[TID-BITS] : MISUNDERSTANDINGS
I get Seth Godin’s daily email. I read, or at least skim most of them; although I find the longer ones annoying. My gauge of a good email from him is if he can illicit an insightful reaction from me in 100 words or less. Today’s email did this.
The topic was misunderstanding, an inherently human characteristic and one which we won’t soon overcome. Misunderstandings have led to all sorts of divide, anger and violence, much less hurt feelings, throughout time, and I know for myself has caused more than rifts in my relationships.
The quote that got me thinking is this:
But before we burn down bridges and ruin everyone’s day, just a quick moment to wonder, “what if there was something misunderstood?”
The word that jumps out at me here is “wonder.” Wonder implies a thoughtful pause, devoid of judgement and emotion, a simply matter of fact “hm” and nothing more. Possibility encouraged. Assumptions not welcome.
Assumption: what a loaded word. I can’t help but wonder if in fact the antithesis of creativity is assumption. Assumption implies basis on prior knowledge or experience, and essentially closes the door on possibility and alternatives. It devalues exploration and closes people’s minds to other and unfamiliar (thus uncomfortable) ideas and situations.
Admittedly is it much easier not to speculate, especially when something is uncomfortable; spending more time with it, and trying not to be emotional or judgmental is a tall order. Doing the mental work to explore alternatives, however, seems to be a key to universal understanding (Woah – how’d we get from misunderstanding to existentialism so quickly? Interesting!) The reading this week talks about putting aside assumption and judgement as a strategy to creative collaboration, which gets to the core of Godin’s post.
In any event, this little post got me thinking; how is creativity more than just a tool for innovation? How might it also be used to promote understanding? I don’t think curiosity can fix misunderstanding as I know logically it will always happen. But rather curiosity can help us think and react differently when a misunderstanding occurs, and help us deal with it in a new novel way.
In light of this realization I’m going to try and explore using possibility without judgement more in my life. I consider myself a fairly open minded person, however the challenge for me is going to be identifying in the moment when I’ve made an assumption based on misunderstanding, and rerouting my path towards possible meanings. Communicating and questioning will also be important, as will humility if (or when) I was wrong or need to change my thinking. Enter pride – but that’s a whole other topic.
Thoughts from reading (Cracking Creativity, pp 255-286)
- Collaboration – open forum discussion
- Suspend assumptions and judgement
- Leaving aside preconceived notions and assumption gives “fair value” to ALL ideas
- “Yes, but…” into “Yes, and…”
- Change from negative to positive
- Playfulness = enjoyment = less “work” = more innate curiosity = imagination
- Group brainstorming – varied activities to facilitate group brainstorming