Building replicas, live updates on google maps and exploring the familiar. How might we be better problem-solvers?
Tags: Perspective; Heuristics; Collective Wisdom; T-Skils in Teams; Knowledge; Generalist Expert; Problem Solution; Ability Vs Diversity
When you notice something and really look at it, you observe details that initially may have been missed or overlooked. It may or may not interest you and as such, you will pay more or less attention. Now imagine you notice the same thing, but you have someone else in your company. They will likely be looking at exactly the same thing but will see it through their lens and therefor notice significantly different details. This is interesting, it’s exactly the same object but seen very differently by both observers. Finally, both observers might be observing from different vantage points and as such, will see the same thing but differently.
Now, rather than an object, imagine that we are looking at a complex performance problems. A team of practitioners and coaches thinking about the problem from their own vantage point bring diverse perspectives and heuristics (tools in our cognitive toolbox) that can offer more ideas and suggest more solutions.
Practitioners build detailed cognitive ‘replicas’ or ‘models’ in their mind. These models are developed over time, shaped, reshaped and crafted based on our experiences and purposeful learning. The more detailed the model, the more useful it is in making sense of our complex reality. When working in a team, it might be useful to share the models that you work through and explore differences and similarities. In doing so, we open up opportunities to share insight that can uncover significant learnings. Not unlike Google Maps and live updates, the more people updating the maps the greater the accuracy, in sharing our models and own personal mental maps, we open up opportunity to tapping into diverse perspectives and heuristics that can help us all to become collectively better.
Technical Model: (Build a replica)
- How detailed are the technical models that I use to observe and make sense of sporting skills or movement dysfunction?
- Could I make my technical models richer, deeper and thicker? If yes, how?
- When practitioners think of a technical model, why, how and when do they use them? and
- What is the purpose?
Mental Model (Observe it from different vantage points and where it fits on your map)
- Do you ever share your knowledge, approach or methods? Is this an embedded feature of your team and safe to do so?
- Within your discipline, or across disciplines – do you ever spend time exploring your mental models?
- What are the benefits and threats
Mental Maps: (Continue to update your map to increase its accuracy but be sure to share it as others might have been down roads you haven’t)
- Do you ever try to create spider graphs individually or as as a team to explore your mental models and look for connections between ‘structures’?
- When you delve into your models and explore your personal (or the teams) WHY; WHAT and HOW, does it create some new ‘landmarks’ on your map?
- Within or across teams, if you document your ‘maps’ does it highlight similarities, differences and opportunities?
As couple of individual and team tasks: (Explore the familiar)
- Explore technical models of critical ‘skills’ used by practitioners but through multiple lenses, its a great way to build and add to the the definition, richness and thickness of a technical model.
- Scenario based problem solving (think injury analysis, profiling and reduction strategies) is a great way to explore a teams shared mental models and mental maps. Through this, teams can develop greater insight, diverse perspectives and uncover a variety of heuristics that help new learning and solutions emerge to what might be familiar problems.
Real world application:
I remember one of my first dynamic profiling sessions that I carried out with a physiotherapist. We were looking at athletes arm abduction and observing this posteriorly. I was blind to significant dysfunction observed by the physiotherapist. To the trained eye, there was significant scapulae winging which could lead to a host of shoulder and back issues whilst creating some overhead contra-indications in programming. What a great learning opportunity, once I had fully explored this with my colleague it was like someone had given me a pair of x-ray specs, upgrading my observation and upgrading the way I thought about aspects of exercise prescription and programming.