It is a fact that in today’s business world everything moves at 110 miles an hour. This means you are expected to make decisions quickly, often without having all the facts or applying a reasoning process to the decision. Not only is this a flawed way of making decisions, it can also lead to conflict with your colleagues, as they’ll more than likely have come to different conclusions. It is important in business that your decisions are based on reality, not the fantasy you’ve created in your head. Think how awkward it’ll be if you are challenged to explain why you’ve made a certain decision and you’ve nothing to say.
Don’t jump to conclusions!
Taking what I’ve said above into account it’s no wonder we are all guilty of jumping to conclusions in our everyday lives. You know what I mean – you see something happening and, rather than waiting to find out what is actually happening, you jump to a conclusion. Now, think about what that conclusion is based on? Is it based on reality? No, it’s actually based on nothing more than what you’ve concocted in your imagination i.e. putting two and two together and making six. Not a good way to make a decision about important work or personal issues is it? So how do you prevent this from happening? Use the Ladder of Inference.
The Solution
A great little tool called ‘The Ladder of Inference’, devised by organizational psychologist Chris Argyris, comes in handy in all decision making processes. It’ll show you how you end up jumping to conclusions and give you the tools to get back to reality. So, how does it work? Well, it explains how you get to the faulty thinking in the first place, using a process that you are often not even aware of, and then shows you how to correct that faulty thinking. This week we’ll cover the theory of the ladder and next week we’ll move on to how to use the ladder to help you make better decisions.
The Ladder of Inference
Think of these steps as the rungs of the ladder – start with facts and reality at the bottom and read upwards.
7. Actions – Make decision that appear to be right, despite the fact that they are based on incorrect conclusions.
6. Beliefs – Develop beliefs based on these incorrect conclusions.
5. Conclusions – Draw conclusions based on our assumptions and interpretations.
4. Assumptions – Apply, without any consideration, any existing assumptions we have.
3. Interpreted Reality – We interpret what the selective reality means.
2. Selected Reality – We apply our prior experience and beliefs and create a selective reality.
1. Facts and Reality – This is the starting point.
Phew! It’s not hard to see how this can lead to some disastrous decisions.
Okay, that’s enough for this week. Have a think about how and when you jump to conclusions and come back next week to find out how you can use the ladder theory to help you make better decisions.
