How People Think: Human Information Processing By Bob Bostrom and Vikki Clawson

Transcription

1 1 How People Think: Human Information Processing By Bob Bostrom and Vikki Clawson The Model The primary role of a leader or facilitator is helping the group/team achieve its outcomes by making the best possible use of their collective resources. The facilitator accomplishes this by sustaining a process that maximizes collaborations, enhances individual participation, and encourages ownership of or buy in to the group outputs. This often requires the facilitator to get the group members to think and respond differently. In terms of human information processing, you might say a facilitator does not just present people with inputs, they actually influence people s internal computations or the way people think. How do facilitators or leaders influence their own or someone else s thinking? Before this question can be answered, we need a model of how people think. We will use a model of human information processing to explain how to understand and influence your own and others thinking processes. We call this the How People Think or Human Information Processing Model. The model is illustrated in Figure 1. We all take in information through our senses (INPUT) and this information is PROCESSED by our brains resulting in behavior (OUTPUT), our response to the situation. We all have the same brain circuits and sensory systems, yet we may respond very differently to same input information. We have all experienced situations where people have very different reactions to same situations. How do we explain these differences? The model indicates this is due to different internal processing. Different processing can result from people accessing different reference experiences from their personal history memory and/or utilizing different processing patterns. How then do leaders or facilitators get someone to look at things differently? Since no one can really change an individual s personal history, this implies that the facilitator can impact a person s thinking by influencing his or her internal processing patterns. Our How People Think Model in Figure 1 depicts three major internal processing patterns: framing, emotions, and perceptual positions. These three major patterns are defined next. 1

2 2 Figure 1 HOW PEOPLE THINK (Human Information Processing) INPUTS PROCESSING PERCEPTUAL FRAMING Criteria Beliefs MEANING OUTPUT EMOTIONS POSITIONS BEHAVIOR Personal History 2

3 3 FRAMES: Framing and Reframing First Major Pattern FRAMING refers to how we make meaning out of something. A frame is a mental pattern or template that enables us to make sense of something. We are all familiar with the expression, "frame of reference." If two people have the same mental map or frame of reference, they will more likely put the same meaning on an event or fact, and this similarity will be reflected in their outputs or behavior. However, if one person's frame of reference is unlike the other person s frame, the meaning that person makes will certainly be different, thus resulting in diverse behavior. If a person has no frame of reference for something, no meaning can be made. The inputs just will not compute. When we make meaning out of something, we select and arrange the way we see reality. In accordance with the frame we are using, we select what inputs to pay attention to, and what outputs are useful or relevant to produce. We always use some frame when we think! For example, think of the common frame of reference that the glass of water is half-empty or the glass is half-full. If we frame the glass (or the world) as half-empty, we are seeing the world through the emptiness frame or filter. From this perspective, we will create meaning and behaviors that are very different than if we see the glass (or world) as half-full. A common frame you see in business situations is the problem vs. outcome frame. Outcomeoriented thinkers see or frame a situation in terms of wants, possibilities, and opportunities. Problem-oriented thinkers, on the other hand, tend to frame the situation in terms of limitations, obstacles or problems. Which frame to you focus on, problem or outcome? Which do you think is more useful perspective? Framing is a choice you have! The meaning that any event has, therefore, depends upon the "frame" in which we perceive lt. When we change the frame, we change the meaning. This is called REFRAMING, changing the frame in which a person perceives events in order to change the meaning; in other words, when the meaning changes, the person's responses and behaviors will also change. Reframing is not new. Many fables and fairy tales include behaviors or events that change their meaning when the frames around them change. The different-looking chick seems to be an ugly duckling, but he turns out to be a swan--more beautiful than the ducks he has been comparing himself to. Reindeer Rudolf's funny-looking red nose becomes useful for guiding Santa's sleigh on a foggy night. Reframing also appears in almost every joke. What seems to be one thing suddenly shifts and becomes something else. "What do Alexander the Great and Smokey the Bear have in common?" (Answer: They have the same middle name). 3

4 4 Reframing is also the pivotal element in the creative process. It is the ability to put a commonplace event in a new frame that is useful or enjoyable. A friend of physicist Donald Glaser pointed to a glass of beer and jokingly said, "Why don't you use that to catch your subatomic particles?" Glaser looked at the bubbles forming in the beer, and went back to his lab to invent the "bubble chamber," similar to the Wilson cloud chamber, for detecting the paths of particles in high-energy physics experiments. Reframing as part of the creative process can provide the ability to simultaneously associate an event in two very separate and different contexts/frames. Frames are probably the single most efficient and powerful way that a leader can influence their own or others thinking. One of the major ways to do this is through questions. For example, think of a problem you have in your life. Now answer the question, what do want instead of this problem? Notice that the question refocuses your brain from the problem to an outcome, what you want instead. This simple question is a powerful reframe. A question, or all of communication for that matter, is about understanding and utilizing frames. Most effective leaders understand that the frames people use largely determine what actions they will take. Furthermore, leaders also realize that some frames are more useful than others, (e.g. outcome frame). Therefore, effective leaders: pay attention to the frames being used by themselves, and by others, create useful frames for self and others, and change frames (reframe) when it is useful. Beliefs and Criteria As part of our discussion on frames/framing, it is important to consider beliefs and criteria. The How People Think Model in Figure 1 illustrates that beliefs and criteria directly impact how people establish and select their frames of reference. Beliefs are what we think is true or possible in the world; the generalizations that we make about life across contexts that govern how we frame situations. Examples of Beliefs: Resulting Frame: "There isn't enough for everybody." Scarcity "There is plenty for everyone." Abundance I know everything Arrogance While beliefs are less easy to manipulate than frames are, we must also take them into account. Human beings have little energy for doing things they don't believe in--if they will do them at 4

5 5 all. Rather than violating a person's beliefs, effective leaders notice, utilize and reformulate beliefs that people already have. Beliefs are powerful. They are usually the invisible factors that guide and influence our framing process or how we make meaning in the world. Thus, they impact directly how we behave in the world often without our understanding. The more awareness we have of our beliefs, the more understanding, choices and integrity. As a facilitator it is important to be aware of one s own beliefs and their impact upon ourselves and others, and to be able to recognize and utilize the power of others beliefs. (For more information on beliefs of effective facilitation, see Guiding Beliefs and Assumptions of Effective Facilitation by Bostrom & Clawson). Criteria Criteria are the standards by which we evaluate our experience and the world around us. They are concepts around which we organize our experience. A criterion is usually expressed in a single word: challenge, fairness, freedom, costs, learning, respect, growth, money, fun, satisfaction, useful, effective and so forth. When you asked someone, "What is important about work?" and they respond "It must be challenging and provide me with good learning and promotion opportunities, "they are revealing to us their criteria. This person would evaluate any job or work project in terms of challenge, learning and promotion. These criterion names also link together sets of experiences or behaviors that define what challenge, learning and promotion mean to this person. These defining behaviors lets you know that a criterion has been, is being, or will be fulfilled. It is important to note that although people may use the same criterion name, e.g. challenge; it may mean something very different to each person. Their defining behaviors may be very different. In other words, each person s definition for his or her criterion is unique and personal. Criteria are continually being used to evaluate and make meaning out of the world, i. e. establish frames. For example, criteria are the basis for making decisions, so everyone will use their criteria as their justification in making decisions. A person might say, "That's interesting," or "That wouldn't be useful," or "Tell me how this is in any way effective." Whenever someone objects to anything, they do so based on one of their personal criteria and whenever a person decides to accept anything, they do so based on their own personal criteria. It is very important to learn how to discover, utilize and change people's criteria. Getting people to clarify their criterion definitions or apply different criteria in a situation will allow them to think differently in that situation. For example, in brainstorming we delay evaluation (i.e. ask people to suspend application of criteria) which allows for a richer set of solutions to be generated. Utilizing criteria is particularly important in getting people committed and motivated. To spark the motivation of any person, use that person's criteria as the justification when providing information or asking for action. If a person has criteria of "satisfaction and challenge, and you 5

6 6 want to get that person to become motivated to do a task, describe the task as "satisfying and challenging. Or, you can ask the person to find a way to make the task satisfying and challenging for him or her. Using a person s criteria anywhere in a sentence will spark them. Of course, the task better meet their definition of "satisfaction and challenge" or the motivation will be short lived. The following types of questions to help a facilitator identify someone's criteria: *What is important about (the situation, person, thing etc)? *How is that important to you? *How do you know you have the best (situation, person, thing etc)? *What do you pay attention to when? *What do you want? *What would that get you or do for you? Additionally, after identifying specific criteria the questions below will help the facilitator understand what the criteria means. *What does (criterion) mean? *What do you need to see, hear, and feel to know that this criterion is being fulfilled? How would you describe this criterion? Emotions: The Second Major Pattern The second major internal process pattern of our How People Think Model is emotions or internal states. Quickly complete the brief exercise below which demonstrates the power of this processing pattern called emotions. Exercise Remember a time when you were really suspicious a time when you were apprehensive, not quite sure about the situation or person. Remember what the suspicious felt like? What did you see and hear? Step into suspicious and be there again! Now think about people you work with or are in class with. Imagine working or playing along side of them throughout the day. Break State Look at the ceiling, think about something else. 6

7 7 Now, remember a time when you were really curious? Think of a time when you had a great sense of wonder and questioned everything. Remember what curious felt like; what did you hear and see when you were curious? Now step in and be really curious again. Now think about same workpeople or classmates and wonder what it might be like to get to know them and work with them. How were the two experiences different? Did you behave differently? Usually in the suspicious state people are more closed, protect themselves more, and provide less information than when they are in the curious state. This little exercise demonstrates the impact of emotions and how emotions can create different responses or behaviors to the same context. Besides framing, the ability to create emotions is another powerful process operating inside each of us. Emotions provide the energy, motivation and commitment to action. Our cognitive framing process, on the other hand, provides the focus, vision, and context. The above exercise demonstrates that we can and do create our own internal states. We created two very different emotions in just a matter of a few minutes! Emotional states do impact our ability to make decisions or choices. Emotions can strongly and directly influence the context, i.e., whether you worked or played with this group with either great suspicion or curiosity would affect your experience and vice versa. (This is the reason for the double arrows between framing and emotions in Figure1.) Frames can interact with and impact our internal states. For example, if you came to a conference as a participant vs. a speaker or as someone looking for a job. Each frame of reference would impact your behavior as well as invoke different emotional states. A participant might be curious about what is to be learned; a speaker or job seeker might be anxious about doing a good job. Thus both these processes -- emotions and framing -- are operating simultaneously and influencing each other simultaneously. Positive (+) and negative (-) emotion both have a positive intentionally or message. If emotion gets in the way or is inappropriate for the frame/context i.e. being hysterical when you need to make a presentation in 5 minutes - then it s important to draw out the intentionality of the state and find another way to feel that might be more useful in that context while providing the same (+) intent. Hysteria isn t useful here although its intent might be to keep that person wired and on their toes. Curiosity or confidence might also provide the energy to keep you on your toes and be more useful in that context. Emotions are truly wonderful things! They are the energy of life! They provide the facilitator and the group with ongoing feedback about what is going on with individuals and the group on the inside. They can guide the facilitator and the group toward choices about where they want to go at that moment. 7

8 8 For example, the facilitator or the group might choose to suppress an emotional state and experience if it is not useful at the time. However, you must be careful when suppressing emotions. They are internal messages with critical information about what is going on. It is many times better to let them surface, pull out their message and intent and then move on. The ability to notice, access, and utilize emotions is an essential skill for leaders or facilitators. Paying attention to your own and others underlying emotional/internal states can provide the facilitator with valuable information. Building positive emotional states is the key to maintaining resourcefulness within the facilitator and the group. The facilitator can access the emotions that are needed in a situation by generating internally the kinds of experiences or behaviors that are wanted. The key to accessing one s own internal states is to discover how you naturally go about changing your feeling and/or how others change their emotional states in ways that might work well for you too. Listed below is a wide range of ways to adjust your experience and behavior in order to access or change emotions. Examples: Ways to Access Emotional States Past memory - Remember a time when. A Fantasy - Imagine having Adjusting your body - Change body posture to (moving into a particular resemble the physical stance position) of the emotion you want Redirect Attention - Shift attention Change Time Frame - Pretend it s ten years down the road or it is already done Change Intensity - Strong feelings or minor Feelings Change Tempo - Increase or decrease noise level or pace slow to fast Change Involvement - Pay attention vs. ignore Focus on Outcome - Outcome-directed Thinking 8

9 9 Change Frame of Reference (Reframing) Problem perspective to outcome - What do what instead? (of problem) perspective Look for different meaning - Other meanings? or context Context useful? Change criteria - What else is important? Change perspective - As If someone else, etc. MUSIC Play music that triggers emotional state: your song or our song How to Utilize Negative Emotional States Constructively Knowing how to utilize negative emotion constructively is an important skill for facilitation. The steps listed below can be a useful sequence for using negative emotions effectively. Step 1) h Recognize and acknowledge the (-) state Step 2) h Appreciate and respect it as signal Step 3) Step 4) h Be curious - Find out what the emotion's intent or message is. h Once the intent or message is discovered, think about what actions need to be taken to satisfy or deal with intend. Emotions can have a powerful impact on both individual and group behavior, since they directly influence our framing process. The ability to recognize, access and utilize the energy created by internal states within an individual or group is an important skill for high performing facilitators. Perceptual Positions: THIRD MAJOR PATTERN The third major processing pattern in our How People Think Model is called perceptual positions. Human beings have the ability to look at the world from a number of different perspectives or positions: self, other, observer. Self is seeing, hearing, and feeling for one s own perspective. Other is seeing, hearing, and feeling from someone else s perspective, or walking in their shoes. Observer position is seeing, hearing, and feeling from an outside or detached observer perspective. 9

10 10 At any one time, the mind has the ability to process the world from one of the fundamental points of view. All three positions are equally important and can provide unique information and insight. The difference one sees when looking at the world from each of these perspectives provides a richness of information that enhances one s choices. Excellent communicators and facilitators have the ability to move freely between these perspectives, gather the information each position supplies and behave/respond in a way that effectively utilizes these multiple perspectives. Recent research in successful learning organizations has shown that excellent leaders have the ability to switch perceptual positions and help others shift perspectives. Successful leaders especially stress the importance of being able to step into someone else s shoes. For more information about perceptual positions see The Power and Richness of Different Leadership Perspectives by Bob Bostrom and Vikki Clawson. Representations Finally, in discussing how people think we also need to consider how the information (frames, criteria, beliefs) and the energy (emotions) we take in, create get represented in our brains. When we take in and process information, we do so by primarily by visualizing the information, hearing it, or feeling it. The sense of smell and taste are used mainly for storing and retrieving information. In other words, one way to describe thinking is in terms of whether a person is seeing pictures, talking to himself or herself or focusing on feelings. The information (the content) we are processing is coded or represented in pictures, words or feelings. This manipulation of form (representations) is critical to many of our creative and decision making processes. The three primary senses used to take in, code, and cognitively process information in our brains are called REPRESENTATIONAL SYSTEMS or REP SYSTEMS. The major rep systems are: VISUAL (pictures, colors, brightness, etc.) AUDITORY (words, music, tone, tempo, etc.) KINESTHETIC (feelings, but also all physical sensations) Everyone uses all the rep systems - but most of us have a preferred system(s), or one that we use most consciously at any given moment. For example, when I think about a recent meeting with my boss, I might talk to myself about the results. I could also remember the look I saw on the boss' face, and a feeling of satisfaction. Perhaps I am most conscious of my self-talk, while the pictures I saw or the feelings I had could be outside my awareness. 10

11 11 Whether I am conscious of them or not, the internal pictures I have from that meeting, the dialogue I have with myself about it, and my feelings about it will affect how I deal with my boss in the future. So too, my boss' internal pictures, dialogue and feelings will in turn be critical to his or her behavior toward me. Internal pictures can be of two types, constructed or remembered. Remembered pictures are past experiences present when you recall something such as the last ca you drove. Constructed pictures are pictures you have made up, i.e. experiences you have never experienced before such as putting the last car you drove on top of the space shuttle. The ability to create and manipulate constructed pictures has been linked to creative ability. In other words, getting people to construct and manipulate pictures in their minds can enhance their creativity. For example, a furniture designer who utilizes remembered pictures would tend to always come up with similar designs. Getting him to construct and manipulate pictures will help him think differently and thus come up with new and unique designs. Similarly, facilitators can always rely on the same results if they are accessing pictures of what worked in the past, instead of constructing new and different images of successful interactions. Albert Einstein was one of the best examples of using constructed pictures in a creative way. He could imagine (build pictures) himself riding a light beam. He, therefore, experienced the theory of relativity long before he captured it in mathematical terms. Once an internal picture is created varying any of the following dimensions of the picture will help people take a different perspective or frame. *Brightness *Color/black and white *Clarity *Distance *Size *Focus *Split screen or multiple pictures *Movement (slide/movie) Developing different perspectives/pictures will help people develop more creative solutions. We can do similar manipulations in the other two rep systems: auditory and kinesthetic. We are always influencing our own or others thinking processes. In order to do this well, you need a model of how people think. In this paper, we have presented a simple model that will help you maximize your own or others brain resources. Put the model to good work! 11

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