A friend recently introduced me to the wisdom of Steven B. Sample and his book The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership. I have been pondering his lesson about how effective leaders need to train themselves to think. His model also provides some helpful insights about recent US political events (relax – this will not be another political rant!).
Sample teaches that we all have a choice of approaching complex matters with one of two mindsets:
Binary Thinking: Being bold, decisive and making decisions quickly. Approaching issues as black or white.
Gray Thinking: Not forming an opinion about an important matter until you have heard all the relevant facts and arguments, or until circumstances force you to form an opinion without access to all the facts.
Binary thinking is the process of looking at things in terms of black and white. It’s about being decisive and making decisions quickly. Approaching issues as either right or wrong. This type of thinking is often associated with being bold and decisive.
Binary thinking can be helpful in certain situations. For example, when you need to make a quick decision, binary thinking can be helpful. However, it’s not the best type of thinking to use in most situations.
Binary thinking is about seeing situations as either all good or all bad. It’s also about seeing yourself as either successful or a failure. This makes it difficult for people who think in binaries to change their point of view or try something different.
People who think in binaries are known to view the world as being either black or white. They often can’t see gray areas. This makes it difficult for them to change their mind regarding an issue because they have already made up their mind that it’s one way or another. Binary thinkers are also known for being very decisive. They often make decisions quickly and aren’t afraid to take risks.
While binary thinking can be helpful in some situations, it’s not the best way to think about things most of the time. It’s important to remember that there are usually more than two options available when it comes to making decisions. There is usually a middle ground between the two extremes. Binary thinking makes it difficult to see these options and this can lead to poor decisions and missed opportunities.
Gray thinking is a way of looking at things that allows you to withhold judgment until you have all the facts. It’s about not forming an opinion about an important matter until you have heard all the relevant facts and arguments, or until circumstances force you to form an opinion without access to all the facts.
This can be an important tool in the business world, where you might find yourself in a position of wanting to negotiate with or offer support to an organization or person that, for one reason or another, has become controversial.
Gray thinking allows for all the facts and arguments to be presented before forming an opinion about whether someone is trustworthy or ethical. If you are forced into making a decision before you have all the information, gray thinking can help you to at least make an informed decision.
Gray thinking can also be helpful in personal relationships. For example, if someone close to you has done something that you don’t agree with, gray thinking can help you to avoid making a snap judgment and instead give that person the benefit of the doubt.
Gray thinking is about avoiding black-and-white thinking, which can cause you to misrepresent your position on some issues, and so allow others to label you as someone who has taken up stances that you may not personally believe in. It can also keep you open to new information that might contradict things that you already think or know.
It’s not about being wishy-washy or indecisive. It’s about allowing yourself time to gather more information before making up your mind—and, in some cases, letting the facts actually change your opinion.
As we assess these definitions we learn that binary thinking is much easier than gray thinking. However, when we use binary thinking as we contemplate complex matters we are prone to make these leadership errors:
In psychological terms, point number three is labelled “false-consensus bias”. If we continually listen to only one point of view, our minds begin to subconsciously believe that this view is right (“I keep hearing the same thing, therefore it must be true”).
This binary approach limits our ability to think gray on matters we often know very little about. The 2016 US election was full of examples of false-consensus bias (as evidenced by the shock of many about the presidential election results).
Author F. Scott Fitzgerald once stated, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function”. Every issue does not need to be approached with gray thinking. However, most of us default to binary thinking more than we should.
As I age, I am finding that I know less than I ever had. I suppose that technically, my repository of knowledge is growing. However, to quote an old adage, ‘the more I know, the more I know that I don’t know’. Perhaps this is what gray thinking looks like in day-to-day life. As a result, I believe we all have a few matters where we need to shift from binary to gray thinking. So what are they? Find your journal and write down two or three things that need to move from your binary column to the gray column.
Thinking gray is a characteristic of great leaders. How gray is your world?
Jeff Suderman is a futurist, consultant, and professor who works in the field of organizational development. He partners with clients to improve culture, leadership, teamwork, organizational alignment, strategy and organizational future-readiness. He resides in Palm Desert, California. Twitter: @jlsuderman Email: jeff@jeffsuderman.com