How to Get Unstuck

Certainty can keep us from evolving and growing - Curiosity sets us free

TLDR:

• There are many stories and facts we believe that may not be true

• Doubting is a necessary part of critical thinking

• Certainty isn’t bad, but we need to understand what it keeps us from

• Questioning takes strength and skill

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The Frog Who Jumped

Have you ever heard the story that a frog will jump out of a pot of boiling water, but when placed in a pot of lukewarm water will remain, as the water slowly increases in temperature, until the frog dies?

It’s an anecdote that is often told to caution us against the gradual drift of our lives. The only problem is - it’s completely false. At a certain temperature, regardless of how slowly it increases, the frog will become uncomfortable and leap out of the pot.

How often do we question the narratives we are given?

How often do we allow ourselves to rethink assumptions that were passed down to us?

The ability to think critically is important - but so is the ability to RE:think.

To allow ourselves the humility of taking a second look - even - especially on the things we are most certain about.

The Gift of Doubt

When we have the strength to doubt, we give ourselves a gift.

We become flexible, open and curious. We take the assumptions we’ve made that we feel very confident in, and we let ourselves play in the exciting and sometimes chaotic waters of “wonder”.

When I lead our Enneagram class at Clevertech, one of our opening questions and conversations is on the relationship between certainty and curiosity.

In what areas of your life are you more open to being curious, exploring, looking at things from another perspective?

In what areas of your life are you more prone to cling to what you know, and remain solid in your thoughts and beliefs?

What is the impact of certainty?

Another exercise we engage with in our Enneagram class is to ask the question: “What does this behavior give me? What does this behavior keep me from?”

I like to take this same approach with certainty and doubt.

What is the impact of certainty? What does it give me?

It allows me to not have to expend a lot of mental energy (questioning everything is mentally EXHAUSTING, let’s be honest). It’s much more efficient to rely on tried and true bits of information I’ve collected across my life.

And honestly, this is why we tend to default to certainty. We want to conserve energy, and the brain takes up the most energy of any organ in our bodies. It makes sense from a survival standpoint, to save energy and stay with the same beliefs we’ve always had.

But then, we have to ask ourselves: What is this behavior keeping me from?

When we remain certain, we tend to defend our beliefs rather than question them. We can also default to confirmation bias: looking for reasons to confirm what we believe to be true.

All of this certainty can keep us from the truth.

Change or die

We probably know this more in the world of technology than any other field: you change or you die.

Adaptation is LIFE.

As technology advances, the needs of the public increases, the capabilities of our machines expands, we must continue to evolve with them.

The only way we evolve is through curiosity.

The skill of evaluating old ways, old frameworks and old systems is something we must develop in order to have the strength to question the assumptions we’ve held on to for so long.

You see, that’s the real secret here. When we create trust within ourselves, we develop to strength to doubt.

The only way scientists have the courage to question and test long standing beliefs is because they trust their methods of inquiry enough to poke at even some of the most stable pillars of “truth”.

Having a framework for creating hypothesis, testing it to try and disprove that hypothesis, controlling for things like confirmation bias, placebo effect, and other obstacles to uncovering the truth, allows us to wander outside of previously held beliefs.

Where do you need to doubt?

What areas of your life and career need a healthy spoonful of doubt?

• Are there certain beliefs you hold about yourself - what you are capable of and what you aren’t, that need to be questioned?

• Are there certain approaches to problem solving that have worked well in the past, but might not be as effective in your current situation?

• Are there other perspectives that you have already discounted, but maybe deserve a second listen?

Here’s the best thing about doubt, sometimes, we do end up right back to the same beliefs we held before, only now, they have been questioned, tested and have held up. This increases our confidence exponentially.

And, on the occasion our doubt leads to a change in course, we can make it with grace, supported by our newly found skill of inquiry.

For more reading on this topic, I highly recommend the book Think Again by Adam Grant.