The ladder of inference
John starts the meeting by presenting the features of the database he believes is the best. He has gathered data and statistics to support his claim. Mary, on the other hand, presents her own findings, showing that the other database is more efficient and has better performance.
As the meeting progresses, the engineers start to realize that John is focused on the observation level of the ladder of inference. He is basing his decision on the data and statistics he has gathered, without considering the context of the project or the specific needs of the team. On the other hand, Mary is focused on the conclusion level, she is basing her decision on the performance of the database, without considering the features that the team may need.
As the meeting progresses, the engineers start to realize that they are not all on the same level of the ladder of inference. To make a decision, they need to be conscious of the different levels and work together to consider all the facts and context. They decide to take a step back and evaluate the needs of the project and the team, and also evaluate the features and performance of both databases.
After a thorough discussion, the team finally agrees on the best database for their use case by considering all the facts and context. They also agree that in the future, they will be more conscious of the ladder of inference and work together to consider all the facts and context.
Happy final, but, you know that, often this does not happen because people in the discussion is not aware of the "thinking ladder", and is more common to see infinite discussions with people going around and around without even trying to start from common ground. You also may experience a discussion with a colleague where he is always jumping from on step to another randomly, making completely impossible to reach any kind of action at all.
The ladder of inference, also known as the "thinking ladder," is a model of the cognitive process that individuals go through when interpreting and making sense of information. The steps in the ladder of inference are as follows:
It's important to note that each step in the ladder of inference is influenced by an individual's previous experiences, biases, and mental models. It's also important to note that the ladder of inference is not a linear process, individuals may jump back and forth between steps, or loop back to previous steps.
If you observe heat discussion where no one is agreeing on anything, you may find that people are in different steps of the ladder. As as architect you must have this skill, you must be able to candence the discussion so that team is conscious about the step they are.
By being conscious of the ladder of inference, the team can ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal and that the final decision is based on a thorough understanding of the options and their potential implications.