The Ladder Of Inference (5.5)
Fred Kofman
Executive Coach | President at Conscious Business Center International - CBC
I just had an e-argument with a colleague. Two days ago he asked me to send him some information "as soon as I could". I've been traveling with poor internet connection, so I was planning to send him the data next week. Today he wrote me an angry message demanding the information "now". I wrote him back dryly arguing that "now" was "sooner than I could". I think he's pushy. I'm sure he thinks I'm unresponsive. I'll try to avoid him next week when we're both at the office.
According to Harvard Business School professor Chris Argyris my colleage and I are not alone. Most of us:
- Experience facts selectively based on our beliefs.
- Interpret what they mean based on our unconscious assumptions.
- Draw conclusions based on the interpreted facts.
- Adopt beliefs based on these conclusions.
- Take actions based on what we believe.
This creates a vicious circle. Our beliefs condition how we select data from reality, and can lead us to ignore “inconvenient” facts altogether.
Soon we are using self-sealing reasoning, closing ourselves up to any challenge and adopting the arrogant attitude of the knower.
In the following video you’ll see the problems of climbing the ladder unconsciously.
Should you have any difficulty viewing the embedded video please click here to view on Fred's Slideshare page
Readers: Recall a difficult conversation you’ve had; consider how you and your counterpart where going up different ladders of inference.
Fred Kofman, Ph.D. in Economics, is Vice President at Linkedin and author of Conscious Business. This post is part 5.5. of Linkedin's Conscious Business Program. You can find the introduction and structure of this program here. Follow Fred Kofman on LinkedIn here. To stay connected and get updates please visit Conscious Business Academy and join our Conscious Business Friends group.
Coaching to transform the way leaders & teams work
2 年The power of Confirmation Bias/Reflexive Loop in driving human behavior (including our own) is massively underestimated and underappreciated. The more each of us--especially those in leadership positions--can become conscious of this power and perform regular audits of the inputs and outputs of our Ladder, the better off our relationships, our teams, our organizations, heck, even our world will be.
Leadership Development, Certified Professional Coach, Difficult Conversations, Trainer, Speaker, Facilitator (Master Certified Coach in process)
3 年Hey the videos in the content isn't working/ it can't be found.
Impulsando la mejora de habilidades y comportamientos en directivos. Robusteciendo la visibilidad y el control empresarial.
5 年UFFFF first of all I want to congratulate Greg for his comment below I loved the way he grasped the whole concept and finishing with the saying "arrogant knower rather than the heroic learner". A good example I guess it happened with my old son Diego (7 years old) I think that parents tend to play the role of KNOWERS pretty easily.......... I was trying to "limit" the use of the XBOX, I almost lost my mind by explaining him the importance of doing other stuff beside playing or been in front of the screen, after ups and downs of the ladder I ended up by saying it's your call, you already know the effects of screen on you and I let him decide if continue or not. Was hard for me to go there, however he finally decide to stop, was hard as I did not punish him or similar or even threaten him so I felt happy of final outcome. MY BOYS definitely are my bigger teachers! I do my best to be in learning mode when around them!
CEO and Co-Founder of the Jazz Leadership Project, and Co-Director of The Omni-American Future Project.
5 年In conversations with my mom in which one or both of us are triggered, the ladders of inference run amok! This model is a good one to keep in mind, so deep listening, empathy, curiosity and inquiry become the norms over assumption, presumption, and reliance on past patterns--all of which tend to the arrogant knower rather than the heroic learner.
Head of People and OD and Non Executive Director (Solace)
6 年What really struck me was the conflation of obedience with cooperation. I have many times felt that in order to appear cooperative I had to obey colleagues' requests.?