In 1989 the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union radically altered the geopolitical landscape which, to that date, had shaped the American military identity. The military institution West Point is charged with developing students into future leaders, and this dramatic shift in global power influence drastically impacted West Point’s traditional assumptions on the composition of leadership.
To confront this change West Point embarked on a deep cultural reflection that sought to understand the essence of leadership and the processes required to meet the obligation of shaping the next generation of leaders. Here are some lessons from that journey.
Knowledge is Perishable and is Trumped by Character
“Beast Barracks” is a gruelling six-week camp that introduces cadets to West Point by systematically breaking them down through a series of physically and mentally demanding experiences.
Beast Barracks is not meant to develop mechanical attributes such as strength or toughness. Instead Beast Barracks is designed to build character by forcing cadets out of their comfort zones. The thinking goes that stripping bare the self-esteem creates a state of confusion and questioning, which in turn offers a unique opportunity to mold identity.
West Point believes that a leader is someone who chooses the “harder right instead of the easier wrong.” Knowledge and skills are important, but without moral judgement there is no compass to direct that expertise.
The recent tests faced by society’s most prominent leaders and institutions seem to prove this out. From the legitimacy of the U.S. war on terrorism, to the moral failure of the Roman Catholic Church, to this decade’s numerous business scandals - the question of failed leadership has consistently been raised, and at that question's core often exists a failure of character.
Anything can be learned, and in today’s dynamic environment where technology imparts revolutionary change at time warping speed, much of what is learned quickly becomes obsolete. However it is our understanding of who we are and who we want to be that provides the clarity of direction to guide the decisions and sacrifices required of leaders.
The Need for Self Reflection
Although Beast Barracks relies on creating confusion and uncertainty, West Point recognized that character is not typically formed amidst the confusion of action, but rather through quiet reflection after action. Upon completing Beast Barracks cadets are required to write essays reflecting on what they learned about leadership and about themselves. Here is a brief excerpt from a cadet’s essay:
“No one could have survived BEAST if they had thought of themselves. Selfishness would have come to mind in my previously undeveloped self. I learned that selfless service is not only necessary to be a competent leader, but also to being a morally correct person.”
Warren Bennis, founding chairman of the Leadership Institute at USC’s Marshall School of Business, says “there is no difference between being an effective leader and a becoming a fully integrated person.” Mr. Bennis believes that people won’t be able to deploy their full talents without self awareness of their strengths, weaknesses and overall character.
The Individual Nature of Leadership
Finally, West Point concluded that leadership cannot be transmitted through a specific bundle of skills or lectures. True leadership must be experienced not taught, and is deeply personal, as the experience needs to be internalized by the individual in order to be translated into leadership.
This means that to effectively develop leaders corporations need to create personalized experiences that are unique to each individual and that are in essence, reflective journeys toward leadership. Unfortunately this is usually in direct contradiction to the typical team focused, homogenized training provided by most companies.
The truth is that most organizations are not built to effectively develop leadership, which means that the path to becoming a leader must be paved by the individual. Ironically, that in and of itself is the essence of leadership.
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Monday, September 17, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The Subtle Art of Self Persuasion
There was a couple in the early stages of relationship when, one turned to the other and exclaimed, “You’re perfect.” One would assume that statement would be met with some level of positivity. On the contrary, the recipient felt something just short of revulsion.
Character flaws notwithstanding, when questioned as to the source of this negative emotion the reply was in some respects poignant. The reasoning went that being in the very preliminary stages of attraction the “couple” still knew very little about one another. As such, the blank spaces were filled with the imagination of what could be. In attributing perfection to the relationship at such an early stage, in reality what the person was actually doing was fulfilling their want of a perfect relationship by applying it to the situation.
Essentially the “You are perfect” had nothing to do about the declaree and everything to do with the declarer. It was their imagination, fueled by the desire for a perfect relationship, that led one person to convince themselves that the other was somehow “perfect”.
This ability to convince ourselves of the things we want to be true is a common occurrence that happens beyond the scope of relationships. As evidence, take this recent Adweek article where an ordinary man pretends to be a celebrity to the effect that people wind up treating him like one.
Talking To Ourselves
Peter Wason was a cognitive psychologist who coined the term “confirmation bias”, which describes people’s tendency to favor information that validates their preconceptions, hypotheses and personal beliefs regardless of the information’s basis in truth.
Mr. Wason conducted an experiment where he presented subjects with a number sequence: 2,4,6. The subjects were told that the sequence was created by a rule that they were to uncover by generating their own three-number sequences. After each attempt the subjects were told if their sequence met the rule, and they could generate as many sequences as needed until they were confident of the rule.
The rule was “any three numbers in increasing order”. Despite the rule’s simplicity only about 25% of the subjects figured it out because most, upon selecting a hypothesis, only looked for evidence to validate that hypothesis while eschewing any attempts to refute it.
Once told they were wrong, the subjects were allowed to try again. However, when suggested to use a different approach, most continued to only look at ways that supported their hypothesis. Mr. Wason concluded that people have a confirmation bias; they are prejudiced to test a hypothesis by working to confirm it instead of working to falsify it.
Put another way, once people have a belief they have a tendency to perceive things in ways that support their belief at the expense of any evidence to the contrary. A relationship is perceived as perfect because it is imaged to be that way, and only evidence that supports that belief is accepted.
Marketers are regular victims of confirmation bias:
We fall in love with our ideas and create reasons why they work while ignoring why they don’t.
We chase trends while ignoring the lack of data supporting their value.
We do what we have always done while ignoring the metrics around diminishing returns.
We create slogans of perceived grandeur while ignoring their emptiness of meaning.
We blame our agencies or clients for bad work while ignoring our own role in the creation.
We consistently talk to ourselves while ignoring our consumers.
The story didn’t end well for the “couple”, as the imperfections of the person inevitably became apparent, disappointment ensued, and that person wound up getting dumped. Don’t talk yourself into believing what you are saying. Actively find the holes in the story and fill them with texture or press delete and start again.
Be aware of your confirmation bias, because it ultimately leads to “a dump”.
Character flaws notwithstanding, when questioned as to the source of this negative emotion the reply was in some respects poignant. The reasoning went that being in the very preliminary stages of attraction the “couple” still knew very little about one another. As such, the blank spaces were filled with the imagination of what could be. In attributing perfection to the relationship at such an early stage, in reality what the person was actually doing was fulfilling their want of a perfect relationship by applying it to the situation.
Essentially the “You are perfect” had nothing to do about the declaree and everything to do with the declarer. It was their imagination, fueled by the desire for a perfect relationship, that led one person to convince themselves that the other was somehow “perfect”.
This ability to convince ourselves of the things we want to be true is a common occurrence that happens beyond the scope of relationships. As evidence, take this recent Adweek article where an ordinary man pretends to be a celebrity to the effect that people wind up treating him like one.
Talking To Ourselves
Peter Wason was a cognitive psychologist who coined the term “confirmation bias”, which describes people’s tendency to favor information that validates their preconceptions, hypotheses and personal beliefs regardless of the information’s basis in truth.
Mr. Wason conducted an experiment where he presented subjects with a number sequence: 2,4,6. The subjects were told that the sequence was created by a rule that they were to uncover by generating their own three-number sequences. After each attempt the subjects were told if their sequence met the rule, and they could generate as many sequences as needed until they were confident of the rule.
The rule was “any three numbers in increasing order”. Despite the rule’s simplicity only about 25% of the subjects figured it out because most, upon selecting a hypothesis, only looked for evidence to validate that hypothesis while eschewing any attempts to refute it.
Once told they were wrong, the subjects were allowed to try again. However, when suggested to use a different approach, most continued to only look at ways that supported their hypothesis. Mr. Wason concluded that people have a confirmation bias; they are prejudiced to test a hypothesis by working to confirm it instead of working to falsify it.
Put another way, once people have a belief they have a tendency to perceive things in ways that support their belief at the expense of any evidence to the contrary. A relationship is perceived as perfect because it is imaged to be that way, and only evidence that supports that belief is accepted.
Marketers are regular victims of confirmation bias:
We fall in love with our ideas and create reasons why they work while ignoring why they don’t.
We chase trends while ignoring the lack of data supporting their value.
We do what we have always done while ignoring the metrics around diminishing returns.
We create slogans of perceived grandeur while ignoring their emptiness of meaning.
We blame our agencies or clients for bad work while ignoring our own role in the creation.
We consistently talk to ourselves while ignoring our consumers.
The story didn’t end well for the “couple”, as the imperfections of the person inevitably became apparent, disappointment ensued, and that person wound up getting dumped. Don’t talk yourself into believing what you are saying. Actively find the holes in the story and fill them with texture or press delete and start again.
Be aware of your confirmation bias, because it ultimately leads to “a dump”.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Black Belt Creativity
The rank system in Japanese martial arts is communicated through belt color from white to black. The symbolism behind this system is that as a beginner you are completely empty of technique and knowledge, and as such your belt is white - void of color.
As a practitioner matures in experience their belt gradually darkens to represents that accumulation of knowledge. The common misunderstanding is that the black belt, being the darkest color, is a symbol of complete knowledge, or mastery. In reality the black belt is like the white belt - void of color.
The black belt, or shodan, literally symbolizes a return to the beginning - with the ‘sho’ in ‘shodan’ using the same character as ‘sho shin’, which means “beginners mind”. The black belt rank assumes that you have developed adequate proficiency in the basic techniques so that you are now able to see them in a new light, enabling you to evolve their application. It is creative freedom through structure. Innovation through strong fundamentals.
Only through the complete understanding of the concepts of basic technique are black belts able to free themselves of the rigidity of the basics’ framework, and adapt those techniques into a unique expression of their personal style. This is the reason why a punch from a black belt appears different than a punch from a white belt, even though both are identical in their essence.
There is a common belief that creativity is hindered by structure and that in order to be creative one must break away from the limit of fundamental principles. The black belt would argue that structure provides a framework for creativity, and that only through absolute familiarity with the fundamentals, does the foundation for creative freedom derive.
You cannot view differently that which you do not see clearly. Without foundation there is no basis for support. Without structure there is no format. The basics are not boring and restrictive to creativity, they are essential to its cultivation.
Rather than view traditional tactics as dated and look at basic fundamentals as irrelevant to modern vehicles, we should instead embrace them to the point of intimate familiarity. For it is only through the employ of those basic tenets that we will fully exploit the creative potential of emerging principles, regardless of the field.
We should employ black belt creativity.
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