Over-simplification, polarization, and false dichotomy

" . . . The greatest failings of strategic management have occurred when managers took one point of view too seriously."- Henry Mintzberg et. al.

I was looking for the quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald about first rate intelligences and holding mulitple ideas simultaneously, when Google threw me a Yale commencement speech (included after the jump)… it resonated with me, and provides an interesting backdrop to some of the work I do with business clients, and indeed some of the issues being debated across the world!

“…I am concerned that what passes for thoughtful contemplation and conversation in these times – whether one is pondering evolutionary biology, human development, literary theory, or new movements in the arts (let alone politics) – has become shrill, polarized, and simplistic.

Discourse seems often to have the following structure: Consider no more than two possible sides to a question, place them in opposition, focus on the approach you consider “correct,” and caricature, then vilify and ultimately dismiss the opposing point of view.

Some of the popular clichés of recent times reflect this polarized thinking style: Which side are you on? Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Are you for us or against us? Are you metro or retro?

F. Scott Fitzgerald captured the kind of critical and multifaceted thinking encouraged by Yale College when he wrote, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”²

To contemplate two contradictory ideas simultaneously may sound simple to you, but we live in a world in which controversies are thought to yield to one and only one correct answer.

We have become conditioned, as it were, to acknowledge no more than two polarized perspectives on a problem, abandon one of them as soon as is feasible, and embrace the other with emotional fervor and moral certainty. We learn to caricature the opposition’s position, paint it as ethically bankrupt if possible, engage in polarized debate, and, after a time, declare victory.

Some months ago, I thought “Beyond Caricature” would make a good theme for a freshman address, and I was emboldened by President Levin’s baccalaureate speech during Commencement weekend last May in which he called on those graduating to revive an intelligent public discourse by avoiding over-simplification, polarization, and false dichotomy.³

An educated person has the ability to appreciate, learn from, and embrace contradiction, even when we might prefer closure. To perceive and tolerate ambiguity is a necessary precondition for advanced reasoning, whether about texts, visual objects, laboratory findings, observations about the world around us, or public policy.”

– from The Freshman Address (Dean Peter Salovey)

Given that the 'transcendance of paradox' is one of my favourite topics in business thinking... I’m sure that they’ll be a few more posts on this at a later date.

For now, it just makes me want to have attended Yale ;o)

— Jason Bates