Like good or bad, right or left, stop or go. As leaders and strategists in life and business there are risks with this type of thinking. It’s called binary thinking and is a real disadvantage when making decisions on complex or even sometimes simple topics. It can also lead to the Dunning-Kruger effect, where we become overconfident on subjects we know little about.
The antidote to dichotomising is to see the grey, to notice patterns, to look from the outside, across and beyond and by doing this resist false certainty and binary choices. In business, I like to ‘hasten slowly’ it allows me to take the time to see the patterns, what others are missing and find a path forward that has the greatest opportunity for success. I also like to ignore the labels that people put on problems or things, to look at the traits, the underlying factors and how these factors come together or not to create what effect.
In the rush of the day to day, AND is strategy I use to help others expand their thinking. By asking AND we overcome black and white thinking and start seeing the full spectrum. My colleague loves to play ‘critical friend’ asking questions that flare thinking and spark curiosity. Another friend of mine, a strategist by profession, uses what he calls ‘red teaming’ or what is called ‘ethical hacking’ in the cyber security world. This approach can help us look at the problem from a different perspective, as a competitor. Different perspectives and views are key to seeing the grey and move us to be more objective about the pro’s and con’s of our decision making.
