During my career, I’ve encountered rampant derision towards ways of thinking that aren’t purely rational, concrete, and documented in linear steps. Reasoning about code is seen as the only form of intelligence needed to solve difficult problems.
Cultural walls are designed to keep out any mention of feelings or intuition, as if they are a zombie apocalypse. I am guilty of reinforcing this myth. I prefer rationality over talking about feelings. Understanding what product and business people are saying is … not always easy for me.
But organizational intelligence is the integration of multiple modes of cognition. Thinking systems must include diverse cognitive modes: rational analysis, embodied intuition, collective sensemaking, and storytelling. When we build practices that recognize and combine multiple modes of thought – we are masterminding cognitive ecologies.
In that ecology, people with different types of cognition become allies rather than competitors. I don’t have to think like a someone else; I need to partner with them. Well-designed cognitive ecologies recognize and combine multiple modes of thought (analytic, embodied, intuitive, relational). They resolve the problems that arise by integrating mental models and ways of thinking.
They are emergent, delivering fresh insights and innovative, meaningful solutions that one type of thinking could never deliver alone.
For example, two teams are stuck in a recurring pattern that won’t fix. They have tried five ways to solve a problem and it just gets worse. They use the Iceberg Model to identify the core mental models, organizational structures and patterns that might be contributing. Using this systems tool shifts not just what they think – but how they are allowed to think. It shifts them into architecting the thinking system instead of simply reacting to it.
Then, they can design a mental model that supports the outcome they are looking for. Together, they identify which structure(s) and pattern(s) needs to shift in order to sustain the change.
From the outside, it’s hard to see why their approach will solve the problem. But soon, others experience the positive benefits of the change.
Consider this
If you could change one “way we do things” … what would it be? Is there a “truth” about how we work that has never seemed true to you?
Domains →
Delusions →
Paths →
