A couple of days ago I enjoyed listening to an edition of the Accidental Creative podcast from 5th February in which regular host Todd Henry interviewed Mark Bowden, author of ‘Truth and Lies: What People Are Really Thinking’ (the podcast is here: Mark Bowden Accidental Creative podcast interview).
The main thrust of Bowden’s work is on how to better read body language and other forms of non-verbal communication (others and your own) so as to be more effective when asking questions or generally in communication. I found the whole podcast to be interesting but a couple of sections particularly stood out, one on using a critical thinking approach to prevent jumping to conclusions about situations and a second on utilizing awareness of your own body language to help resolve (or prevent) conflict in teams.
To help prevent jumping to conclusions, Bowden suggested using a critical thinking model that is captured by the acronym SCAN. As might be expected from its name, the model involves a four-step approach as follows:
S = SUSPEND initial judgement – note that this does not mean reject it but, rather, simply put it to one side for a few moments to allow the next steps of the model to be followed
C = consider/review the CONTEXT – is there anything to note about the context in which the communication/situation is occurring, for example might an audience by tired, hungry or cold. The key point here is to note anything aspects of the context that might offer an alternative to, or modification of, your initial judgement.
A = ASK what else? Basically, gather more data to help evaluate what is really going on.
N = NEW judgement – can you come up with one or more new or alternative judgements
Once the SCAN process has been completed then you can consider your initial versus any new judgements and decide how best to proceed. Bowden suggests that this approach can be used in many communication-based scenarios to prevent making default or snap judgements about what an audience is thinking, but he also highlighted that the model could be used to help consider all kinds of individual scenarios and assumptions. He noted that the SCAN process need not take long at all, just a few seconds in some circumstances but could help to prevent rushing to a default conclusion.
In relation to conflict resolution and prevention in teams, Bowden emphasized the value of modifying your own body language and highlighted how this could impact positively on the group dynamics. His advice was to focus on yourself rather than on the other members of the team and utilize open body language. Doing this can powerfully influence the tone of a room, leading the other team members into a more effective and less confrontational mode of communication. He suggested thinking about open body language as the kind of movements you would do if you came in from the cold into a room with a warm log fire burning – stretching your arms out, moving your upper body etc. to take in the fire’s heat.
I thought that both of these pieces of advice had potential to be useful and had the great benefit of being simple to remember and carry out. I might have to look up the book sometime (although the last thing I need really is another book to read!)
Tim O'Hare 