Challenging False Narratives

the big change:

I think it will help if I provide an example of how easy it is for false narratives to not only happen, but why they are happening more now than at any point in our history.

Consider the following statement:

“After spending the day fighting through the crowded streets of Manhattan, Miranda discovered that her wallet was missing.”

You most likely pictured a pickpocket and if asked to retell this story at a later date, many would paraphrase this by saying, “Miranda had her wallet stollen.”

The only problem is, nowhere in the original statement was a theft mentioned. The theft is assumed by connecting the data points of fighting through a crowd, a city where crime is common, and the fact a wallet has gone missing. Miranda could have dropped her wallet. She could have left it at home. There are any number of explanations as to why she cannot find her wallet, and it’s because there are any number of explanations the brain takes the easiest path to certainty by connecting the data points in a way that makes sense to it.

Now, this false narrative on it’s own is not where the problem is. The problem lies in the resulting behaviour in those who subscribe to it. 

Some may begin to mistrust crowds and stay home more often. Others may stop carrying cash to avoid theft. It is important to remember that the brain is tasked with self-preservation meaning we will overwhelmingly subscribe to the most negative narrative possible as that is the one that will keep us most on guard, and therefore theoretically safest.

Even more concerning is how this narrative now influences the perspective of other, unrelated events. Suppose you now see a story on the news that says crime is rising. You would say to yourself that this makes perfect sense, after all, Miranda just had her wallet stolen the other day.

Today, our brain is bombarded by more information that at any point in human history. By 2011 we were taking in five times as much information per day as we were in 1986, and as the ‘information age’ progresses, that is only going to increase.

High volumes of random information creates increased uncertainty. Increased uncertainty creates pain in the brains of your team. Increased pain creates the desire for relief. The desire for relief creates a literal breeding ground for false narratives. 

Someone takes more than a day to respond to an email? Oh, well they must not like me. Leaders suddenly holding closed-door meetings? Layoffs must be around the corner. Too much time between performance reviews? I must not be doing a good job.

Like Miranda and the missing wallet, if you are not filling in the blanks for your people, they're not going to leave those blanks empty. They will fill them with whatever best fits their narrative, and often, those narratives are not ones you are going to want them operating from.

The winners and the losers:

Therefore, when it comes to narrative fallacy the difference between the winners and the losers could not be more simple:

Winning leaders create certainty for their followers. Losing leaders assume their people already have it.

As I've said to many of you before, 'there is nothing common about common sense'. You need to be deliberate and intentional in the expectations you set.  Assume anything, and you will be inviting multiple narratives to the table.

the promised land:

Of course where you create that certainty matters. You cannot predict the future and by no means am I telling you to try. I'm not suggesting you adopt 100% transparency and share every decision you make with every person on your team.

You simply need to create certainty within your organizational climate. Climate is the day-to-day atmosphere within your team and it is made up of two variables: Safety and Standards.

I discussed Safety at length last week. Feelings of Safety are the difference between fearing punishment for mistakes versus feeling as though mistakes will lead to learning opportunities. 

Creating certainty when to comes to Safety means proving to your team that mistakes will lead to Corrections over Consequences.

Standards are the expectations of performance. Gallup states that over 50% of employees do not know what is expected of them at work. Expectations that are Ambiguous lead to uncertainty. You must clearly state your expectations, and ensure that your people have Accepted them as the standard by which they will be measured. 

A Climate of Apathy occurs when Expectations are Ambiguous and Safety is low. People do not know what they are supposed to do and are too afraid to ask questions to find out. They are content to collect their pay, and plead that 'no one told me to do that', when issues of performance emerge.

A Climate of Anxiety occurs when Expectations are Accepted, but a fear of Consequences remains if those expectations are not hit. This often leads to the worst possible version of your people showing up daily.

A Climate of Apology happens when Consequences are removed yet Expectations remain Ambiguous. People have no issue owning their mistakes, but because their manager falsely assumed they knew what their job was, they make a lot of them.

The only way to create a Climate of Accountability is to create certainty around both the Expectations of performance, and the methods used to Correct behaviour when those standards aren't achieved.

Consciously creating your Organizational Climate is one of the best ways to prevent narrative fallacy from creeping into your teams.

It will not however eliminate it entirely. No matter how much certainty you create within your team, the world outside it is still VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous).

The near constant state of change we live in will still force your people to adopt narratives outside your team - creating the likelihood they will bring those narratives into the team.

Therefore, you not only need to be diligent in preventing false narratives, you need to know how to challenge them when they occur.

How to challenge a false narrative

Challenging false narratives is done by helping your follower(s) answer two questions:

What would need to be true in order for the narrative to also be true?

Again, narratives form when we selectively omit information that doesn't fit the framework we are using. When you are able to stack up the data they are selectively disregarding, it makes it easier for them to begin to realize they may have been buying into a story that isn't necessarily true.

What does subscribing to this narrative give you (or absolve you of)?

None of us will buy into a narrative that does not provide us with something of value. Often, buying into a false narrative is easier because it absolves us of something. For example, if I can convince myself my boss does not like me, then trying hard at my job seems stupid because no matter how hard I work, it won't change anything. 

Beware your blindspots:

Once you've asked these two questions, you are able to unravel the false narrative and begin to build back one that is better aligned with both the truth, and the needs of your organization.

Of course challenging another's narrative requires first challenging your own.

When you first see one of your followers behaving badly or underperforming, your own brain will will be asking why they are doing that. The second 'why' enters your brain, work begins to answer that question as quickly as possible, often seducing you into subscribing to your own false narrative.

Now while there are many factors that influence our false narratives, one of the largest by far is tied to our understanding of the Behavioural Colours.

First and foremost, you must challenge your own Bias. I had a conversation with a Red leader last week who felt they needed to replace someone because this person did not, "pound the table" in support of their idea during a team session. The Red leader's Convincing Bias allowed them to buy into the narrative that this person no longer cared, when in reality this person was a Blue / Green who felt it was inappropriate to challenge their boss in front of others.

At the same time your advancing knowledge of the Colours can lead you to write a narrative that explains other's behaviour inaccurately. 

"Oh, they're a Yellow, that must be why they are getting defensive when I point out their mistakes."

That could be true. It could also be true that you gave the person feedback in a way that would trigger anyone and the true remedy lies in you learning how to better frame your feedback.

Once again, this is why I encourage you to book a coaching call. Challenging false narratives is a skill all leaders need given the growing uncertainty around us, but it's also a skill most leaders need help developing to prevent their own brain from betraying them.

As with most of the leadership techniques we preach, the only way to master them is through sets and reps. Just know that one of the most common narratives I see leaders con themselves into believing, is that there's little to no consequence if they 'skip the gym'.

Have a challenge?

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