COAIA Sequential Thinking

The "Introduction to Structural Thinking" emphasizes a distinct approach to understanding and addressing organizational and personal challenges, contrasting it with common problem-solving methods. Here are the key aspects of Structural Thinking discussed in the sources: * **Underlying Structure Determines Behavior**: This is presented as a profound and major point. Most people think *situationally*, focusing on problems, but structural thinking asserts that the **underlying structure of anything will determine its behavior**. For example, companies often organize around problem-solving, proudly calling themselves "dedicated problem solvers". However, one can eliminate all problems and still not achieve desired outcomes, because **problem-solving is not creating, and creating is not problem-solving**. * **Rejection of Change Efforts**: The sources highlight that many change efforts, even good ones like the quality movement by Deming, eventually get rejected by organizations over time, similar to how a body rejects an implanted organ. This occurs because **if the underlying structure is not conducive to change, no matter how good the change effort, the organization will reject it**. A **change of underlying structure almost invariably leads to a change of behavior**. * **Focus on Understanding Before Changing**: In Western culture, there's a tendency to ask "how do we change it?" before asking "how do we understand what's giving rise to the predictable patterns of behavior that we're seeing?". Structural thinking prioritizes understanding these underlying structural dynamics. * **Two Patterns of Behavior from Structure**: * **Oscillation**: In this pattern, an individual or organization sets out for something, might have it for a period, but then a reversal occurs, and they end up without what they initially sought. Examples include businesses building up capacity and then downsizing, centralizing and decentralizing decisions, or engaging in acquisition sprees followed by divestment. While oscillation can be good in certain structures (like a rocking chair), it's a terrible structure for personal life or companies. Consultants often experience this when their "best work" doesn't last, not because of personal failure, but because it wasn't an adequate change of underlying structure. * **Resolving Advancing Structure**: This structure leads to an outcome-oriented approach, where a company shifts from being problem-driven to thinking about desired outcomes. Instead of constantly solving problems, the focus is on defining the desired outcome, assessing the current state relative to that outcome, and then determining the best way to move forward. * **The Core Dynamic: Tension and Equilibrium**: Structure seeks equilibrium, and this dynamic causes things to happen. Tension is defined not as stress or anxiety, but as a **structure of a contrast between a desired state and an actual state**. This difference creates a state of non-equilibrium, which then seeks equilibrium. In a proper creative process, the current state is brought up to the desired state, achieving equilibrium. The process involves being clear about what you want, what you have, and then iteratively moving from the current state to the desired state, adapting as reality changes. **Steps in Structural Thinking**: 1. **Step 1: Start with Nothing**: * This means starting without a **knowledge base, preconception, or hypothesis**. It's about observing reality as it is, rather than comparing it to existing information, models, theories, or worldviews. * This is what actual creative scientists do; Sir Isaac Newton stated that "hypotheses have no place in science". Instead of starting with an assumption, he started with a question: "I wonder why it did that?" when an apple fell. * Accountants provide a real-world example: they must look at original, unique numbers, not relying on past reports or assumptions, otherwise, it could lead to severe consequences. * The mind's natural tendency is to categorize and make associations, which can lead to missing parts of reality that don't fit existing concepts. Art students, for instance, might "substitute a concept of color for observation," seeing a brick building as red even when the actual observed color is blue due to atmospheric conditions. The goal is to learn to "look better at reality without the preconception of what you're going to find". 2. **Step 2: Picture What is Said**: * The second step involves translating words into a **visual language**. This technique allows for **dimensional, structural, and relational thinking**, which is more challenging with linear language as it cannot hold as many ideas simultaneously. * Research with children with learning disabilities shows that translating words into pictures dramatically increases comprehension and can activate visual centers in the brain. * This "visual literacy" helps eliminate biases and makes it easier to "start with nothing" because you are picturing only what is said, without adding external interpretations. * It's like having a "little film crew in your head" making a movie of what the client describes, not faking understanding, but visually representing it. 3. **Step 3: Ask Questions**: Once you have a picture, you can ask specific types of questions. The sources initially present two types, then two more. You should avoid "fishing expeditions" or importing questions not relevant to the client's information. * **Information Questions**: These are designed to **expand the picture**. For example, if a client says "I have a job," an information question would be "What kind of job?". * **Clarification Questions**: These are asked when there's a word or phrase you don't know, specifically to ask **"What does it mean?"** or for a definition. For instance, "What do you mean by 'quality'?" if the specific context isn't clear. * **Implication Questions**: These involve identifying something that is **implied but not directly stated**, and then asking the client if they agree with that implication. If a client says, "We got to market too late," the implication is that if they had gotten there sooner, performance would have been better. The question would then be: "If you got to the market sooner, would the performance have been better?". The goal is to make the implied explicit. * **Discrepancy Questions**: These are used when a client **contradicts themselves**, either in close proximity or across different parts of a session. By picturing the whole narrative, you can identify these differences immediately. For example, if a client states, "This past year was a great year, sales were down," a discrepancy question seeks to understand this apparent contradiction. The discrepancy might reveal that a statement is untrue, or there might be missing information that explains it (e.g., getting a patent despite low sales). Sorting out discrepancies is often where underlying structural changes begin to emerge. Finally, if no more questions arise, the practice is to review what has been gathered, as this may naturally lead to further inquiries motivated by the existing information. This entire process is presented as a rigorous discipline for developing "mental muscles".