Cognitive flexibility, a key in the face of complexity

Our decisions believe themselves to be rational, but are inevitably based on a partial view of reality. We interpret the world through thought patterns that filter information, organize our perceptions and shape our choices. These mental frameworks, as they are called in cognitive science, are indispensable to us: by enabling us to sort and organize our perceptions, they prevent us from being submerged by an unmanageable flood of data.

Our mental frameworks are not neutral: they influence our way of thinking and acting, often in an unconscious manner. Thus, in order to approach certain choices requiring a trade-off between different priorities—innovation or profitability, for example—, one manager may be motivated by feedback that predisposes them to privilege the choices’ clarity, while another will have the reflex to seek a middle ground aimed at reconciling these two issues. In both cases, this influence is generally exerted unconsciously.

The main limitation of mental frameworks is that they remain fixed even when the environment is transformed. For instance, an executive risks underestimating the impact of a disruptive innovation if it does not correspond to the criteria for success that they have forged for themselves from situations observed throughout their career. Strategic errors related to the rigidity of mental frameworks are frequent. Ron Johnson, a brilliant strategist at Apple and Target, failed at JC Penney by transposing there what he had learned elsewhere. Nokia lost its lead by overestimating the durability of the appeal of physical keyboards. In both cases, the difficulty of getting one’s thought patterns to evolve prevented the anticipation of a new reality.

Knowing how to adapt one’s mental frameworks is a valuable skill, which is becoming essential in a world in which one must be able to respond to requirements that seem irreconcilable. It is of course not a question of abandoning one’s bearings, but of learning to identify their biases, of exploring other modes of reasoning and of navigating between several mental frameworks according to the situation.

In this synopsis, discover how to loosen your thought patterns to better deal with complexity and turn it into a lever for innovation, resilience and more informed decision-making.

In this synopsis:
– Four risk situations in which to be wary of your reasoning
– Managing contradictory demands without exhausting yourself
– Five techniques to renew your perspective on situations