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Holographic Thinking

E pluribus unum (Out of many, one)

—MOTTO ON THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES

THE GOAL OF HOLOGRAPHIC THINKING

In my experience everyone at a meeting has something of value to contribute, and when you put it all together, you get something greater. Take your index finger and put it six inches in front of your nose. Close your right eye and look at your finger. Now open it and close your left eye and look at your finger. Now go back and forth a few times: right eye, left eye, right eye, left eye. Isn’t it incredible that your finger seems to move? Each of your eyes sees from a different point of view. Imagine them arguing over whose point of view is correct—which is absurd because they are both correct. When your brain puts the two different points together, it allows you to see in three dimensions.

Everyone is right from his or her point of view because, by definition, a point of view is limited. It includes only so much and leaves a lot out. Just as the integration of the unique points of view of your two eyes enables you to see in three dimensions, the integration of people’s different points of view on any subject creates what I call Holographic Thinking. When groups get to a Holographic Thinking state, they arrive at an understanding of the subject that is greater and more detailed and that takes into account more factors than any one person can be aware of. Holographic Thinking produces higher-quality ideas and solutions. And it does so quickly, so you can meet less and do more.

The uniqueness of people’s points of view is based on their personal life experience, their professional orientation, and where they might be in the Lens of Understanding. For example, a pharmaceutical company I have worked with has meetings to discuss a new drug. Scientists, marketing people, administrators, and lawyers attend these meetings. These people look at the drug differently based on their professional orientations.

The more quickly and more completely you get everyone in a meeting to see everyone else’s point of view, the better able you will be to avoid conflict and generate higher-quality ideas that are inclusive of many factors. Differing points of view and unwillingness to integrate them are one of the major sources of conflict at meetings. When a process is in place that integrates points of view, it bypasses conflict and misunderstanding, which in turn makes meetings shorter, more productive, and even fun.

I was on the board of directors of a national association. The board was discussing a membership issue. I suggested, “If our customers are not doing business with us, maybe we are not appealing to their needs and we should do a survey to find out what they really want from us.”

The executive director, Betsy, said, “That’s a great idea!”

I told her I would write a draft survey and get it to her by Friday for her input, and she could send it out the next week.

She was shocked, “Next week!? It will take months to figure out how to do a proper survey and months to do the statistical analysis.”

I said, “Months!? We needed this information at the last board meeting. You are describing a process that will take us beyond the next board meeting.”

Notice that we are looking at performing the survey from two different points of view. In terms of the Lens of Understanding, I am in Get it done mode. “I’ll write it up and get it out next week.” She is in Get it right mode. “Study how to do it properly for months.” Whose point of view is correct? They both are. Each of us can easily make a convincing logical case as to the need to have the information quickly or the need to make sure it is done accurately.

If we have no flexibility to understand each other, we both go into our stress behaviors, trying to convince the other and/or the group as to the rightness of our point of view. That can lead to an argument, which is really nothing more than two people simultaneously thinking they are right and needing very badly to be understood, but at that moment no one is able to do it. Doing that over a period of time leads to polarization, in which you start with the premise that you are right to the exclusion of other points of view, which you automatically oppose.

Meetings can quickly degenerate into camps of your allies and adversaries over contentious issues. If someone “wins” by getting the group to vote according to his or her point of view, it will be at the expense of others. Perhaps I could have persuaded the board to move forward quickly, but some of the important details that Betsy was paying attention to would be lost—not to mention how Betsy might feel about my power play with the board and how that will affect our future interactions together.

But wait, there’s more. Passive people at a meeting may resent the assertive people for pushing their point of view, but they aren’t willing to fight for what they believe. And though the “winners” may have gotten their way this time, they will be made to pay later as the “losing” side doesn’t get mad but gets even.

In the example of the board of directors, the hologram about the survey comes from finding a balance between Get it done and Get it right through the integration of the differing points of view. Thankfully, we both had enough consciousness and flexibility to know this. Betsy said, “You’re right, we can’t wait months for this information.” And I said, “You’re right, if we are going to invest our time and resources, we’d better do it correctly.” Now you have two people approaching an issue from different points of view not as adversaries but as allies. Betsy agreed that it needed to be done before the next board meeting in six weeks. I agreed with her that it needed to be done properly. We wasted no time in polarization and owned both intentions. That freed our energy and focus to figure out a way to do it correctly in the necessary time frame. I was pushing it forward, and she was making sure all details were covered. Because we approached it as team members, we got it done right, and the survey was a success.

If you think of this like a team sport, depending on the position you play, you have different primary responsibilities. One person’s primary responsibility may be defense (as a goalie) whereas another’s is offense (as a forward), but they are both on the same team and in it together. Each is playing his or her part to the best of his or her ability. When integrated with team members doing the same, this produces a winning result.

So it is with people at meetings. As time went on with the board of directors, I usually played the Get it done position and Betsy played the Get it right position, making sure all the important details were covered. However, every once in a while, on a particular subject, we would completely reverse roles, and I would be the one paying attention to the details while she drove it forward. What that produced was an effective team that could get things done right!

If people polarize in adversarial stances, the consequences are the following:

1.  Conflict at the meeting.

2.  Wasted time in arguments in which people take positions instead of seeking solutions.

3.  Resentment from those with the “losing” point of view, which can create more conflict at future meetings.

4.  Some people withdrawing and no longer being willing to contribute.

5.  The meeting will not produce the highest-quality ideas and outcomes.

Can you say gridlock?

In contrast, if you make the assumption that people are right from their respective points of view and if you have a process to genuinely understand and integrate each other’s point of view, you will accomplish the following:

1.  Avoid conflict

2.  Save time

3.  Experience better teamwork and harmony

4.  Encourage greater contributions from team members

5.  Generate higher-quality ideas and outcomes

CREATING THE HOLOGRAM

Creating the hologram will require the following:

1.  Eliminating competition to speak so that everyone participates

2.  Having everyone focused on the same topic at the same time, using the same process (that is, brainstorming, discussing, and looking at the pros or cons)

3.  Paying attention to time for each agenda item, including what’s allocated for speaking

4.  Visually recording people’s contributions to see the big picture and facilitate Holographic Thinking

The first thing you must do is make it easy for people to express themselves without competition to be heard, and you must minimize the potential for stress behaviors. Divide people into two categories at meetings: those who will do whatever it takes to express themselves and those who will not bother. As you saw in the Lens of Understanding, those who will do what it takes can be, at worst, loud, emotional, constantly interrupting, or dominating, or they will simply go on and on. Those who don’t bother say absolutely nothing, just say yes, or simply go along with whatever everyone else wants. Either way, you do not have the third dimension. You automatically lose the hologram if people compete to be heard or withdraw.

Next, you need to keep everyone focused on the same topic, using the same process. You must pay attention to the amount of time people are allowed to speak and make sure each topic and process has its allotted time. Everyone is on the flight together, and paying attention to focus and time prevents the meeting from straying off course or arriving at its destination (end) late.

Finally, you need to have visual recording, such as a flip chart or computer-projector combination, which will facilitate Holographic Thinking, as well as support successful follow-up.

In the subsequent chapters, I’ll show you in detail how to accomplish all of this and create a great Holographic Thinking team during the meeting. But before we can take off, we need to make a Flight Plan.

The Greater Rick

In my writing partnership and friendship with Dr. Rick Kirschner, we used to get into all kinds of conflict over our points of view. Sometimes we would even convince each other at the same time of the other’s point of view, switch points of view, and argue that too. Eventually, we would end up with an integration of our points of view that produced something better than either of us would have come up with alone. It took a lot of time and trouble until we learned how to get into a Holographic Thinking mindset.

We started operating on the assumption that both of us were right from our respective points of view and each of us had a part of the puzzle. We assumed that when we integrated our pieces, we would have something greater. When we did that, we called our combined selves “the Greater Rick.” We would begin a meeting by asking, “Will the Greater Rick please come into the room?” Then we were both eager to hear the other’s point of view, put them together in Holographic Thinking, and voilà! It worked, and the result was the book Dealing with People You Can’t Stand.

When I shared this with a company whose initials were ET, the meeting participants started to begin all meetings with, “Will the Greater ET please come into the room?” Everyone would laugh and be reminded that they were part of a greater team. It led to curiosity about each other’s point of view and asking questions to make sure they understood it fully before responding. It also resulted in people asking those who had not yet spoken on the topic what their thoughts were.

—Dr. Rick Brinkman

SUMMARY

1.  Everyone is “right” from his or her point of view, but a point of view is limited.

2.  The uniqueness of people’s point of view is based on their personal life experience, their professional orientation, and where they might be in the Lens of Understanding.

3.  Holographic Thinking comes from getting everyone to contribute and understand each other’s point of view.

4.  Polarization is the opposite. It’s when people think they are right, to the exclusion of other points of view.

5.  Creating the hologram requires the following:

•   Eliminating competition to speak so that everyone participates

•   Everyone is focused on the same topic at the same time, using the same process (that is, brainstorming, discussing, looking at pros or cons)

•   Paying attention to time for speaking and each agenda item

•   Making a visual recording to enable everyone to see the big picture and to facilitate Holographic Thinking

6.  By engaging in Holographic Thinking, you achieve the following:

•   Avoid conflict

•   Save time

•   Experience better teamwork and harmony

•   Encourage greater contributions from team members

•   Generate higher-quality ideas and outcomes