3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Counterintuitive Thinking
Persuasion Paradox, Dilbert Principle & Antifragility
I. Persuasion Paradox
The Persuasion Paradox refers to a situation in which we try to convince someone of a viewpoint but end up achieving the opposite effect. Here’s Reva Patwardhan, founder of the Dialogue Lab, on why this is the case:
The more singularly focused we are on convincing or persuading, the less effective we become as messengers for our values.
The solution? Listen more, ask questions and let people convince themselves.
When you let go of trying to convince anyone of anything, you are free to speak and do what you feel needs to be said and done. Your words and actions resonate with authenticity and integrity. And right there is your power to make an impact.
Or, as philosopher Alan Watts put it: “The more you give it away the more it comes back.”
II. Dilbert Principle
The Dilbert Principle is a satirical management concept coined by Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert Comics. Adams explained the idea in his eponymous book:
The basic concept of the Dilbert Principle is that the most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.
—Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle
It’s a variation of the Peter Principle; the idea that in a hierarchy everyone rises to the level of their incompetence.
III. Antifragility
Former risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb is known for his thought-provoking and counterintuitive ideas. Taleb coined the term Antifragility:
Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.
―Nassim Taleb, Antifragile
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and co-author Greg Lukianoff picked up the idea to critique how children tend to be raised nowadays. They invoke the example of rising peanut allergies in the U.S. The cause turned out to be parents trying to keep their kids safe by not giving them peanuts in the first place.
The foolishness of overprotection is apparent as soon as you understand the concept of antifragility. Given that risks and stressors are natural, unavoidable parts of life, parents and teachers should be helping kids develop their innate abilities to grow and learn from such experiences. There’s an old saying: “Prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child.” But these days, we seem to be doing precisely the opposite: we’re trying to clear away anything that might upset children, not realizing that in doing so, we’re repeating the peanut-allergy mistake.
—Haidt & Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind
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Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com