Haunted by your thinking style?
Halloween conjures up haunted houses, costumes, and candy. It also evokes imagination, as creative decor and costumes transform reality into fantasy. Just as an active imagination fuels the Halloween spirit, our minds can construct thinking traps that distort reality in the workplace. Our brains take shortcuts that skew our perception. According to psychologist Daniel Gilbert, "Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they're finished." ?
Which thinking traps trip us up at work? Here are just a few;?
Black-and-white thinking categorises situations as “either/or” without nuance, whereas reality involves more shades of grey. For example, judging a new initiative as either an unmitigated success or total failure ignores subtleties.?
Confirmation bias causes us to gravitate toward information that validates our existing beliefs. At work, we may selectively listen to feedback that matches our preconceived notions versus challenging our assumptions. However, opposing viewpoints can provide pivotal learning opportunities.?
The halo effect means allowing positive or negative impressions of someone to unduly influence our overall opinion of them, just as Halloween costumes give immediate but superficial impressions. But people are multi-dimensional and should not be judged on appearance alone.?
The impact of not addressing thinking traps can adversely impact the organisation in the following ways.?
Let’s expand our thinking by learning about the traps that trip us up and initiate worrying perceptions and emotions, just as the Halloween costume can evoke fear. Let’s not let thinking traps conjured up by our own imagination limit our possibilities.?
#thinkingtraps #strengthscoaching #curiousquestions #resilientthinking ?#wellbeing
I coach and mentor people to help them to be their best selves at work and to love the work they do | Open to discussions about part time and interim Learning projects
1 年Thinking about thinking traps, I’m a fabulous maximiser, in terms of catastrophising! That vibration from the washing machine that knocked the glass off the kitchen worktop, could definitely be the first sign of poltergeist activity and the start of a halloween haunt ??.