GALLUS BOOK CLUB - NOT KNOWING
OUR TAKE ON ‘NOT KNOWING - THE ART OF TURNING UNCERTAINTY INTO OPPORTUNITY’ BY STEVEN D’SOUZA AND DIANA RENNER EVERY MONTH THE GALLUS BOOK CLUB EXPLORES A TOPICAL, RELEVANT BOOK THAT, ON FACE VALUE, COULD INFORM THINKING, SPARK SOME DEBATE AND GENERATE IDEAS AMONGST OUR MEMBERS. We live in interesting times; levels of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are extraordinarily high. Many of our GALLUS BOOK CLUB members are tasked with leading organisations, functions and or transformation programmes in an ever-changing environmental context and are faced with ‘not knowing’ on a regular basis – ‘not knowing’ therefore has a broad relevance.
“WE HAVE LEARNED THAT THE PAST WILL BE A POOR GUIDE TO THE FUTURE AND THAT WE SHALL FOREVER BE DEALING WITH ANTICIPATED EVENTS. GIVEN THAT SCENARIO, ORGANISATIONS WILL NEED INDIVIDUALS WHO DELIGHT IN THE UNKNOWN” Charles Handy
It’s fair to say that this book is different; it’s a journey. It becomes apparent very quickly that the authors have recognised the trap they might have fallen into and have avoided it well. It would be easy to provide a model of how to behave when faced with ‘not knowing’, but instead, the authors take you on a journey (with a level of structure) that takes you to the edge of ‘not knowing’ through quotes, vignettes and thought provoking questions. “THIS BOOK, HONOURING AND LEGITIMISING THE SPACE OF NOT KNOWING IS THE WORK OF LIBERATORS NOT LUDDITES, FREEING US TO INNOVATE, ADAPT, AND ADDRESS THE COMPLEXITY, AMBIGUITY AND UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY WITH CURIOSITY, EMPATHY AND, YES, THE COURAGE TO WITHSTAND THE RESISTANCE OF THOSE WHO DESPERATELY HOLD ON TO THE ILLUSION THAT CURRENT KNOWLEDGE CAN SOLVE THE MOST VEXING PROBLEMS” Martin Linsky of
Harvard
With this in mind, and in order not to ruin your experience when you read the book (which you really should), our summary this month purely captures the ideas at a very high level. We urge you to embark on your personal journey of ‘not knowing’ ….. Here we present the HIGH LEVEL IDEAS to whet your appetite.....
PART ONE - THE DANGERS OF KNOWLEDGE 1. ADAPTIVE ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING Why we should beware of the ‘illusion of knowledge’....
1. Knowledge is powerful
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2. The allure of the unknown
3. Overconfidence Blinkers
4. Limits of specialisation
creates re-enforcement rather than new learning
“overconfident professionals sincerely believe they have expertise, act as experts and look like experts. You will have to struggle to remind yourself that thay may be in the grip of an illusion” Daniel Kahneman
can impair fresh thinking about complex problems. there’s a need to reframe the challenge and knowledge can stop us doing this.
5. Willful Blindness
6. The pretence of knowledge
Margaret Heffernan has written a book on this subject alone
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2. DEPENDANCE ON EXPERTS AND LEADERS Vignettes to explore the impact.... Creates the ‘illusion of knowledge’ and The leader casts a shadow over others who knew too much Do you have room to manoeuvre and to change your mind?
The problem with certain leaders
The weight of expectations Pretending to know Blind obedience to authority
Impacts ability to make good decisions and perform at your peak with, at times, disasterous consequences
3. GROWTH OF THE UNKNOWN How we can be trapped by thinking we know more than we do....
KNOWLEDGE KEEPS CHANGING
“Knowledge is like a sphere. The greater its volume the larger its contact with the unknown” 17th Century Mathmetician , Blaise Pascal
MORE COMPLEX, MORE AMBIGUOUS
“We are navigating by sight”, “we still do not know the final destination” Olivier Blanchard
COMPLICATED - COMPLEX CHAOTIC
“There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns- there are things we do not know we don’t know” Donald Rumsfeld
MISHANDLING COMPLEXITY
“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong” HL Mencken
“MISDIAGNOSING THE COMPLEX ‘ADAPTIVE’ ELEMENTS OF CHANGE AS COMPLICATED ‘TECHNICAL’ IS A KEY FAILURE IN LEADERSHIP”.
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GALLUS BOOK CLUB - NOT KNOWING
DIFFERENTIATING PROBLEMS - COMPLICATED - COMPLEX - CHAOTIC
DEFINITION SIMPLE The domain of the ‘known knowns’ , characterised by the familiar, certain and well worn pathways
COMPLICATED The domain of the ‘known unknowns’ , characterised by the ordered, predictable, forecastable; can be known by experts
COMPLEX The domain of the ‘unknown unknowns’. characterised by flux and unpredictabiliy, no right answers, emergent instructive patterns and many more competing ideas
CHAOTIC The domain of the ‘unknowable unknowns’, characterised by high turbulence and no patterns
EXAMPLES • •
The route I take to work How to make a chocolate cake
• • •
Applying current accounting rules Construction of a super-tanker Restructuring an organisation
• • • • •
Parenting teenagers Developing a new product for a new market Forecasting the global economy Post-apartheid reconciliation Addressing social disadvantage
• •
The events of 11 September 2001 Bush Fires
David Snowden taken from ‘Not Knowing’ D’Souza S & Remmer D; 2014, Pg 86
PART TWO - THE EDGE 1. FINESTERRE Starting on the journey...
Arriving at Finesterre Avoiding the "The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken, into the Why do we avoid it? western sea, and the moon What might happen if rising behind you as you stood we didn’t? where ground turned to ocean: no way to your future now but the way your shadow could take, walking before you across water, going where shadows go, no way to make sense of a world that wouldn't let you pass except to call an end to the way you had come" David
White
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unknown Fear of incompetence 'Mindset' makes more of a difference to success than ability Do you have a 'fixed' or 'growth' mindset?
Reactions at the edge What are the clues that we are entering the unknown? Control and attachment; passivity and self defeat; analysis paralysis; catastrophic thinking; jumping into action; resistance
The call to cross the edge "abandon the shoes that had brought you here right at the water's edge, not because you had given up but because now, you would find a different way to tread, and because, through it all, part of you could still walk on, no matter how, over the waves" David White
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2. DARKNESS ILLUMINATES: Navigating the journey... a reframing of not knowing.... gaps of opportunity...
“A POSITIVE SPACE OF POTENTIAL AND OPPORTUNITY, WHERE WE CAN ACCESS NEW, EMERGENT KNOWLEDGE”. D’Souza and Renner
THE ARTIST Letting energy come through from you THE ENTREPENEUR Discovering whats next
What can we learn from the inhabitants of the unknown?
THE SCIENTIST freedom to deviate
THE EXPLORER One Mountain at a time
THE PSYCHOTHERAPIST The way of unknowing
PART THREE- NEGATIVE CAPABILITIES HOW CAN WE CREATE SPACE IN THE MIND FOR NEW THOUGHTS TO TAKE ROOT - WHAT ARE THE CAPABILITIES THAT WILL HELP US? The authors outline many practices that will help to EMPTY YOUR CUP, CLOSE YOUR EYES TO SEE, take a LEAP IN THE DARK and DELIGHT IN THE UNKNOWN. These ideas are explored through interesting hypotheses and stories coupled with suggestions for further research and reading. CLOSE YOUR EYES TO SEE
EMPTY YOUR CUP • • • • • • • • •
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Beginner’s mind From control to trust Hold on to purpose and values Let go Say ‘I don’t know’ Entertain doubt Work with resistance Embodied ‘not knowing’ - ‘no mind’ Prepare the ground
• • • • • •
Observe - adopt a ‘travelling mindset’ Create space for silence Listen Challenge assumptions Challenge authority and expertise Question
DELIGHT IN CUP THE EMPTY YOUR UNKNOWN
LEAP IN THE DARK • •
• • • • • • • •
Improvise Generate multiple hypotheses (and hold multiple perspectives) Bring diverse voices together Take meaningful risk Explore Experiment Embrace mistakes Fail faster Ask ‘Why not’? Take responsibility
• • • • • • • •
Foolishness and play Humour Curiosity and creativity Boldness and vulnerability Compassion and empathy Solidarity Fluidity Anti-fragility
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GALLUS BOOK CLUB - NOT KNOWING
ANTI-FRAGILITY IS “BEYOND RESILIENCE OR ROBUSTNESS. THE RESILIENCE RESISTS SHOCKS AND STAYS THE SAME; ANTI-FRAGILE GETS BETTER” Nassim Nicholas Taleb
YOUR ‘NOT KNOWING’ JOURNEY The final chapters of the book are devoted to questions and experiments for the reader. A very comprehensive reference section at the rear of the book gives plenty of ideas for further exploration. Be willing to experience doubt and to be silent, patient and humble so that you can go beyond what you already know. “IT MAY BE THAT WHEN WE NO LONGER KNOW WHAT TO DO WE HAVE COME TO OUR REAL WORK, AND THAT WHEN WE NO LONGER KNOW WHICH WAY TO GO WE HAVE COME TO OUR REAL JOURNEY, THE MIND THAT IS NOT BAFFLED IS NOT EMPLOYED. THE IMPEDED STREAM IS ONE THAT SINGS”. Wendell Barry - The Real Work
Gallus build sustainable, high performance environments that everybody can believe in. With particular expertise in leadership capability and alignment, organisation design, business transformation and enterprise risk management, Gallus challenge assumptions, cultivate belief and drive positive change by making performance excellence systemic. An established business with Headquarters in Northampton, UK and offices in London, Manchester and Aberdeen, Gallus work with ambitious organisations across the world from a wide range of sectors. Find us at www.gallusconsulting.com or call +44(0)20 3751 6345.
JOIN THE GALLUS BOOK CLUB ON LINKED IN TO REVIEW AND DISCUSS RELEVANT, TOPICAL BUSINESS BOOKS WITH LIKE-MINDED INDIVIDUALS. EACH MONTH WE WILL CHOOSE (WITH MEMBERS INPUT) A BOOK TO REVIEW AND ONE LUCKY MEMBER OF THE GROUP WILL RECEIVE A COPY OF THE CHOSEN BOOK!
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