Resource Management Innovations
Living In a State of Discovery: What If We Did?
How many times have you made a decision only to realize later on that you had neglected key evidence that was right there in front of you? Why didn’t you see it? Were you bound by your own experience, a prior way of doing things, a preconceived notion of the way things are? It seems (regrettably) this is totally human.
In her new book ‘Willful Blindness’ author Margaret Heffernan takes us on a fascinating and deeply troubling journey as to ‘Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril’ … the theme of her study.
“Familiarity (Heffernan writes) it turns out, does not breed contempt. It breeds comfort.” (pg. 9) Research has proven that (pg. #11) “We like ourselves, not least because we are known and familiar to ourselves. So, we like people similar to ourselves – or that we just imagine might have some attributes in common with us. They feel familiar too, and safe. And those feelings of familiarity and security make us like ourselves more because we aren’t anxious.”
The problem with this is … everything outside of our safe, warm biosphere … is our blind spot. Am I genetically wired for unconscious incompetence? I can take implicit comfort in ‘I don’t know what I don’t know.’ Really. REALLY? How sad is that? Is there room for argument … or am I doomed to more of myself? Think about that. Is that how we arrived here? What happened to our age of and sense of discovery?
Do you remember Curious George, and how appealing he was? Is? Being inquisitive about the world, about other people’s points of view, about how things work around you … and even about new notions of yourself. If all that sounds positive and exciting, understand that living in a state of discovery also means being willing to accept facts we don’t like, and being able to see old facts in a new way.
Where is our pioneer spirit? Have the settlers won? Was there a conscious decision? Imagine the concept of no Spaceship (Discovery)? No Wagon Train … no Jacques Cousteau? It’s just a matter of scope and scale. My fear is, it is implicitly being discouraged … by us, and we haven’t been given the opportunity to agree (with status quo) or disagree. Imagine how failed that thinking is in business? No forward looking and thinking (strategy)? What could possibly keep that boat afloat? It’s a failed strategy (there’s that word again).
Staying curious and ‘open’ keeps us mentally agile and our options clear. By contrast when we treat our experience and knowledge or insights as ‘complete’ or ‘done’ … we limit ourselves to the past rather than embracing the potential of our future. Without living in a culture of discovery we would have long since resigned ourselves to smallpox, polio and left the Flat Earth Society in charge. Would the (our) New World have even been discovered? What secondary vocation could Magellan, Cabot and Columbus have engaged in? I can’t imagine those guys settling into the cobbler’s shoppe?
Growing up my Dad and I had a very robust work bench and so many tools they had to be hung on peg board. By Boxing Day most of my Christmas presents had been reengineered to run faster and in time a citizens band radio that could reach farther.
If not in our own self-interest, at least for the benefit of our children’s children … never cease approaching our world with all the enthusiasm and attributes of a Curious George. I too have lost some of him along my way, and I regret that. As for me, my world and my walk … I will continue to push ‘Current State’ in pursuit of ‘Desired State’ … define the gaps and building a migration bridge, because that is what RMI does, and my children and their children deserve more and better.
That is how you and I got here. We are all immigrants with a great story. Indeed, that is the fabric of Canada.
Rick @ RMI
Posted By: Rick Kneeshaw 2011/03/19
Categories: Book ~ Bytes