Group polarization and professional communities

Psychologist David G. Myers (photo) gave an interesting answer to this year's Edge question which was: "What is your favorite deep, elegant of beautiful explanation?" Meyers mentioned the phenomenon of Group Polarization which can be summarized as: Interaction in groups of kindred spirits tends to amplify people's initial inclinations. In isolation from moderating influences, group interaction becomes a social amplifier. This phenomenon might explain why people who 'self-segregate' around certain values or views may radicalize and, in extreme cases, form sects or terrorist groups. (Read Meyer's piece here). What I wonder is what group polarization means for professional communities.

Written solution-focused coaching conversation

Today, in a training of solution-focused coaches, I invited them to do an exercise in which they did a written solution-focused coaching conversation. The idea behind this exercise was to focus on two things which help make solution-focused coaching conversations effective:

1. Text-focus: solution-focused coaches listen carefully to their clients and use their key words. They don't change the words of their clients and don't read between the lines. 
2. Go-slow: solution-focused coaches make sure that clients are never rushed and have all the time they need to think and to express their thoughts. 

The exercise went as follows:

Exercise: what have you become good at?

On this site you have often seen references to Carol Dweck's work on mindset (see this post, which, coincidentally, is one of this site's most popular posts ever). Here is a little exercise on the growth mindset. You may use it for your own benefit or you may use it to introduce the mindset concept to other people.

Exercise: what have you become good at?
It often happens that people become good at something which they once thought they would never be able to become good at. They did not expect to become competent or knowledgeable but they did. Please take a moment to think of something at which you used to be incompetent but at which you  now are competent. Take a moment to think and write down your answers to the following questions to help you reflect on how you have managed to become competent at that activity.

Computer programs to assist people in expressing apology and getting to forgiveness

Guest post by Ben Furman 

In the US, medical doctors have been advised for years by lawyers not apologize if patients complained about them. An apology, the lawyers used to explain, indicates admission of culpability and acts as invitation for a malpractice lawsuit. Massachusetts was the first State to adopt what is called an apology law in the mid 80s. It is a law that stipulates that an apology made by a medical practitioner to a patient may not be used against the practitioner in the court of law. Apology laws, which give legal permission for doctors to apologise to patients for their mistakes, have since been passed in most States in USA. It has been estimated that such laws have brought huge savings to the medical establishment through reducing the number of malpractice suits, increasing the number of resolved cases and decreasing the amount of moneys paid in compensation.

Apology is strong medicine. It impacts human relationships and contributes to psychological well being of both the victim and the perpetrator. It restores harmony by suspending anger and resentment. The positive psychology movement has convinced most of us that forgiveness is not only beneficial for resolving conflicts but actually an essential ingredient of human happiness.

How solution-focused is the SMART approach?

Nick Bernett wrote me an e-mail saying he doubts whether the SMART approach to goal setting fits with the solution-focused approach and he asked me what I think about this. Here are my thoughts.

What is SMART? In case you haven't heard about SMART, here is a brief explanation about what it is. SMART is an acronym which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound. Over time, quite a few alternative words have been suggested for these letters and also a few extensions of the acronym with a few letters but for our discussion let's keep things simple here and stick to the original (as far as I know) and simple form. SMART as a tool probably emerged from the management by objectives (MBO) approach which emphasized the importance a process of defining objectives within an organization so that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what they need to do in the organization. SMART is often seen as a handy tool to help managers and employees to agree on effective goals.

Solution-Focused Coaching & Positive Outcomes

I have written a guest post on Paolo Terni's blog:

Solution-focused principles and techniques, orginally developed in psychotherapy, have found their way into coaching, over the last decade. While an evidence base of solution-focused brief therapy is beginning to come off the ground, little research is done on the effectiveness of solution-focused coaching (one researcher who is already doing interesting research in this area is Anthony Grant). It is important that an evidence base on solution-focused coaching is built, too. Individual clients, client organizations and society at large rightfully demand that solution-focused professionals not only discover things that work but also justify what they do by scientifically testing their claims.

Standard effectiveness research approaches involve randomized controlled experiments in which the treatment of interest is compared with a reference approach and a control group. A recent review summarizes this type of coaching research, which is still in its infancy. While this approach is indispensable it is not the only useful approach and it is not without weaknesses. For one thing, this type of research requires the existence of generally accepted definitions of the treatments (coaching procedures) that are researched. This type of research comparing coaching approaches does say something about the relative effectiveness of these approaches but does not say much about the relative contribution of the constituent elements of these approaches because these are not examined separately in these types of experiments but in combination with each other.

Read the full post here

Challenging genetic determinism

I have written a few posts before about how the old view of genetic and environmental influence on behavior isn't valid. In Bye bye genetic determinism I wrote about Chapter 2 of David Shenk's The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong. It said that the popular conception of the gene as a simple and powerful causal agent is not valid and should be replaced by a new interactionist model which describes the role of genes more accurately is briefly summarized as 'GxE'. In Exit genetic determinism: example of genes-environment interaction I summarized a dramatic demonstration of this genes-environment interaction which dates back to 1958 when researchers Rod Cooper and John Zubek did an experiment with rats.

As Carol Dweck has demonstrated frequently, self-beliefs have important consequences. Likewise, what we believe about how genes and environments shape our behavior is important. Is it so that important characteristics of people are 1) primarily cause by our genes, 2) primarily caused by environmental influences? 3) partly by genes and partly by environments, or 4) by a complex interaction of genes and environments?

A new book, Challenging Genetic Determinism. New Perspectives on the Gene in its Multiple Environments, reports on advances in genetic research. Here are some quotes from the book:

20 Quotes from the Edge Question 2012

This year, Edge asks the following question: "What is your favorite deep, elegant, or beautiful explanation?" 181 Elite thinkers answered the question. Here are 25 quotes I selected from what they wrote. Which quote do you like best and why?

1. We want to know what the world is really like, but we want it in a form that fits our intuitions. A form that means something. And for our narrative-driven brains, meaning comes in the form of stories, stories about things. I doubt we'll ever stop telling stories about how the universe works, and I, for one, am glad. We just have to remember not to mistake the stories for reality. ~ Amanda Gefter
2. Imitation in humans is widespread and often automatic. It is important for learning and transmission of culture. We tend to align our movements (and even words!) during social interactions without even realizing it.~ Marco Iacoboni

Micro-analysis: showing the details of how the solution-focused approach makes change happen

Guest post by Paolo Terni, solution-focused coach in Sacramento, San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA

One of the key principles of Solution-Focus practice is that “The Action is in the Inter-Action”, as Mark McKergow and Paul Z Jackson brilliantly put it. Which means that we “co-construct” meaning and solutions in the interaction. But how? This is where microanalysis comes in. Pioneered and extensively used by Janet Beavin Bavelas and her research group at the University of Victoria, microanalysis is defined as “the detailed and reliable examination of observable communication sequences as they proceed, moment by moment, in the dialogue”.

Instructors with a fixed mindset more likely to comfort and demotivate struggling students

“It's ok - not everyone can be good at math”: Instructors with an entity theory comfort (and demotivate) students

By Aneeta Rattan, Catherine Good, and Carol S. Dweck

Abstract: Can comforting struggling students demotivate them and potentially decrease the pool of students pursuing math-related subjects? In Studies 1–3, instructors holding an entity (fixed) theory of math intelligence more readily judged students to have low ability than those holding an incremental (malleable) theory. Studies 2–3 further revealed that those holding an entity (versus incremental) theory were more likely to both comfort students for low math ability and use “kind” strategies unlikely to promote engagement with the field (e.g., assigning less homework). Next, we explored what this comfort-oriented feedback communicated to students, compared with strategy-oriented and control feedback (Study 4). Students responding to comfort-oriented feedback not only perceived the instructor's entity theory and low expectations, but also reported lowered motivation and lower expectations for their own performance. This research has implications for understanding how pedagogical practices can lock students into low achievement and deplete the math pipeline.

Six ways solution focus speeds up organizational change (Guest Post)

Guest Post by Alan Kay, The Glasgow Group

What are the practicalities of solution focused organizational change? Working with them for over 12 years using the solution focus framework at center of my client offering demonstrates why it’s one of the best ways to help organizations make progress on change. This thinking applies to all organizations and all functions therein…from bankers to children’s aid, from actuaries to architects.

1. Solution Focus asks, it does not tell. The consultant does not present the solution – the client arrives at the change via the consultant’s better questions 

Why? I tell clients they know what to do, it’s just not clear to them because they’ve become muddled in their thinking through problem focus in both strategic and tactical discussions. Solution focus pares away the non-productive discussion, helps understand what they want to be better (vs. the problem). 

"In business we all know we have problems, but it is progress on the problems we need. Solution Focus is very effective at getting people to think and act on the right things, the possible solutions. It is a wonderful tool at getting people unstuck and making progress happen." ~ Tim Hammond, General Manager, Fuel 

Intelligence: New findings and theoretical developments

Intelligence: New findings and theoretical developments

By Richard Nisbett, Joshua Aronson, Clancy Blair, William Dickens, James Flynn, Diane Halpern, and Eric Turkheimer

American Psychologist, Jan 2 , 2012

We review new findings and new theoretical developments in the field of intelligence. New findings include the following: (a) Heritability of IQ varies significantly by social class. (b) Almost no genetic polymorphisms have been discovered that are consistently associated with variation in IQ in the normal range. (c) Much has been learned about the biological underpinnings of intelligence. (d) “Crystallized” and “fluid” IQ are quite different aspects of intelligence at both the behavioral and biological levels. (e) The importance of the environment for IQ is established by the 12-point to 18-point increase in IQ when children are adopted from working-class to middle-class homes. (f) Even when improvements in IQ produced by the most effective early childhood interventions fail to persist, there can be very marked effects on academic achievement and life outcomes.

Can Everyone Become Highly Intelligent?

Can Everyone Become Highly Intelligent? Cultural Differences in and Societal Consequences of Beliefs about the Universal Potential for Intelligence

by Krishna Savani, Aneeta Rattan, N. V. R. Naidu, and Carol S. Dweck (2011)

Abstract: We identify a novel dimension of people’s beliefs about intelligence: beliefs about the potential to become highly intelligent. Studies 1-3 found that in U.S. American contexts, people tend to believe that only some people have the potential to become highly intelligent. In contrast, in South Asian Indian contexts, people tend to believe that most people have the potential to become highly intelligent. To examine the implications of these beliefs, Studies 4-6 measured and manipulated Americans’ beliefs about the potential for intelligence and found that the belief that everyone can become highly intelligent predicted increased support for policies that distribute resources more equally across advantaged and disadvantaged social groups. These findings suggest that the belief that only some people have the potential to become highly intelligent is a culturally shaped belief, one that can lead people to oppose policies aimed at redressing social inequality. Read more

On the question of whether we have free will

I don't know what to think about the topic of free will. Sam Harris argues, in his new book Free Will (which I haven't read; it will come out in March), that free will does not exist. Biologist Jerry Coyne agrees. In his column Why you don't really have free will he says that while we feel like we have free will, we actually do not. He also says that there's not much downside to abandoning the notion of free will and a few important upsides. One of the upsides he mentions is that it will become much easier to empathize with other people once we realize that their behavior is caused by genes and environments, not by free will.

Bètacoach: promising project to improve math education

Recently someone told me about a promising and innovative project (named Bètacoach) by Monique Pijls (photo) a Dutch math teacher and consultant. The project is aimed at improving math education (in The Netherlands, the exact subjects are sometimes called 'bèta subjects') . I find this project interesting because I think improving math education is important and because the project seems to have some solution-focused characteristics.

What is your top 3 of philosophers who have paved the way for the solution-focused approach?

Just for fun and for learning a bit: If you had to name a top 3 of philosophers who have importantly influenced and paved the way for the solution-focused approach, which three philosophers would you choose to be in that top 3 and why?

Here are your top three's here:

A few questions for the new year

1. What went well in 2010? 
2. What did you do that you are you proud of?  
3. What would you like to be different? 
4. How would you like next year to become? 
5. What would you like to try differently? 
6. How would you like your future to become?

Mini Survey about what solution-focused coaches do

Mini Survey about what solution-focused coaches do - The purpose of this mini-survey is to learn what solution-focused coaches do and do not do. Would you please participate so that you can help us? If you are personal or a business coach we ask you to answer the questions below. This will probably take you about 5 - 10 minutes. Go to the survey.

When you become good at something

Often, when you become good at something, your 'reward' is that you're asked to do more of that activity so you'd better find interesting what you try to become good at.

Top 15 posts of 2011

As an end-of-year tradition here is a list of what I think are this year's best posts. This year I wrote fewer posts on this blog than in previous years. While, of course, I can't objectively say how interesting and useful this year's posts were, I can say that some of the posts I wrote this year belong to my favorite things I have ever written. I learned a lot thinking and writing about these topics and by reading your comments. I am glad that you, reader, appear to have found some of them useful and interesting, too. If you want to let me know what your favorite post was, that would be nice.

What I think were this year's best posts:

The map is not the territory

In my posts Objective reality as an asymptote and On truth: we can distinguish between false and falser (and discussions that followed those posts - mainly in my LinkedIn group) I shared my views on the difference between reality and our interpretation of it.

Summarizing my thinking about this: I argue against: 1) saying that reality does not exist, 2) saying that reality is unknowable to us, 3) saying that we should not bother trying to refine our understanding of reality, 4) saying that there is no sense in trying to distinguish between the validity of one truth claim and another, and 5) calling one's view on the world 'one's truth' (and therefore saying that everyone has his own truth and that everyone's truth is equally valid).

10 Tips to make your written communication more solution-focused

A manager asked me how solution-focused principles and techniques may be applied in e-mails and written proposals. An interesting and important question. Solution-focused practice is usually primarily associated with oral conversations but there is no reason why it could not be used in written communication as well. Here are some suggestions off-the-cuff to make your written communication a bit more solution-focused:

1. Make it useful by asking in advance what the other person's expectations are from your text. It may sound counter-intuitive but you can just ask your clients what they would like your proposal to look like, how lengthy it should be, and what elements it should contain. 
2. Make it simple: make your words, sentences and structure no more complicated than strictly necessary. Writing a simple text may seem easy but it usually isn't. It often requires more time and attention. But simple and clearly structured texts are more easily understood by readers and more pleasant to read. 

A tripartite taxonomy for teaching, measuring and conceptualising solutionfocused approaches to coaching

By Anthony M. Grant

Solution-focused approaches to facilitating purposeful positive change through methodologies such as coaching have great potential to contribute to the broader human change enterprise. To date there has been limited exposition of psychological theory within the solution-focused arena, and few attempts to articulate taxonomies specific to solution-focused research, teaching and practice, thus restricting the development and broader adoption of the solution-focused paradigm. Drawing on the established solution-focused literature, this paper seeks to address this issue by articulating a tripartite taxonomy for solution-focused coaching based on the framework underpinning the Solution-Focused Inventory. This model consists of three factors: (a) Goal-orientation; (b) Resource Activation; and (c) Problem Disengagement – subscales of the Solution- Focused Inventory. Implications of this taxonomy for teaching, research and practice are discussed and a range of future directions for research explored.

Source: The Coaching Psychologist Volume 7 No 2 December 2011, p98-106

Testing the Association between Solution-Focused Coaching and Client Perceived Coaching Outcomes

Visser, C.F. (2011). Testing the Association between Solution-Focused Coaching and Client Perceived Coaching Outcomes. InterAction 3 (2), 9-27

This paper describes a survey study into the association between SF behaviours of coaches and clients perceived coaching outcomes. A web-based survey was administered with 200 clients of coaches. The survey consisted of a list of 28 coach behaviours, 14 of which were SF behaviours and 14 of which were behaviours SF coaches would avoid. Clients were also asked to describe on several dimensions how effective the coaching had been. SF coach behaviours were strongly positively associated with positive coaching outcomes. Non-SF coach behaviours were moderately negatively associated with positive coaching outcomes. A multiple regression analysis was done, which gave insight into which specific coach behaviours were predictive of coaching success. The paper closes with some reflections on the implications of this study and with suggestions for followup research.

Read full article (draft)

Objective reality as an asymptote

To my post On truth: we can distinguish between false and falser, I received several responses. One response contained the following statement: "For what I understand of radical constructivism (thinking I am one), reality is not denied (this is another thing). It's just that "true reality" cannot be objectively known, for there's always a subject looking at it, either directly or through devices (scientific apparels). So, any view of reality is true in and for itself. Yet, that doesn't prevent people from talking about their differing views and coming to a consensus to what true reality (or reality "out there" as constructivists say) probably is. When everybody though Earth was flat, so it was. Yet, someday, someone experimented (and measured) that it was spherical. (personal) experience grounded that belief and we yet have to find someone who can prove that Earth is flat again (or cubic). So we trust that to such a high level that we relinquish doubt and consider that the earth reality out there is indeed spherical."

Here are my thoughts on this: I would not say "any view of reality is true in and for itself". I think any view may seem/feel true but this different (I think) from whether it actually is (or to which extent is actually is). In the same vein, instead of saying "When everybody thought Earth was flat, so it was.", I would say "Although everybody thought Earth was flat, it actually wasn't." Although it may have not mattered much to most people whether or not it was flat, and they may have treated the earth's supposed flatness as truth. This, however, did not reflect the reality of the shape of the earth which wasn't flat.

On diagnostics in personnel selection

David Creelman will soon publish an article on the use of diagnostics in personnel decisions. In it, he points at some problems with formal diagnostic tools. He argues that organizations should always use formal tools in combination with informal tools. I'll link to the article when it's online. Meanwhile, David asked me for my views on the use of diagnostics in personnel management and here is what I said:

On truth: we can distinguish between false and falser

Yesterday, I received an interesting reaction to my post Two dimensions of rationality: "Isn't SF based on constructivism? I may be too radical, but in this case that would mean that there's no such a thing as "what's true" (more precisely: what's true is unknowable for any kind of knowledge is constructed into one's own mind). So, it boils down to "what works" and "what you experienced as true" (meaning that someone else may have experienced something differently, being "true" on different points or even "false" from their point of view)."

My response is: "Thank you for your reaction. Yes, one of the main inspirations for the people who originally formulated SF was social constructivism / social constructionism, which were popular philosophical perspectives in those days. These knowledge theories consider how social phenomena or objects of consciousness develop in social contexts. Some people, inspired by these ideas think that objective reality is not knowable for us. Others have even said that objective reality does not exist. The latter people may say that there is not one truth but there are many truths or they may reject the whole notion of truth and reality.

Two dimensions of rationality

In his book What Intelligence Tests Miss: The Psychology of Rational Thought, Keith Stanovich explains how cognitive psychologists define rationality. They distinguish two basic forms of rationality: 1) instrumental rationality, behaving in such a way that you achieve what you want, and 2) epistemic rationality, taking care that your beliefs correspond with the actual structure of the world.

At the risk of simplyfying too much, instrumental rationality seems to be about doing what works and epistemic rationality is concerned with truth and refers to seeing reality for what it is. It seems to be a pitfall to overlook any of these two rationalities. Two undesirable situations may happen:

A.    Only focusing on what is true but forgetting to do what works may lead to your neglecting to do things that help you to survive and remain connected to other people. In extreme cases this may lead to a situation in which your questioning dominant false beliefs may threaten governing institutions so much that they may want to isolate you or worse (for example think of Copernicus and Socrates).

B.    Only focusing on doing what works but neglecting the what is true question may lead to you moving efficiently through a web of falsity distancing you more and more from reality. In extreme cases it may lead to such pragmatism that individuals may gradually go along with and adapt to situations which systematically undermine human thriving of themselves or others (such as joining a religious sect). 

Thinking about this, I thought of visualizing this as follows:

Do recent publications prove Anders Ericsson and colleagues wrong about the importance of deliberate practice? No.

About deliberate practice
I have written much about deliberate practice. Researchers have demonstrated there is a lack of evidence for the claim that natural ability is the main factor behind top performance. They have found out that what is crucial instead is the amount of time the individual has practiced and the specific way in which he or she has practiced (read more about deliberate practice here and here). Recently, two articles were published on the relative importance of deliberate practice and 'talent' for achieving high levels of performance. First, there was Deliberate Practice Is Necessary but Not Sufficient to Explain Individual Differences in Piano Sight-Reading Skill by E. Meinz and D. Hambrick. Second, there was Deliberate Practice: Necessary But Not Sufficient by G. Campitelli and F. Gobet. Do these articles shed a new light on how important deliberate practice is? Do they call for a return to the idea that innate abilities are, in the end, more important? Did these authors prove Anders Ericsson et al. wrong? No. I'll explain why.

9 Solution-focused starting points of organizational change

Recently, I've posted some starting points of solution-focused organizational change. Here they are:

1. Congruence of implementation approach: the change is credible if the way in which the change is implemented fits with what needs to be accomplished.- Congruence between change content and change implementation approach 
2. Congruence of facilitation style: external facilitation by a coach or consultant is credible if it fits with what needs to be accomplished. - How to establish congruence as an external solution-focused expert 
3. Communicate rationales: Change is credible and acceptable when careful attention is paid to explaining the reasons behind goals, rules and decisions in terms of specific expected advantages. - The importance of communicating rationales in organizational change