Socrates Versus the Apes

I am overwhelmed by the incredible number of opinions I am treated to everyday in blogs and columns, some of which I find quite helpful and others not so much. With my logical and opinionated mind, I’ve tried to make sense out of them by dividing them into two categories.

In the first category are those whose authors assert a strong point of view and declare that those not in agreement are wrong. Often such statements are accompanied by colorful metaphors that characterize in less than flattering terms those that might hold an opposing point of view. These authors appear to believe they have found truth and that it is self-evident.

All too often they neglect to define the logic supporting their opinion or pointing out the flaws in others’ arguments. It can be fun to read them when I’m in agreement, sort of like listening to talk radio or cable news. But given the mind’s ability to discount ideas we don’t share, I have a hard time believing that they change anybody’s mind.

This makes it hard for me to understand the purpose of the writing, and so choosing a colorful metaphor of my own, I end up thinking about Jane Goodall’s chimpanzees. In their battle for alpha status, the chimps will often hoot and throw rocks to demonstrate their strength. But then they will become conciliatory and engage in mutual grooming to build the strong relationships social groups thrive on. Neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga believes most human behavior is also aimed at creating alpha status. Unfortunately, too many writers don’t get past the hooting.

I, for one, love to read a well reasoned opposition to my opinion. If I’m wrong, I’d like to know it before I do any damage or make a fool out of myself. If I’m right, challenges just force me to make a better case for my position. But there’s also the possibility that I’m not totally right or totally wrong, and then an opposing point of view prompts me to broaden my own thinking.  And that brings me to my second category.

There are writers that really capture the original meaning of the word essay as a trying out of ideas. While they may present strong opinions, they are careful to explain the logic that produced them. When addressing opposing points of view, there’s more of an effort to consider their validity. I think such writing stems from a belief that we’re all seekers after truth and none of us are in sole possession of it.

Socrates is the role model for these writers. While revered (and feared by some) as the wisest of all men during his time, he was careful to assert his ignorance, and to question more than declare. In Plato’s Symposium, we see his belief in a competition of ideas, not to determine whose is better, but to arrive at bigger ideas that incorporate opposing points of view.

As this post shows, I’m not above unsupported opinion and I too favor colorful metaphors. I’m also human and subject to the logical fallacy of seeing the world as black and white when it’s actually gray. Rather than the two categories I’ve proposed, clearly there is a continuum. But perhaps we’d all benefit, regardless of where we are on the continuum, by keeping in mind a lesson I struggle to keep in mind everyday: we have readers.

We owe them, at the very least, writing that is worth their time to read. Either it should entertain or inform, or even better, do both. Ideally, it will make them smarter so that their opinions are well thought out, even if they end up being different than our own.

4 Comments  |  Permalink  |  Posted in Conflict Resolution, Ideas

Engage

The good news according to Paul Krugman is that the recession may end this year. The bad news is that it’s effects are liable to linger for five years. When we’re done cheering that we’ve pulled ourselves back from the brink, we find that doing business in this economy is still one tough slog and it’s not likely to get any easier soon.

The question that’s repeatedly asked is how can managers keep employees engaged in times like these. The answer is to get employees engaged.

A crisis like this puts everything on the table. In good times, all of us are eager to protect the status quo, but in bad times, we’re all looking for a change. When times are really bad, we don’t have to be encouraged to move out of our comfort zones because they no longer exist. The bolder the action, the better.

GM is finally getting rid of the car lines they should’ve ditched decades ago. They’re now able to change the terms of the union contract, shutter inefficient plants, and rationalize their dealer network. But these are not bold actions. They’re just ways to cut expenses mandated by a lack of cash and their new owners, the taxpayers.

Bold action would be to completely rethink their business from strategy through implementation. But the first thing that needs to be rethought is the relationship with their people. GM can no longer afford to squander their resources, and there is no resource more valuable then the minds and hearts of the employees. Hierarchy, autocratic decision-making. and pointless bureaucracy are now luxuries beyond the company’s means. Everyone must be involved in turning the company around.

It should start with an aspirational vision for the future and a viable competitive strategy to ensure there will be a future. This is rightfully the province of top management, but coming up with the best way to implement the strategy is everybody’s job. With the strategy as their guide and within their areas of responsibility, all employees should be involved in joint problem solving and planning sessions to come up with the best way of conducting their business. The people doing the work have a wealth of ideas about how to do it better. All that’s needed is a simple process to involve them.

This kind of involvement not only pays huge dividends for the business, it’s just what people need in times of crisis. When we’re engaged, we don’t have time to sit around bemoaning our fate.  When we contribute, we have control over our destiny and feel less stress. When we’re the ones coming up with new ways of doing our jobs, we’re highly motivated to make them work.

It’s not difficult get employees engaged. Now more than ever, they’re eager to participate, and every manager has the tools necessary to make it happen. All they need to do is make it clear what’s at stake and ask for suggestions. There may be some stumbles at first, but managers will soon learn how to guide employees toward practical ideas that they’re able to implement.

The biggest challenge will be for managers to move from a controlling mode into a supportive one. If they genuinely believe in the need for their employees to be engaged, they’ll intuitively know how to bring it about. If they act with integrity and conviction, employees will even forgive a few missteps here and there.

It’s alway been a good idea to involve employees. For the foreseeable future, it’ll be a necessity.

Leave a Comment  |  Permalink  |  Posted in Brain Science, Change, Ideas, Management, Performance

In Data We Trust

So much of what we’re learning from neuroscience can’t help but strike us as utterly fantastic, like the fact that the world we experience exists only in our heads, or that reason has little or nothing to do with how we make decisions.  At the same time, those that are trying to draw practical applications from the research often end up sounding like self-help books.  When we are advised to think positive thoughts, or win friends by stepping into the shoes of others, it sure sounds like Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carneige.

This makes it difficult to see the latest research as offering anything of value, or at least anything that’s new.  In truth, most of what we’re learning and the advice it generates can be found in Plato’s writings.  But there is a major difference: we now have hard scientific data to back up the claims.  It’s one thing to accept on faith that being clear on our values will enable us to lead a good life.  It’s quite another thing to know that high level ideas embedded in neural networks will chemically key the firing of lower level thinking and behavior aligned with them.

Because regardless of questions about its role in decision-making, our conscious reasoning can direct our attention.  If we’re logically convinced that big ideas are important, we’ll spend more time attending to them.  When we know that there are mirror neurons that enable us to empathize, and that they’re missing from people suffering from autism, we’ll be a little more willing to direct our attention to what those neurons can teach us.

While the more we learn about the brain, the more we recognize how little conscious control we have over it, we can direct our attention and we can improve our ability to focus.  Meditation has been shown to help children with ADD, and Eric Kandel’s work has demonstrated that the more we use a neural network, the stronger it becomes.  With practice, we become better at any skill, physical or mental.

While Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich may have oversimplified the path to success, our thinking can change the way we see the world, the way we act, and the way others see us.  While it takes discipline to focus our minds on positive outcomes, at least now we have reasons to give it a try.

Leave a Comment  |  Permalink  |  Posted in Brain Science, Ideas, Performance

« Previous Posts  |  More Posts »