Jeanne talked about the shift in mindset that accompany a deep experience of sense making a common misconception about this phase is that there should be the fabled ha moment where the light bulb ignites and brilliance emerges. A diverse set of thinkers, philosophers, psychologists, neurologists and more have spent many decades researching this phenomenon and it turns out that the enigmatic and instantaneous leap we've been taught to believe in actually looks more like the careful and slow work of building a bridge or paving a path. Experiments using neuro imaging indicate that the brain is predictable in how it behaves when developing an insight rather than a single neural event. Ha! Moments are the culmination of a series of events that prepare the brain for an insight. Researchers argue that instead of having an instantaneous spark, the brain surge of energy occurs gradually and purposefully. Rather than serendipitously, our minds work hard behind the scenes, preparing our brains to recognize insights when describing this preparation. Microbiologist, Louis Pasteur said it best in the field of observation. Chance favors the prepared mind. So how does since making prime and prepare the minds of innovators to see insights and opportunities, philosophers and designers alike attributed to abduct of reasoning. Professor Nick do explains the difference between abduction and its philosophical counterparts deduction and induction. Whereas deduction uses theories or rules to drive results, facts or observations, induction uses specific observations to theorize. Abduction is more like inspired guesswork, linking patterns of knowledge to specific hypotheses. In this example we compare specific observations to form a testable assumption or a hypothesis of what might be with deduction, we would say all roses have thorns, This is a rose, therefore it has thorns with induction, we would say these plants all have roses, they all have thorns. Therefore all roses probably have thorns with abduction, we would say all roses have thorns, this plant has thorns, therefore it might be a rose, a critical part in experiencing sense, making is reflection. When we take a step back and consciously examine our observations, thoughts, feelings and actions and then try to learn from them. Reflection cannot occur when our brain is rushing from one task to the next. It can only happen when we pause, cognitive psychologist Daniel Kahneman calls this slow thinking the biases we talked about when we discussed immersion not only hijack us when we gather data, but they are perhaps even more insidious when we try to interpret what that data means, reflective thinking is what holds these at bay and allows us to see new things. It interrupts our habitual ways of thinking and prevents us from jumping to conclusions from making inferences that live in our heads instead of coming from the data. In a related way, psychologist Chris Argyris talks about two kinds of learning single loop learning limits our solutions because we make corrections incrementally we keep trying new solutions without questioning the initial goal. Double loop learning When we critically question the question itself allows us to break through to a fresh understanding, it's a kind of meta cognition that happens as we examine our thinking process. Excel for instance, departments in an organization may shift their processes to achieve the productivity goals set by leadership in a single loop process. If they instead ask why such parameters of success were important and evaluate whether they were the best metrics, that is double loop learning. Double loop learning is necessary for good decision making in rapidly changing or uncertain contexts. The longer a decision maker is stuck in single loop learning. However, the harder it is to transition to double loop learning again, impatience and a lack of awareness of our own blinders locks us in single loop ways of seeing the world when trying to make sense of all of our data. Our brain tries to give us shortcuts. Often a product of intuition Psychologists claim we can experience two types of intuition, ordinary intuition or that gut instinct we get, or expert intuition, which shows up as quick judgments based off of repertoire, much like a tennis pro reacting instantly to where the ball will go based on how the opponent swings intuition can make it hard to step away from our habitual ways of seeing, to adopt a beginner's mindset, especially when we're trying to invent a new future. So we need provocations to disrupt our habitual Ways of seeing one such provocation is experienced in immersion when confronting the needs of others, disrupts our egocentric imposition and makes it possible for us to be open to new ways of seeing the world. Another provocation is working in a diverse team where members constructively challenge each other and surface unexamined beliefs and assumptions. A final provocation to disrupt our intuition is visualizing the data that we're trying to process tools like flip charts, sticky notes and postings on the walls, helps us tame the mass of messy data, taking what is in our heads and making it visible. As seen in this quote designer John Kolko discusses the importance of freeing our brain's natural memory limitations by Externalizing the entire meaning making process, getting it out of our heads and off of our devices and bringing it tangibly to the wall. This becomes even more important as we move from individual to collective sense making. Since making is a slow build through areas of ambiguity, requiring us to limit leaning on our intuition and past experiences and instead to slow down reflect and ask different questions. The discomfort that comes with such ambiguity makes it hard to deeply experience this phase, but it is well worth the challenge
