Category: Uncertainty

How Leaders Turn Thinking Into Action: Lessons From Five Years of Data

on By 1 Comment

Organizations develop unique patterns in how they navigate complexity and uncertainty. After five years of assessing how leaders approach challenging situations, we’ve discovered that different organizational cultures rely on markedly different information sources to make decisions – insights that challenge our traditional one-size-fits-all approach to leadership development.

I don’t think anyone would be surprised to learn that a group of leaders in a government auditing function would process information differently than a group of technology company sales leaders. Why then, do we offer both groups the same advice about aligning stakeholders, influencing senior leaders, and managing change?

The SCAN Framework

To help leaders identify hidden influences and unseen barriers in complex environments, we developed the SCAN framework. This tool assesses four critical data sources that inform leadership thinking: Structures (organizational systems and norms), Context (environmental factors), Assumptions (underlying beliefs), and Needs (stakeholder motivations and desires). SCAN scores allow us to visualize how different leaders prioritize these information sources when moving from thinking to action.

Our analysis reveals that functional groups and organizations develop distinct thinking-to-action cultures – consistent patterns in how they process information when setting direction, making decisions, or solving problems under uncertainty.

Three Distinct Thinking-to-Action Cultures

The bar graph compares three different groups of leaders from three different organizations and functions. Bar heights represent percentile scores for each dimension of the SCAN framework. The black dashed line represents the average score for each dimension based on total database responses from groups working in the same functions and organizations (n=1528).

Leading Change

Let’s consider what the SCAN profiles in the above graph suggest about how each group of leaders might design a large-scale change effort and the pitfalls they might encounter during implementation.

Government Audit Managers

These leaders demonstrate a strong focus on existing systems and norms, scoring notably higher than average in the Structures dimension. Their systematic approach brings stability and consistency, but also creates specific challenges in change management. They tend to overlook environmental factors outside their direct control (low Context) and rarely question established systems (low Assumptions).

When leading change initiatives, these leaders excel at working within established frameworks but need to strengthen their ability to:

  • Connect change efforts to broader strategic objectives
  • Respond to shifting external factors
  • Challenge procedures that no longer serve their purpose

Technology Company Sales Leaders

These leaders excel at reading market signals and external trends, with significantly higher Context scores than average. This market sensitivity creates agility but can lead to implementation challenges. Their attention to market dynamics often comes at the expense of understanding internal systems and processes (low Structures), while established organizational beliefs remain largely unexamined (low Assumptions).

Their change initiatives benefit from strong market alignment but require additional focus on:

  • Analyzing how new priorities interact with existing systems
  • Building sustainable processes amid market volatility
  • Balancing quick responses with structural considerations

Software Engineering Leaders

This group stands out for their strategic and innovative mindset, showing exceptionally high scores in both Context and Assumptions. They readily embrace new trends and willingly challenge status quo operations. However, their significantly lower Needs scores suggest that they do not seek inspiration for innovation by attending to the desires and motivations of people.

Their change leadership strengths lie in driving innovation, but success requires:

  • Balancing innovation with operational stability
  • Maintaining quality standards while pursuing new ideas
  • Increasing focus on stakeholder impact and adoption

Implications for influencing, aligning, and deciding

Identifying distinct thinking-to-action patterns help us support rather than overwhelm decision makers when they deal with multiple complex, uncertain, and high-stakes situations. We can start by supplying information that’s easy to digest given a leadership team’s SCAN preferences. Next, we can make information from overlooked sources easier to digest so that leaders don’t run the risk of missing something important.

Understanding your organization’s thinking-to-action culture provides a foundation for more effective leadership development and organizational change. It allows you to leverage your cultural strengths while systematically addressing potential blind spots.

Cognitive Slack: Creating Mental Reserves for Getting Unstuck

on By

How do you help leaders and organizations adapt their thinking strategies to the challenges of a volatile business environment? Thinking tools and skills need to match the complexity of the problems we hope to solve. However, helping people develop their thinking skills by giving them something challenging to think about is a bit like teaching kids to swim by throwing them in the deep end of a pool.

At our core, we help people get unstuck. We focus on situations where individuals, groups, or organizations attempt to make changes, yet despite their best efforts, things remain the same. Through our work, we’ve discovered that hidden influences often play a major role in maintaining the status quo. By helping people notice what they’re missing, transformation becomes possible.

Learning to Float

Speaking of swimming, Lisa’s two boys learned to swim using the SwimRight method, pioneered by four-time Olympic gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg. This method teaches the swim-float-swim technique, emphasizing confidence and safety as foundations for learning. Children first master floating on their backs, allowing them to rotate between swimming and resting while practicing strokes. This balance between effort and rest proves crucial for building both skill and confidence.

Recently, while discussing our approach to helping clients embrace uncertainty, Lisa suggested balancing “float” emphasis with “swim” emphasis according to what our clients need. At present, many of our clients face extraordinary change fatigue—it’s as if they’re treading water while watching the shoreline recede. In such moments, they need a life preserver more than lessons on developing stamina.

Here’s the challenge: When you’re already overwhelmed by complexity and uncertainty, you lack the mental bandwidth to consider—let alone adopt—new ways of thinking. As we noted in a previous post, early influences can grip our minds with uninvited ideas. For many, the prospect of loosening these habitual thought patterns feels like yet another problem to solve. Instinctively, we reach for familiar solutions—often the very approaches keeping us stuck.

Have you ever tried to improve your productivity with a new time management tool that you didn’t have time to learn how to use?

Have you ever tried to improve your productivity with a new time management tool that you didn’t have time to learn how to use?

Understanding Cognitive Slack

Our friend and colleague Linda Dunkel’s work with Credit Human, a San Antonio-based credit union, offers an illuminating parallel. Rather than focusing on the abstract concept of financial health, Credit Human emphasizes “financial slack”—maintaining a financial reserve that helps people stay ahead of expenses and feel prepared for the unexpected. Like having the confidence you’ll stay afloat when exhausted, financial slack provides crucial breathing room.

This concept translates powerfully to mental capacity. Just as financial stress creates a vicious cycle of difficult choices, cognitive stress limits our ability to form insights, build relationships, and identify creative options. When mentally overwhelmed, we tend to avoid challenging tasks and hard conversations, often seeking refuge in easy distractions.

This recognition led us to develop the concept of “cognitive slack”—a strategic mental reserve that helps us manage attention and access hidden influences when facing uncertainty and complexity.

Signs You Need Cognitive Slack

Common situations where cognitive stress compromises creativity and compassion include:

Work-Related Challenges:

– Finding your contributions regularly dismissed or ignored

– Struggling to complete tasks requiring deep concentration

– Focusing so intently on your agenda that you miss others’ input

Personal Stressors:

– Managing intrusive thoughts and emotions that affect work performance

– Processing information in a non-native language

– Grappling with problems that seem too complex to solve

Communication Barriers:

– Jumping to offer solutions instead of truly listening

– Redirecting conversations back to your priorities

– Avoiding difficult but necessary discussions

Creating Space: The Power of Mental Floating

Neuroscience reveals why our best ideas often emerge during breaks—whether in the shower, while exercising, or during other moments of mental rest. These periods activate our brain’s default mode network, essentially allowing our minds to float between periods of focused effort.

To build more cognitive slack into your day:

– Schedule regular “floating” breaks between intense work sessions

– Create deliberate transitions between meetings or tasks

– Allow time for unstructured thinking and reflection

Just as swimmers alternate between strokes and floating to build endurance, incorporating strategic mental breaks can help us navigate complexity with greater resilience and insight.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is float.

Warning! Mental Quicksand Ahead

on By

We help people adopt an unstuck mindset. An unstuck mindset is a healthy mode of operating when things become overwhelming. It’s an orientation to complexity and uncertainty that invites breakthrough insights and novel options. We’re like mental and emotional fitness coaches conditioning people to thrive in a world that feels out of control.

But what if you’re stuck and you don’t realize it?

We find ourselves in mental quicksand when conditions have changed, but our approach remains the same. Instead of rethinking when we don’t get the outcomes we want, we use our tried-and-true strategies even more diligently. Like struggling to escape quicksand, the more effort we apply, the more stuck we become.

If any of the thoughts below feel familiar, you may already be caught in mental quicksand.

I’m right. They’re wrong.

Being right or being wrong makes sense when dealing with math problems, documented facts, or testable predictions. Thinking that there’s a right or wrong answer to a complex issue is just a trick your brain is playing on you. Brains like simplicity because simplicity conserves energy. With a bit more mental and emotional stamina, our brains can learn to tolerate nuance and creativity.

If you find yourself framing an issue as a choice between mutually exclusive alternatives, pause and ask yourself: How do we achieve the best of both?

I’m one purchase away from happiness.

You know that feeling of anticipation when you’ve splurged on a purchase that hasn’t been delivered yet? Or maybe you’ve decided to take up a new health regimen or hobby that you imagine will improve your life. If the new item or practice has become vital and transformative, congratulations!

More often, the item you coveted is now just another bland possession. The new practice has become a half-hearted routine or something you’ve abandoned. You’re back to scanning catalogues and considering the hot new life hack.

If you find yourself eager to bring something new into your life, pause and ask yourself: What need am I expecting this thing to meet?

I don’t know what came over me.

We are often surprised by our reactions. When triggered, an emotional energy can escape that makes us unrecognizable to ourselves. That out-of-proportion response is useful information. We may need the help of a therapist or coach to identify the source. Attempts to rein in our extreme reactions or write them off as the result of a temporary malady just gets us more stuck.

When you’re surprised by your own over-the-top reaction, pause and ask yourself: What does this reaction say about my unfulfilled aspirations or aspects of my life I have yet to make peace with?

Why am I getting the opposite of what I want?

A strange thing happens when we try too hard. Sometimes we put so much effort into achieving a goal, we create conditions for the opposite of our goal to take root. Let’s say Devon is eager to feel included. He adopts a strategy of helping whenever there’s a conflict or issue. He expends a lot of energy inserting himself into situations to fix problems. Devon’s efforts to be of service end up complicating matters. Over time he develops a reputation for being meddlesome and disruptive. Eventually people start avoiding, rather than including Devon.

If you feel a sense of dissatisfaction with your situation because of the extreme gap between what you want and what you’re getting, pause and ask yourself: How might I challenge the assumptions responsible for my choices?

How did we end up with the same strategy if we agree that our world has changed?

If you’re part of an organization that periodically reassesses their strategic priorities, you may have noticed that this year’s strategy could be summed up as, “Do what we’ve been doing… better.” Of course, there’s nothing wrong with staying the course if things are working and you know how to navigate “the course.” But why would you stick with a familiar strategy if the environment in which your organization operates starts to feel unfamiliar.

Whatever process you use for setting direction and prioritizing resource investments, pause and ask yourself: What opportunities or disruptions are emerging that deserve our attention?

Move over Homo Sapiens, There’s a More Evolved Sheriff in Town

on By 1 Comment

During a phone conversation last week, my business partner Lisa and I joked that we may be headed for the next evolutionary stage beyond homo sapiens. We noted that even the most adept humans seem ill-equipped to deal with today’s chaotic world. Oh, and it seems unlikely that things will become calmer and more predictable in the future. The conversation lingered with me.

We call our company Unstuck Minds. We believe that people who operate with an unstuck mind bring more creativity and compassion to the world. Creative thinking generates novel ideas and fresh insights. Compassion builds and sustains connections that help people feel seen, heard, and valued.

Homo sapiens literally, the wise human, succeeds as a species in part because we have large complex brains, language, and highly developed social skills. Now we’re starting to experience the downsides of what were once advanced adaptations. Those big brains are susceptible to mental health issues and cognitive bias. Our language skills allow us to spread harmful belief systems. Individuals and groups have begun to use our social intelligence to exploit and marginalize others.

Are the current challenges and complexities faced by humanity acting as evolutionary pressures that could drive natural selection towards the emergence of a new human subspecies better adapted to cope with an increasingly uncertain and complex world?

People are exhausted and overwhelmed. Are the current challenges and complexities faced by humanity acting as evolutionary pressures that could drive natural selection towards the emergence of a new human subspecies better adapted to cope with an increasingly uncertain and complex world? Might humans with unstuck minds be better suited to thrive in the future?

Welcome Homo Mens Soluta

Homo mens soluta, literally human with a freed or unstuck mind, might be where we’re headed as a species. The list below describes a thought experiment about the adaptations required to thrive in a future of increasing complexity and uncertainty.

We will Build Generous Connections with Others

In a complex world, collective intelligence and collaboration will be more advantageous than individual efforts. Homo mens soluta will move beyond the impulse to view relationships between individuals and groups as transactional. In the future, we will provide support and resources freely and without an expectation of receiving something in return.

We will Hold our Conclusions Lightly

Rather than fixating on definitive answers, homo mens soluta will thrive in ambiguous situations. We will feel comfortable with incomplete information and be adept at making decisions based on probabilities and calculated risks. We will form working hypotheses rather than certainties and easily let go of conclusions in the face of new evidence.

We will Notice our Mental Quicksand

A heightened awareness and understanding of our thought processes, biases, and decision-making heuristics will enable homo mens soluta to self-regulate and self-correct. This metacognitive ability will lead to more effective learning, problem-solving, and adaptation.

We will Form Generative Questions

Given easy access to vast amounts of information, the capacity to discern meaningful patterns, correlations, and insights from seemingly unrelated data streams will be advantageous. Homo mens soluta will ask generative questions to take advantage of the available information. The skill of asking better questions will be more adaptive to a future in which answers are abundant, but not equally useful.

We will Develop Attention Agility

The ability to rapidly adapt thought processes to accommodate changing circumstances and new information will become critical. Homo mens soluta will possess heightened neuroplasticity, allowing our neural pathways to reorganize and form new connections more efficiently.

If you want to make sure your genes get passed on to your descendants, or if you’re simply interested in building the mental stamina to deal with our chaotic world, consider developing an unstuck mind.

Jay G. Cone is the author of The Surprising Power of Not Knowing What to Do; Discovering Creativity and Compassion in a Time of Chaos. He is the co-founder of Unstuck Minds.

Are you Facing the Unfamiliar, the Unexplored, or the Unknown?

on By

Not all experiences of feeling lost call for the same remedy.

You may be facing an unfamiliar situation. Perhaps you’ve been assigned a complicated task you’ve never handled before. In such cases, people can instruct you. There are clear steps you can follow. Your sense of being temporarily lost stems from not knowing how to get started. Once you’re shown the roadmap, you feel reassured, and you can make progress.

Alternatively, you may be venturing into unexplored territory. Consider, for example, leading a complex organizational transformation. Here, there is no predefined roadmap. Advisors and consultants may offer relevant experience, but each change effort in every organization is unique. While there are recommended frameworks and methods, you’re likely to encounter unexpected obstacles.

Then, there’s facing the unknown. You may feel disoriented by your inability to make sense of what’s happening. You may be unable to predict the consequences of familiar actions. For example, you might be considering a new business line or expanding into a new geography. Or perhaps an unforeseen situation has disrupted your organization or your life, leaving you adrift. When facing the unknown, current conditions are unrecognizable and what once felt like a priority suddenly loses its importance.

In each case, you could describe yourself as lost. If you need a strategy to get unstuck, it’s not useful to focus on how lost you are. It’s better to focus on how you are lost.

When facing the unfamiliar, you need a roadmap and clear directions. To navigate unexplored territory, you need skills, tools, and a flexible plan. When dealing with the unknown, managing your attention becomes crucial, because you don’t know what to look for or how to interpret what you find.

When dealing with the unknown, managing your attention becomes crucial, because you don’t know what to look for or how to interpret what you find.

Facing the Unknown means getting comfortable with uncertainty

In previous posts we’ve defined the ability to manage your attention when facing complex and uncertain situations as “attention agility.” We have also described the SCAN framework (Structures, Context, Assumptions, and Needs) as a tool for developing attention agility. SCAN directs your attention towards a variety of information sources, countering habitual thinking tendencies that dictate what gets noticed and what gets overlooked. When facing the unknown, SCAN helps you ask better questions.

Before you can apply clear thinking to help you navigate your way through the unknown, you’ll want to come to terms with feeling disoriented. Humans tend to avoid uncertainty. When stuck or lost, we’re attracted to definitive answers and confident sounding advice. We settle for any port in a storm. When the unknown becomes our new normal, the storm doesn’t pass. We can end up settling for the wrong port.

To make sure you don’t respond to an unknown situation with strategies designed for the unfamiliar and unexplored, build your attention agility by taking a moment to reflect on a few questions:

  • What if I chose to pause before taking action? Is immediate action required or am I simply reacting to the discomfort I feel?
  • What’s novel about this situation? Am I jumping to conclusions about the nature of the situation? Am I looking for ways to frame the situation as an example of something I’m familiar with?
  • Who could provide a reasonable perspective that I’m currently disregarding? Are my advisors open to learning or are they set in their ways?
  • What low-risk experiment could help me learn my way forward?

Jay G. Cone is the author of The Surprising Power of Not Knowing What to Do; Discovering Creativity and Compassion in a Time of Chaos. He is the co-founder of Unstuck Minds.

Overcoming Roadblocks with Attention Agility

on By 1 Comment

My wife and I have been binging past seasons of “The Amazing Race.” We’ve been making mental notes of the exotic race locations for imagined future vacations. We also enjoy passing judgment on the way the two-person teams bark commands at each other while driving to their next clue. From our comfortable seats in the living room, we think, “Why not just relax and take in the breathtaking scenery?” Thankfully, we’ve never had microphones and cameras pointed at us while we discuss where to park at the mall.

I’m always impressed when a leg of the race requires teams to navigate in unfamiliar territory. They must drive under pressure, decipher road signs in languages they don’t understand, and arrive on time to avoid high-stakes consequences. Sometimes, they struggle with a manual transmission car. They’re forbidden from using modern GPS technology, creating stressful, complex, and uncertain conditions.

Lately, I’ve become interested in how our attention works and what it means for our ability to deal with an increasingly complex and uncertain world. When driving under familiar and predictable conditions, like a trip to the mall, we have attentional resources to spare. We can listen to music, sip coffee, and have a mature, collaborative conversation about where to park.

However, driving under hazardous conditions through unfamiliar territory requires us to use our attention differently. We become alert to our environment. Subtle features of the landscape take on greater significance. We may need information from people we don’t typically interact with. It sounds like I’m describing what it feels like to lead in today’s business environment.

We know what it’s like to switch the way we use our attention when driving. Changing conditions have an immediate impact. We’ve learned that misapplying our attention represents a clear and present danger. When organizational leaders get in the driver’s seat, the risks of misapplying their attention are less obvious, but no less perilous. We can’t navigate our organizations and teams through uncertain conditions with our status quo driving habits.

Attention Agility

Attention agility is the capacity to shift one’s focus and perspective quickly and easily in response to the dynamic demands of complex and uncertain conditions.

Developing the skill of attention agility allows you to deliberately and strategically allocate attentional resources to various aspects of a problem or scenario. You can recognize and prioritize key insights, adapt your thinking strategies on the fly, and generate holistic, multifaceted solutions. People skilled at attention agility notice evolving circumstances and consider a broad range of perspectives and possibilities.

Attention agility is the capacity to shift one’s focus and perspective quickly and easily in response to the dynamic demands of complex and uncertain conditions.

Attention agility is akin to mindfulness. It’s simultaneously sophisticated and simple. Like mindfulness, attention agility is less about doing something new and more about heightened awareness and managing distraction. A driver applies attention agility when switching from autopilot to vigilance as the road conditions change. A leader applies attention agility when challenging assumptions, watching trends, and taking in diverse stakeholder perspectives.

SCAN

In 1938, Orson Welles and his troupe of radio actors broadcast a story about a Martian invasion of Earth. The broadcast, known as ‘The War of the Worlds,’ was written and acted to sound like an emergency interruption of regular programming. Historical accounts of the broadcast differ on how many people recognized it as a hoax and how many panicked. My father heard the broadcast and told me that he simply checked to see if other stations were reporting news of an alien invasion. When he discovered that it was only being reported by the Columbia Broadcasting System, he sat back and enjoyed the program.

You can think of attention agility as the simple act of switching radio stations. Just as we have our favorite stations (or streaming channels), we also have our preferred types of information. When facing uncertain or complex situations, we tune in to the channels that provide information we trust, information that helps us feel in control. If we only attend to one kind of information, we miss the whole story. We don’t uncover new insights. We overlook risks and opportunities. We can get stuck.

We developed a framework called SCAN (Structures, Context, Assumptions, Needs) to help people pay attention to a broad spectrum of information so they notice the important, hidden influences that may be keeping them stuck. The SCAN framework facilitates the process of switching attention, especially when things get stressful, complex, and uncertain. Check out this explainer video to learn about SCAN. If you’re unaware that other channels of information exist, you won’t turn the dial. If you want to develop your attention agility, diversify your information sources. Learn to change the channel.

The teams that win “The Amazing Race” are not necessarily the most physically fit or the most worldly. Winning teams are able to shift their focus and perspectives more quickly and easily than team that get stuck and fall behind. When you watch the teams get stuck, you can tell that they’re only thinking about their challenge one way. When they switch the way they pay attention, they get unstuck.

Amazing Race teams don’t have the luxury of viewing themselves the way my wife and I watch them. But what if they did? What if a team feeling stuck could shift their perspective, even for a moment, from participant to spectator? What would they notice? What if a leadership team feeling stuck could shift their perspective? The next time my wife and I argue about finding a parking space, I’ll imagine we’re on camera. I think it might alter, at least for the moment, my preoccupation with being right.

Jay G. Cone is the author of The Surprising Power of Not Knowing What to Do; Discovering Creativity and Compassion in a Time of Chaos. He is the co-founder of Unstuck Minds.

Outrage is Making us Dumber

on By 1 Comment

A steady diet of outrage and despair doesn’t just darken our mood; it diminishes our capacity to think.

I’ve been absorbing reports of the barbarism we’re witnessing in the Middle East. If you believe that people can only be oppressors or victims, you’re not just mistaken; you’ve been hoodwinked. Believing that conflicts are defined solely by the positions people take means you’re unwittingly participating in the wrong game.

Like a toddler’s tantrum, entertaining and sharing angry thoughts can temporarily dampen our fury. However, that doesn’t make these thoughts legitimate. Our brains prefer, and perhaps even need, ways to simplify reality. For our primitive ancestors, the brain’s job was akin to taking a daily multiple-choice exam about the world:

Which of the following is true about what I’m noticing?

A) It’s food; I should eat it.

B) It thinks I’m food; I should run.

C) It smells nice; I should have sex with it.

D) None of the above; I’ll take a nap.

Today, our world requires us to get comfortable with thinking about things that are not simple. Our situations are more akin to answering essay questions. Faced with a complex, ambiguous prompt, we’re required to create a well-reasoned response.

If your mind is getting flabby, here are a few simple exercises to build stamina for complexity and uncertainty:

  • Learn about Zen kōans and meditate on one.
  • Enter conversations about problems with the intention to discover rather than influence.
  • Change a simple habit to become more mindful of all the things we do without thinking (e.g., switch the order in which you put on your shoes).
  • Explain your opinion to an 8-year-old. Putting something you believe into simple language requires clarity of thought and openness to unbiased questions.
  • Check out a couple of Unstuck Minds’ Blog Posts about building a fitness regimen for your mind: The Unstuck Mind and How are you Thinking Today.

When it comes to the calamities buffeting our attention, I’m not worried about which side is right. I’m worried about our impoverished ability to think things through. If we insist on oversimplifying the world, we’ll eventually view everyone as either a winner or a loser, an ‘us’ or a ‘them.’

Jay G. Cone is the author of The Surprising Power of Not Knowing What to Do; Discovering Creativity and Compassion in a Time of Chaos. He is the co-founder of Unstuck Minds.

The Most Important Leadership Skill No One Has Heard of…Yet

on By 5 Comments

You can’t survey people on the importance of a leadership skill they’ve never heard of. It would be like asking marketing executives in the 1990s to rate the importance of search engine optimization.

Today, empathy is topping the surveys of in-demand leadership skills. It’s not surprising that in chaotic times people want leaders who care. I for one, hope that the popularity of empathy as a leadership skill gives rise to kinder, more inclusive organizations. I don’t expect empathy to go out of fashion. Still, those of us who help leaders and organizations prepare for the future need to think about skills that might not be on anyone’s radar screen.

I want to nominate a skill that I believe will become indispensable for tomorrow’s leaders. Like empathy, It’s the type of skill that starts with self-awareness. Developing this skill will require us to learn how to notice and interrupt counterproductive habits of perception.

Allow me to introduce, attention agility.

What is attention agility?

Attention agility is the skill of quickly and easily regulating how you take in information. Like mindfulness, attention agility brings awareness to what most often goes unnoticed. Also like mindfulness, attention agility demands that we become aware of how we pay attention, and that we learn to sense when we may be focused on the wrong things.

With the advent of the internet, the ubiquity of smartphones, and the rise of social media, the topic of attention has gotten, well, a lot of attention. A Google Scholar search of articles and books written in the early days of the internet (1990 – 1993) using the search term “attention” came back with 432,000 results. Conducting a search across the same number of years, 2004 – 2007 (roughly, from the introduction of Facebook to the introduction of the first iPhone) generated 4.5 million results!

Attention Matters

Distracted driving is a serious hazard which caused over 3,000 deaths in the U.S. during 2019. We have been experiencing a global spike in attention-deficit disorder diagnoses. Psychologists and neuroscientists have demonstrated the stunning phenomenon known as inattentional blindness, in which we fail to notice fully visible objects because our attention was engaged elsewhere.

The deluge of information feels inescapable. Many have described our current times as the post-truth era. Somehow objective facts have become less influential than appeals to our emotions and beliefs. It’s not that we value objective reality less, it’s that our personal search engines, our attention apparatus, is optimized for threats and outrage.

When we develop our attention agility, we’ll know when we’re breathing in the stale air of our echo chambers. We’ll sense when it’s time to open a window and let in fresh ideas.  

When we develop our attention agility, we’ll be more discerning consumers of information and influence. When we develop our attention agility, we’ll know when we’re breathing in the stale air of our echo chambers. We’ll sense when it’s time to open a window and let in fresh ideas.  

Modes of attention

In 1890, American psychologist, William James devoted a chapter of his classic, The Principles of Psychology to the topic of attention. James made a distinction between passive attention and voluntary attention.

Passive attention is aimless, it floats like a butterfly. Voluntary attention targets and locks on, it stings like a bee. William James as interpreted by Muhammed Ali.

Imagine a walk in a beautiful, natural landscape. You suddenly become aware of the smell of an unusual flower alongside the trail (passive). You pull out your phone to look up the name of the flower (voluntary). You put the phone away and allow the environment to present itself to you (passive). This back-and-forth between focusing and unfocusing is what it feels like to regulate your attention. When you learn to switch modes easily and intentionally in a variety of situations, you’ve developed attention agility.

Why is attention agility important?

First, we have never had more information competing for our attention. Secondly, our brains have evolved to narrow our attention in times of stress and anxiety. As our information-rich world imposes itself on our overtaxed brains, we lose the ability to assess the validity of what we notice. Furthermore, it’s hard to appreciate the opportunity cost of what we don’t notice.

What William James called voluntary attention has always been prized by our teachers and our managers. We reward the ability to concentrate. We consider distraction a deficiency. We admire decision makers who create mental boundaries so they can include the relevant variables without the burden of extraneous thoughts or emotions. It makes perfect sense to value the ability to stay on task, but only if we’re working on the right task.

When we know what we want to accomplish, voluntary attention helps us focus. When we feel stuck, when our situation is changing quickly, and the future feels completely unpredictable, voluntary attention could point our focus in the wrong direction.

Consider the challenge many organizational leaders are facing today as they try to figure out how and where people will work when the pandemic no longer dictates the rules for convening. What should leaders pay attention to: Real estate costs? Worker productivity? Technology? Morale? Probably, all the above and more. Solving for the future of workspaces calls for a blend of voluntary attention and passive attention. Aimless, butterfly-like attention may surface hidden insights and creative options that suggest a way forward. Once you see a way forward, engaging your voluntary attention will help you implement a plan of action.

The Ascendance of Passive Attention

You know who is great at staying on task? Machines.

We don’t want to reduce the amount of information available to us. We’re already developing artificial intelligence (AI) to help us sort and package information so we can digest it. Machine learning makes AI more intelligent as it processes information and gets feedback about the utility of its outputs. So far, machine learning is a goal-seeking activity. Computer programs apply voluntary attention to data.

Would an artificially intelligent android pause while hiking to smell a flower? We pause because we have a passive attention mode that is not goal oriented. Passive attention gives us pause. The pause may give us something beneficial that we weren’t looking for.

Maybe there will come a day when a machine notices something it wasn’t looking for. For now, serendipity belongs exclusively to humans. We have plenty of strategies, tools, dietary supplements, and smartphone apps to build up our voluntary attention capacity. What we lack is a way to productively distract ourselves when the glare of our voluntary-attention high-beams blinds us to interesting information and insightful ideas alongside the trail.

Jay G. Cone is the author of The Surprising Power of Not Knowing What to Do; Discovering Creativity and Compassion in a Time of Chaos. He is the co-founder of Unstuck Minds.

You’re not required to have an opinion on everything

on By 3 Comments

A new study shows that people who identify as democratic socialists report higher levels of satisfaction with their lives than those who identify as free-market capitalists.

If you have an itchy twitter finger (and depending on your politics) you might feel an urge to post one of the following:

The results are in… socialism is the key to a happier life

No surprises from recent study… capitalists expect more out of life than socialists

If you’re actually tempted to spread the news, I should confess that I made up the study and its conclusion.

Importantly, the fact that the statement is a fabrication probably did not prevent you from having an opinion about it.

Opinions help brains avoid uncertainty

Our brains have a variety of strategies to help us avoid feeling uncertain. We don’t like uncertainty because our brains aren’t designed to thrive in uncertain times. One of the brain’s main jobs is to make sense of what’s happening so that we can anticipate the future. One of the main ways we make sense of what’s happening is by connecting new information to what we take as already settled.

When the brain is uncertain about how to label or categorize a new piece of information, we become anxious. Imagine if butterflies escaped from the place you expected to see fruit when you peeled your morning banana. You might feel scared. You might feel delighted. Either way, your brain would start working hard to reorient itself to a newly uncertain set of conditions.

Opinions are not mindless reactions

If you eat something that disagrees with you, you don’t have much control over how your body reacts. But the brain has more options than the stomach. If you take in a disagreeable idea, you can pause and reflect before responding. Rather than belching up a reaction to an indigestible idea, chew it over in your mind.

The idea is for you to form your opinions. If you mindlessly react to information, you’re allowing your opinions to form you.

Try this

When you notice an internal reaction welling up in you to something you’ve heard or seen, consider replacing your external reaction with one of these statements:

  • I see it differently, what am I missing?
  • We could do that. How would it help us?
  • Help me understand what led you to that conclusion.
  • I can tell you feel strongly about that. What about it is important to you?
  • Before we respond, what’s another way to look at this?
  • What would happen if we adopted a different solution? What if we did nothing?
  • Whose perspective is missing from this discussion? What would they say?

social media platforms are in no hurry to protect us from poisonous information

Sure, it would be great if Facebook’s algorithm optimized for joyful connection over addictive engagement. Maybe market forces and/or regulation will remind Facebook to look after human flourishing. With great power comes great responsibility!

Meanwhile, let’s work on our own programming. Just before the eye-roll, withdrawal, snark, or unsolicited advice, take a moment, embrace uncertainty, and choose curiosity.

Jay G. Cone is the author of The Surprising Power of Not Knowing What to Do; Discovering Creativity and Compassion in a Time of Chaos. He is the co-founder of Unstuck Minds.

SCAN: How to Notice What you’re NOT Looking For

on By 4 Comments

Do you remember the Magic Eye books? The books popularized something called an autostereogram. Autostereograms are two-dimensional illustrations whose pattern obscures a hidden three-dimensional image or scene. You can watch a short video about Magic Eye books and learn how to see the image. Click here to reveal the image hidden in the autostereogram above.

seeing the hidden image requires un-focusing rather than focusing

Focusing is useful if you know what you’re looking for. In a turbulent and uncertain world, it’s what you’re not looking for that might become the source of a breakthrough. Herein lies one of the biggest challenges for today’s organizational leaders. When we focus on one thing, we lose the ability to notice what we’re not focused on. Psychologists refer to this as inattentional blindness. If you haven’t seen the original video from Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris that illustrates the phenomena, check it out here.

Our cognitive equipment is designed to help us focus on what we deem important. When we feel stuck or overwhelmed, it might be because we’re mistaken about what’s important. The world changes, but our priorities stay the same. We employ artificial intelligence and data science to help us isolate the insights in the noise. However, the breakthrough might be less like finding a needle in a haystack and more like allowing opportunities to emerge by changing how we pay attention.

To quote Louis Pasteur, in the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.

Spotlights versus Lanterns

Alison Gopnik studies, teaches, and writes about how children come to know the world around them. Gopnik is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley. In her recent book, The Philosophical Baby, Gopnik employs a helpful analogy to describe the difference between the consciousness of an infant and the consciousness of an adult.

According to Gopnik, babies notice the world around them as if it were illuminated by a lantern. A lantern indiscriminately lights its surroundings. Adults notice the world as though it were illuminated by a spotlight. We learn to avoid distraction and prioritize available information in order to complete tasks efficiently.

If you feel stuck or overwhelmed, shining a spotlight on familiar choices might actually blind you to the insights and options you need.

If you feel stuck or overwhelmed, shining a spotlight on familiar choices might actually blind you to the insights and options you need.

Four hidden aspects of situations we want to change

As I’ve described in a previous post, SCAN is a framework for discovering insights and options when you feel stuck or need a way to set direction. SCAN stands for: Structures, Context, Assumptions, and Needs.

Illuminating Structures helps us notice the norms, habits, systems, and processes that create stability and consistency.

Illuminating Context helps us notice factors and trends in the external environment that signal disruptions and opportunities.

Illuminating Assumptions helps us notice the beliefs, values, and world-views that orient our attention, judgments, and priorities.

Illuminating Needs helps us notice the desires, fears, preferences, and social processes that motivate behaviors.

SCAN elements are consistently overlooked

Structures organize how we operate, but once they become routine, we take them for granted. Context establishes the meaning and purpose of our activities. In our busyness, we focus on the activities and fail to notice changes in what the world considers important. Assumptions form our identity and our worldview. We rarely notice how our deeply held beliefs orient our attention and judgments. Moreover, questioning our deeply held beliefs can feel threatening. Lastly, we pay lip service to the needs of others, but we don’t stay in touch with those we serve, and we overlook the needs and perspectives of people from other communities or backgrounds.

If we want to change our situations, we need to un-focus the way we pay attention to the status quo and light a lantern to help us see what we we’re not looking for.

SCAN questions that will illuminate what you may be overlooking

To notice STRUCTURES, ask yourself: Which processes or routines no longer serve their intended purpose, have diminished impact, or have turned counterproductive?

To notice CONTEXT, ask yourself: What factors outside our control might change how people experience what we offer?

To notice ASSUMPTIONS, ask yourself: What beliefs about our purpose, goals, and approach should no longer govern our priorities?

To notice NEEDS, ask yourself: What has changed about those we serve or could be serving? Whose perspectives are underrepresented or missing?

Learn more about discovering insights and options in uncertain times.