Ladder of Inference-#1

1

Climbing
a
Diﬀerent
Kind
of
Ladder

LADDER
of
INFERENCE
Presented
by

Sylvia
Gaﬀney,
Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

2

Climbing
a
Diﬀerent
Kind
of
Ladder

LADDER
of
INFERENCE

In
collabora:on
with


3
Why
the
Ladder?
✓ Improve
communica:on  Facilitate
conﬂict
solu:ons

✓ Reach
agreement
or
 Improve
team
interac:on
advance
resolu:on  Open
for
diverse
opinions
✓ Arrive
at
new
possibili:es  Prevent
overreac:on

✓ Learn
from
another’s
 Understand
your

perspec:ve immediate
response
to
a

✓ Allow
for
mul:ple
voices situa:on
✓ Understand
resistance
to
 Uncover
own
&
other

change biases
✓ Surface
outdated

 Unearth
reasoning
&
origin

assump:ons of

your
assump:ons
 Surface
and
test
your

✓ Understand
the
logic

thinking
before
you
discuss

behind
recommenda:ons
a
topic


4

Frequently
Climb
in
Organiza:ons

Has
li<le
to
do
with
moving

up
in
status
or
posi-on

Has
everything
to
do
with

jumping
to
conclusions

✦

Unconscious

✦

Automa-c

✦

Inaccurate
or
incomplete
info


5

Opera:ng
on
Auto
Pilot

Good
for
breathing,
diges-ng
food,
word
processing
&
driving

Not
so
good
when
ac-ng
or
speaking
without
thinking

Automa-c
Reasoning
Processes
✦ Our
brains
are
absorbing
tons
of
data


6

Mental
Models

Unconscious
&
deeply
held
images
or

pictures
of
how
the
world
works
for
us
✦ Lens
we
use
to
see
the
world
✦ Saves
-me
based
on
past

experiences
✦ Able
to
quickly
make
sense

and
categorize

✦ Important
because
they

unconsciously
inﬂuence
what

we
see
and
how
we
act

7

Ladder
as
a
Good
Metaphor

Ladder
is
a
useful
piece
of

equipment
that
allows
us
to
climb

UP
and
DOWN
–
and,
easily
access

places
we
wouldn’t
reach
without
it

Ladder
is
grounded
and
when
used

in
a
safe
environment
does
the
job

it’s
needed
and
intended
to
do


8

Meaning
of
Inference

Using
CLUES
to
ﬁgure
something
out

Draw
conclusions
from
facts
we

already
know
and
have
in
our
head
✓ Hear
the
tone
✓ See
the
body
language
✓ Consider
the
culture
✓ Know
the
expecta:ons
Given
this.
.
.
then
that
.
.
.


9

Basic
Concept
of
the
Ladder

Helps
us
bring
our

thinking
to
conscious

awareness
as
we
are

constantly
bombarded

with
massive
amounts

of
info
✦ Guides
us
in
making
sense
of
our
own
thinking
✦ Guides
us
to
be<er
understanding
of
the
thinking
of
others


10

Communica:on
Considera:ons

“The
single
biggest
problem
in
communica=on
is
the

illusion
that
it
has
taken
place.”

George
Bernard
Shaw

11
Diﬀerent
Interpreta:ons

and
Responses
are
Evident
THINK:
car,
dog,

house,
tree,

Determines
what
we
see,
hear,
how
we
behave,
power,
quality,

AND,
what
we
select
to
pay
a<en-on
to
next valued,
diverse

✦
Past
experiences
✦
Beliefs
✦
Level
of
awareness
✦
Mo-vators
✦
Social
iden-ty
✦
Personal
iden-ty


12

Jargon
and
Acronyms

Company
specific
lingo
&
language
–
works
as
a

shortcut
in
communica=ng

Ambiguous
‘blinking’
words
–
causes
confusion

because
of
many
possible
or
different

interpreta=ons
✦ Conscious
of
language

✦ Confirm
shared
meanings
✦ Consider
person
and
context

13

Emo:onally
Charged
Triggers

What
causes
you
to
move
rapidly
✦ Topics
✦ Words
up
the
ladder
without
ever
✦ Phrases
checking
your
thinking
process? ✦ People
✦ Events
✓ Take
:me
to
pause
&
reﬂect ✦ Situa-ons
✓ Surface
the
triggers ✦ and
more…

✓ Be
aware
of
their
poten:al
to
derail

your
thinking
&
behavior


14

Automa:c
–
Unconscious
–
Rapid

Lots
happening
in

a
well
laid-‐
out

sequence
from
the

point
of
observing

data
to
when
we

Data
=
Anything
that
actually
take
ac;on
can
be
observed,
read,

heard
or
experienced


15

Ladder
of
Inference

Observe
Data

16

Ladder
of
Inference

Screen
Data
Observe
from
a
pool
of
all
available
Data

17

Ladder
of
Inference

Select
Filtered
Data

Screen
Data
Observe
from
a
pool
of
all
available
Data

18

Ladder
of
Inference

Add
Meaning

Select
Filtered
Data

Screen
Data
Observe
from
a
pool
of
all
available
Data

19

Ladder
of
Inference

Make
Assump:ons,
Draw
Conclusions
&
Adopt
Beliefs

Add
Meaning

Select
Filtered
Data

Screen
Data
Observe
from
a
pool
of
all
available
Data

20

Ladder
of
Inference
Take
Ac:on

Make
Assump:ons,
Draw
Conclusions
&
Adopt
Beliefs

Add
Meaning

Select
Filtered
Data

Screen
Data
Observe
from
a
pool
of
all
available
Data

21

We
Don’t
Even
No:ce

“The
range
of
what
we
think
and
do
is

limited
by
what
we
fail
to
no=ce.

And,
because
we
fail
to
no=ce
that
we
fail
to

no=ce
-‐
there
is
liEle
we
can
do
to
change...
un=l

we
no=ce
how
failing
to
no=ce
shapes
our

thoughts
and
deeds.”

R.D.
Laing


22

For
More
Informa:on

Presented
by

In
collabora*on
with

Sylvia
Gaffney,
Ph.D.
OPTIMIZE
Central
info@ico-‐consul-ng.com
sylvia@gaffney.com
www.ico-‐consul-ng.com
www.gaffney.com


23

For
More
Informa:on

Presented
by
Sylvia
provides
custom-‐designed
consul-ng

services
in
organiza-onal
effec-veness
and

change
managements
assistance
to

companies
on
a
na-onal
and
interna-onal

basis.
Her
work
helps
companies
integrate

their
business
planning
through
a
systems

perspec-ve.
She
facilitates
processes
to

Sylvia
Gaffney,
Ph.D. improve
team
building
and
blending,

leadership
development,
intergenera-onal

OPTIMIZE
Central challenges,
cultural
change
issues,

sylvia@gaffney.com resilience,
strategic
reten-on,
and
strategic

staffing.

Sylvia
owns
and
operates
Gaffney

www.gaffney.com Corporate
Strategies
and
Op;mize
Central.


Ladder of Inference-#1

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