People often solve problems using these same forms of reasoning (or mental models). Reframing techniques are thus of vital importance, because when individuals can consider different points of view, they are also able to reach different conclusions.
Reframing doesn’t focus on getting more information but rather on “rebooting” the mind with a different “operating system,” enabling it to reason through different perspectives. The result “overwrites” the tendency to which individuals are inclined, and in its place offers several alternatives.
From the point of view of neuroscience, reframing increases neuroplasticity, which makes neurons connect differently. Brain-imagery studies show how regions associated with learning and adaptation are activated while reframing.
Reframing doesn’t only change our perception of reality, but it also affects the way we recall memories. New ways of reasoning will interpret memories differently, which will shape our present behaviors and decisions. In short, we replace old stories with new ones, completely altering the frame, using a different lens, or observing life (or problems in this case) from a different angle.
Reframing makes it possible for anyone to reason as a customer who dislikes the brand, a manager of a competing brand, a team that doesn’t understand what’s happening, or someone indecisive as to whether to acquire your service. And reframing does this through lenses or from perspectives that do not inherently exist in those looking for a solution, nor in those surrounding them.
By reframing, everyone can use alternative lenses. Imagine thinking: “I will see the situation/problem this way. Now I will consider it from a point of view that challenges my assumptions. Next, I will look through a new lens and describe what I see and feel.”
A person can adapt to any number of lenses or points of view. Changing our perception of reality has important positive effects on a personal scale (our emotions), a social scale (how we connect with others), and on the culture of the company.
The following are the benefits of reframing:
Internally, reframing makes it possible to regulate emotions as it moderates the activation of the amygdalae.
Socially, reframing redefines how we interact and collaborate with others.
At a company level, reframing decreases the resistance to change.
In some cases, only two or three perspectives are used. For example, “Let’s put ourselves in the client’s shoes and try to think like them.” Even if the mind temporarily flips sides, it might still use the original values or principles to evaluate the situation. This not only limits learning, but it also restricts a person’s neuroplasticity and adaptability. This is what’s referred to as the “coin effect.”
Reframing techniques purposely employ varied perspectives during a single session to avoid this cognitive bias. A reframing session allows you to adopt several points of view, including some that might challenge your core values. This makes it possible to interpret the meaning of events and situations differently, with the bonus that a person can effectively regulate automatic reactions to emotionally charged experiences.
Further on I will share examples of how you can use reframing techniques in your day-to-day activities.
“Properly trained, a man can be dog’s best friend.”
Corey Ford (this is a great example of reframing)
I know from experience that many companies have a marked tendency to employ certain forms of reasoning. Because of this, reframing is crucial. Reframing makes it possible to increase adaptation, create new experiences, and help everyone understand different points of view, even when they are contrary to their own.
The clients I work with usually love reframing techniques. Once accustomed to applying them, they realize that thinking via diverse reasoning matters—very much.
Many change agents, coaches, and consultants struggle for months or even years to get managers to understand the importance of the Agile or Lean mindset. On many occasions, even after the managers have grasped it, they still succumb to pressure and go back to old habits.
This is because sustainable neural connections were not established, nor was the necessary learning internalized so that the behaviors changed in a sustainable way. I will present two reframing techniques so this doesn’t happen to you and your team.
The first, and simplest, is called Robinson Crusoe. This is useful in situations where people are exposed to emotionally charged events such as abrupt organizational change. The second, called Perceptual Position, requires more preparation but will enable people to add new points of view, even when the perspectives of a problem are notably biased. For this, I will share an activity specifically designed for use within a company.
The Robinson Crusoe Technique
Imagine that you are the cashier at a gas station. One morning, you are ready to help the first customers when an armed person approaches you. The armed individual demands that you hand over all the money. The person then makes the same demand of each customer and finally leaves without causing any injuries. You are traumatized and spend months mentally trapped within a situation that conditions all your future decisions.
Many people have experienced similar circumstances and have suffered for years because of them. Many have felt the need to change work because of the event. In situations such as these, the frame of thought is usually as follows:
THEFT = THREAT = EMOTIONS OF ANXIETY AND ANGER
Believe it or not, organizational change can be as aggressive to the brain as in the story above. Both might lead to not-very-positive emotional outcomes that condition attitudes, thoughts, memories, and future decisions. The day-to-day operation of a company might not completely resemble the previous story, but many situations do have a similar emotional charge.
In both cases, people react with fear and frustration, which is when the Robinson Crusoe technique offers a good starting point.
Being able to revisit an event with a different perspective will not change any facts, but it does make healthier emotions and conclusions possible.
Use the Robinson Crusoe technique in situations where people find it difficult to cope with a situation or when adding points of view is necessary because the existing options are negatively biased.
How to use the Robinson Crusoe technique:
Participants write fifteen to twenty lines describing a conflict situation or a scenario they are experiencing in the company. For the previous scenario, you would write something like this:
A theft is an unpleasant event.
The robbery made me feel helpless.
The event has been the most unpleasant I’ve had in the last 12 years.
Remembering the situation makes me angry and anxious.
The situation made me feel useless.
Once done, direct them to add “BUT” at the end of each sentence and continue with something positive from a personal point of view. During the first few minutes, participants might find it difficult to change focus, but they will gradually complete each sentence with greater ease.
A theft is an unpleasant event BUT it’s an opportunity for a person with my ambition to have a better life.
The theft made me feel helpless BUT helped me see that the support of my coworkers is really sincere.
The event has been the most unpleasant I’ve had in the last twelve years BUT the probability of it happening again is really low. It could have happened anywhere!
Remembering the situation makes me angry and anxious BUT it also helps me rethink my priorities in life and focus on those things that really matter.
The situation made me feel useless BUT taught me to stay calm in emotional and highly stressed contexts.
The first statement is particularly disruptive because it connects the participant’s values with the thief’s, but even the most difficult experiences provide a seed for something more valuable. Each statement redirects our att
ention toward a new point of view, allowing the brain to generate new emotions and neural connections.
Robinson Crusoe is a simple technique that can be used with groups, in coaching sessions, or even individually.
Using the Perceptual Position Technique
The second reframing technique requires more preparation, but it’s useful to establish the foundation for a contagious change. This technique will enable people to use different perspectives when a problem has no apparent solution.
Allow me to share a classic story that illustrates the potential cost of solving a situation using other forms of reasoning.
In New York, occupants of a multistory office building complained constantly about the elevator service. Wait time at peak hours was excessively long, and tenants were threatening to terminate their leases and move to a nearby building.
Management authorized urgent work to determine the best solution to the problem. The outcomes revealed that no engineering solution would be economically feasible because of the age of the property and the available technology. The engineers told the bosses that they’d have to live with the problem.
The desperate manager called a staff meeting. Among the attendees was a recent graduated in psychology, and this young man brought a different lens to the meeting.
When giving ideas, the new member did not focus on the speed of the elevators, as other staff and tenants were doing. Instead, he focused on the fact that people were getting bored because of the wait. He suggested installing mirrors in the elevator access areas so that everyone would have something to entertain themselves with. He suggested the mirrors be placed inside the elevators as well. The company adopted the suggestion and started changing the elevators. The low cost of the change was an added bonus.
To everyone’s surprise, the complaints stopped and the problem was solved—and now you know why so many elevators have mirrors.
This case of reframing occurred naturally because someone in the room took a completely different perspective.
Use the Perceptual Position technique to encourage people to face various problems and to solve them through different perspectives.
For a reframing session, you’ll need a group of two to eight people, at least two hours, and room to move around. First, create ten to twenty phrases that represent different perspectives. Have them ready before the session. The following are some examples:
Someone who wants to benefit from this situation
A team member of a supplier company
An incredibly successful entrepreneur who always speaks very directly
The captain of a ship
The competitor’s general manager
Someone who wishes stability for the company
An employee, one month away from retirement
A child
Someone who likes giving advice
Someone who wants to learn more about how to solve the problem
A person who only cares about what is earned in the short term
Someone seeking to reinforce his own interest
A high-stakes risk-taker
Someone who wishes to reaffirm the company’s values
A comedian who wants to rewrite the problem in a more comical way
Someone who lives in a parallel reality where the situation doesn’t exist and wants to know what’s at stake
A writer of suspense or poetry
A time traveler who works in the company in 2030 and wants to teach us what he has learned
An extremely traditional person
A fictional character like Superman, Donald Duck or Cinderella (include your favorite)
Someone who speaks only in metaphors
The Little Prince (Lesson of the story: all that’s essential is invisible to the eye)
Gather the team in a room and write as much information as possible about the problem in no more than five or six lines. For example:
“Seven of the twenty software teams in our company belong to a strategic partner. Each of our thirteen teams has specific roles and some of them are scarce. Several of the strategic partner roles are occasionally required on the company’s teams. The partner doesn’t allow people from their teams to be part of the company’s teams. Within the next six months, the organization wants their teams to have access to all the necessary knowledge while maintaining the current speed of delivery.”
Provide a card to each participant with the key questions (see below). Give them a few minutes to reflect and talk using their personal points of view.
KEY QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT
What is my view of (the situation)?
What are my values?
The situation makes me feel the following three positive emotions: . . .
What progress/improvement helps me achieve this situation?Think of progress in the following terms:
Functional (what I do)
Emotional (what I feel)
Social (how I interact)
If I keep thinking and feeling this way, what personal reality will be created with this situation? If the scenario has not become a reality yet, would I like it to become a reality?
What would you ask if you were using the selected point of view?
Next, hand out a new perspective for each participant and provide five to eight minutes for them to discover the values and points of view so they can feel as much as possible like that person.
They can jot down ideas, draw sketches, or do anything they feel is appropriate to express their thoughts under the new perspective. When time is up, ask them to introduce themselves as their character. It’s important that they adopt their character’s values, especially if they are different from their own. They should move and even imitate the actions and voice of their character, but in no case should they make fun of them or be sarcastic.
They’ll have fifteen to twenty minutes to discuss the problem from that perspective, point out the benefits, and offer different solutions. Optionally, you can give them five to ten minutes at the end to reflect on the positive points learned from that new point of view. Just remember to manage the time, because the goal is to try out as many points of view as possible.
As participants go through the different perspectives, capture the “social math” of the activity, with the central idea reflecting the new way of thinking/framing (its essence).
For example:
(PERSPECTIVE) The general manager of the competition: The employees from your company are lazy, and they’ll never have multifunctional teams like us.
(PERSPECTIVE) An incredibly successful businessman who always speaks very directly: There is no leadership in the company and that will make it impossible to change our contracts with suppliers.
(PERSPECTIVE) Someone who wants to obtain benefit from this situation: My way of thinking helps the company, and promotion in the company is what should be prioritized.
Along the way, you can ask questions, ask for opinions, pose situations, or do anything you consider useful for participants to practice with the new perspective. Try to have participants practice with at least eight or nine different perspectives—the more the better. You may need more time or more than one session.
The last part should take at least fifteen minutes. At this stage, ask each participant to consider the “social math” notes you took. They should choose, write, and share two perspectives they feel they hadn’t considered at the beginning of the meeting and that could be useful in their daily work.
Steps from this point on will largely depend on your company’s situation. One option is for the participants to commit to using the points of view selected in the session during the coming weeks. You could also have them take a perspective at future meetings and use it when making decisions. For either case, it’ll be useful to hold another session to understand their progress and how the
practice has helped participants use different points of view.
The goal of the reframing process is to pause our regular neural wiring and progressively redirect our attention toward a point of view that sets in motion new ways of thinking and reasoning, as well as different ways to interact.
Participants should adopt as many points of view as possible. If you encounter a lot of resistance within your team, start with a smaller group and with participants willing to try something new to improve the group.
Finally, you can change and adapt the technique as you see fit. The more points of view your team can practice, the better the result will be.
Exponential Strategy
Digital companies require a different DNA to help them adapt correctly if their business goes from growing 10 percent per year to 10^2. This implies not only scaling processes, but also the technology and the culture of the organization. To achieve this, it’s of great help to use computer tools and technologies, but also to have new ways of working, learning, engaging employees, and interacting with clients.
“It’s not enough to receive support, no matter how needed it may be. It’s fundamental to know how to receive this support and to ensure that its result is exponential.”
Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, East Timorese politician.
Leading Exponential Change Page 15
