by Dr. Jackie Atkins, director, Science and IGS Operations
How we think matters!
The quality of our thoughts impacts all aspects of our lives: our relationships with family, friends, coworkers, with our own selves, our communities, the success of our work, our financial security, our homes, our mental and physical health.
We have multiple sources of bias that diminish the quality of our thinking. In his book, Clear Thinking, author Shane Parrish explains how our emotions, egos, peer pressure, status quo, inertia, and simply our surroundings can inhibit our ability to think clearly (or at all). Often these disruptors create a subconscious reactionary state rather than a thinking state. Parrish goes on to explain how self-accountability, self-knowledge, self-control, and self-confidence aid our ability to think clearly. These helpers of clear thinking require a willingness to look inside, slow down, be humble, be curious, observe without judgement, and be present. The results — feeling clear, awake, and alive — create a much better state to make decisions.
We often form a conclusion with little to no information and then seek evidence that supports our prematurely formed conclusion — this is called confirmation bias. I am so guilty of doing this, especially with my kids. In this confirmation bias state of “thinking,” I stop deeply listening and look for evidence to support my conclusions in order to start problem-solving (silently in my head so as to appear as if I am still listening). And I swear my kids can feel it — the certainty in my “thinking” and therefore closed-minded to their perspective. When I catch myself and course correct to an open and genuinely curious state, it’s amazing how much I learn about their perspective. I usually have to scrap my prematurely formed conclusion as it was wrong or at least incomplete. When I am curious instead of certain, I come to a much more accurate understanding and a more successful outcome. But, UGH, is it hard! To slow down is so hard in our hustle culture. It takes being present and intentional to simply listen to them. It takes setting aside my “all knowing” mom ego and being humble to the fact that even as the mother who birthed them, I may not have all the answers or fixes to their problems.
Adam Grant, in his book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, encourages us to routinely rethink things on which we have already formed conclusions. Grant describes three personas we often take on in life: preacher, prosecutor, and politician. “We go into preacher mode when our sacred beliefs are in jeopardy: we deliver sermons to protect and promote our ideals. We enter prosecutor mode when we recognize flaws in other people’s reasoning: we marshal arguments to prove them wrong and win our case. We shift into politician mode when we’re seeking to win over an audience: we campaign and lobby for the approval of our constituents. The risk is that we become so wrapped up in preaching that we’re right, prosecuting others who are wrong, and politicking for support that we don’t bother to rethink our own views.”
The antidote to these personas, Grant explains, is to think like a scientist. “Good scientists are aware of the limits of their understanding. They’re expected to doubt what they know, be curious about what they don’t know, and update their views based on new data.”
To be clear, scientists don’t always think like a scientist, nor are all preachers always preaching, prosecutors always prosecuting, or politicians always politicking. And there are circumstances when each of these personas is warranted. The key is to be conscious of your mental state. Actively choosing to be in a preacher state to inspire an audience to believe what you believe is very different from subconsciously preaching out of fear that your beliefs are in danger of changing.
A mindset that is willing to rethink conclusions while minimizing sources of bias or blockers of clear thought improves one’s quality of thinking. Grant talks about a rethinking cycle compared to an overconfidence cycle. The “rethinking” cycle starts with humility (knowing what you don’t know), followed by doubt, then curiosity, and finally discovery of new ideas. The overconfidence cycle, which starts with pride, followed by conviction, confirmation (or similar) bias, and validation of previously formed conclusions, leaves us stuck with the same conclusion not because the conclusion is right but because our behavior and mindset block our ability to evolve. How we think matters. Are we even thinking or are we just reacting? Are we genuinely curious or seeking evidence to confirm we are right? We are not capable of good judgement when we are judgmental. We all have the ability for high-quality thinking and we are all susceptible to biases and reactionary states. The key is the self-awareness to be conscious of our biases. To rethink often. To question our beliefs. To be humble. To slow down. To get it right. To be curious instead of certain. How we think matters!
