“These are completely different.”

I recently had the opportunity to help a group work through some challenging decisions.??It was interesting to see that the participants had the same facts available to them but were drawing very different conclusions.??The options that seemed simple to the folks presenting them proved very challenging across the entire group.

I recalled an eye-opening book about the misinterpretation of “facts", Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think.??The authors present a series of fascinating stories illustrating how our need to filter the volume of data available to us can trigger our “DRAMATIC INSTINCTS”.?

The Gap Instinct, 1 of 10

The reality of a situation is often not as polarized as it may appear.??When you are seeing two separate groups (or choices) with a huge gap between them, it is more likely that you are seeing the edge cases.??

The majority of people (or options) are in the gap.??

You can manage this instinct by:

• Beware comparisons of averages – it is likely the data sets overlap, and there’s probably no gap at all.
• Beware comparisons of extremes – the extremes can be very far apart, but the majority is usually somewhere in between.
• The view from up here – Looking down from above can distort the view; everything can look equally short.

(Post 1 of 10, Information adapted from www.gapminder.org/factfulness/)

To read the book Factfulness, go to the library or order your own copy?here