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The Rethinking Cycle
A tool to get better at changing our minds
Drew Weilage
April 02, 2024
Today I'm writing about something that humans are not very good at doing: changing our minds. Once locked in on what we believe on a subject, changing that view is difficult—even when what should be persuasive evidence becomes available.
But *rethinking* is a critical skill in a turbulent world. 👇
Since the world is always changing and new information is always emerging, it can be helpful if points of view remain open to rethinking, lest they turn into limiting beliefs.
To our rescue: Adam Grant and his book "Think Again". He argues that we need to make rethinking (our opinions, beliefs, assumptions, etc.) a regular practice.
How? Get comfortable with "The Rethinking Cycle".
"It starts with intellectual humility—knowing what we don't know. Recognizing our shortcomings opens the door to doubt. As we question our current understanding, we become curious about what information we're missing. That search leads us to new discoveries, which in turn maintains our humility by reinforcing how much we still have to learn."
Humility ➡️ Doubt ➡️ Curiosity ➡️ Discovery ↩️
We should think more like scientists, says Grant, by being open to what different ideas may have to offer us ... instead of falling to the natural patterns of defending what we already know:
preaching (protecting and promoting our ideas),
prosecuting (attacking the ideas of others, often in an effort to hold true to our worldview), or
politicking (campaigning and lobbying for our ideas).
Five more quotes from the book:
"Thinking like a scientist involves more than just reacting with an open mind. It means being actively open-minded. It requires searching for reasons why we might be wrong—not for reasons why we must be right—and revising our views based on what we learn."
"When you start to form an opinion, resist the temptation to preach, prosecute, or politick. Treat your emerging view as a hunch or a hypothesis and test it with data." (Anecdotes and experiences and feelings are data, too.)
"Most of us take pride in our knowledge and expertise, and in staying true to our beliefs and opinions. That makes sense in a stable world, where we get rewarded for having conviction in our ideas. The problem is that we live in a rapidly changing world, where we need to spend as much time rethinking as we do thinking."
"Unfortunately, when it comes to our own knowledge and opinions, we often favor feeling right over being right. In everyday life, we make many diagnoses of our own, ranging from whom we hire to whom we marry. We need to develop the habit of forming our own second opinions."
"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."
Around The Water Cooler ⛲
Speaking of limiting beliefs, I wrote about two of the most egregious when it comes to work in our modern era:
A sign of the times: The rise of the job-search bots by Aki Ito
How To Work is healthcare-focused work design inspiration to nudge your perspectives and practices into better alignment with the world of work as it is, and away from what it was. Read my take on the tension we’re working through.
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