built defense mechanisms that are erected when our sense of self becomes threatened. We can only kick the can down the road so far before we ultimately have to tackle a situation head-on.
Behavioral traps
The final trap that can prevent us from changing our ways involves our actions and behaviors. We are often nothing if not creatures of habit, and while these heuristics are often vital to our successful functioning, they can also bind us to unhealthy and unhelpful behaviors.
“Creatures of habit, we tend to stick with existing routines rather than try new things,” Smith and Lewis explain. “Though our habits can be powerful forces in our lives, helping us achieve our goals through consistent effort, they become problematic when they are too rigid or automatic.”
There is a growing appreciation for the value of so-called “t-shaped knowledge”, whereby we have deep knowledge in one discipline but also a broad base of knowledge in other areas, this doesn’t always manifest itself in a world that appears to encourage us to get ever deeper and more specialized in one particular domain at the expense of all others. This can make us extremely strong in that domain but also blind us when it comes time to change our ways.
Smith and Lewis believe that the complex world we live in is increasingly paradoxical in nature, and that it’s only by moving away from either/or thinking towards both/and thinking that we truly liberate ourselves to explore all of the possibilities that are before us. Fundamental to doing this is to bypass the three traps that threaten to hold us back.
