• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Mark Burns

#cathedralbuilding

  • About
  • News
  • Blog
  • Professional Learning
  • Post Course Support
  • Online Learning
  • Books
  • Testimonials
  • Building Parent Self-Efficacy
  • Contact Me
  • Show Search
Hide Search

WYSIATI A Thinking Tool For Stressed Times…

Mark Burns · September 17, 2020 · Leave a Comment

I had cause to recently revisit Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s profoundly important study of human behaviour, Thinking, Fast and Slow.
 
Like all the best books in this field, it speaks to the reader in all of their many different roles including potentially employee, leader, and colleague, as well as parent, son/daughter, sibling, neighbour and friend.
 
One of the many fascinating concepts from the book is WYSIATI (What You See Is All There Is).  Kahneman’s research has found that in fast paced situations, especially when we find ourselves working tired and stressed, humans have a tendency to jump to conclusions based upon limited evidence.  We are also prone not to notice that we are filtering what we see/hear based upon our own unconscious biases and assumptions. This makes us vulnerable to confirmation bias i.e. that we only see/hear what we seek. 
 

Which brings us to now

Covid-19 continues to overload many of us with operational challenges, new ways of working and draining uncertainty.  As one leader reflected to me last week, ‘I’ve never known a time in my career when there have been so many situations where I just don’t have an answer. Not only that, but so much is outside of my control.’  From my conversations with individuals over recent months, I’ve been fascinated by the way some have been able to overcome the dangers of WYSIATI i.e. the operational confusion and uncertainty to take a different view.

They’ve consciously chosen to find a few minutes each day to slow down and and put on a different set of glasses.  

A set of glasses that help them to ‘see’ and take energy from the gains that have been made during this crisis within their teams and schools/organisations.  Such as the teacher who chose to take huge energy from noticing the joy her pupils gained from being immersed in their learning in the classroom again. Or the leader who has ‘seen’ their own communications skills develop through focussing on active listening and paraphrasing for understanding.

I’m fascinated by the benefits that we might yield from making this swapping of glasses a habits.

Reflection questions

  • How have you grown through this period?
  • What setbacks have you encountered where there is the potential for personal learning and growth? And greater clarity about how to overcome similar challenges in the future?
  • Who have you learnt from in this period?
  • Who has grown in your team through this period?
  • What is giving energy to you and your team?
  • What is draining it and how can this be minimised?
  • Are you in the habit of slowing down yourself and your team down to swap glasses?
  • What is the impact on you and your team of the answer above?

Swapping glasses is certainly not a denial that challenges being faced are insignificant. However, they are challenges, rather than problems.  And as Peter Block, in his wonderful book, ‘Community’ writes, we all have a choice, ‘Are we a community of problems OR a community of possibilities?’ 
 
That’s a question I’m going to reflect on every day.

Filed Under: News

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Mark Burns

Over the last ten years, Mark Burns has developed a proven track record in improving teaching and leadership in education. He’s co-authored two best-selling books in this field.  More recently, he has worked with FTSE100 retailer and third sector organisations, to develop the quality and impact of their learning and development programmes.

Through his work, he has developed a deep understanding of learning design and how to overcome the barriers to learning in organisations.

Social

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Phone
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

tweets

Tweets by learnimperative

Recent Posts

  • #WorldEdSummit – ‘Thinking for Learning’ Map
  • Building Greater Autonomy
  • Learning Awards Gold Winner
  • World Education Summit 2021
  • Keeping the remote learning circuit connected

Archives

  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • March 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • March 2014
  • January 2011
  • July 2010
  • March 2010
  • August 2002
  • July 2001
  • March 2001
  • February 2001
  • January 2001
  • December 2000
  • February 1970

Categories

  • Blog
  • News
  • Post course
  • Resources

Copyright Plus One Learning Limited© 2021 · Daily Dish Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in