I’ve got a Bias to Action. My wife will call me a Fact Finder, which is true, and at some point… I do make a move.
I recently learned the phrase “Bias to Inquiry”, which is useful in the world of an Agile Coach: you run across a behaviour you deem odd, and instead of wanting to act on it, you first seek to learn about it. Context is key. History can be insightful. Figure out why there’s a fence across the road before trying to tear it down. It’s the fifth Habit.
This Bias to Inquiry is something I do at work – I get paid to be diplomatic.
This blog post is to acknowledge aloud that Bias to Inquiry at home is hard.
Let’s take a benign example:
Oh, lookie here! Clothes strewn in the hallway. I’m going to make a quick decision and either kick it aside or take a detour to throw ’em in the hamper.
Then there’s a more contentious example:
Oh, lookie here! You believe some fantastical conspiracy theory about the election or vaccines. I… don’t even know where to begin.
I don’t always have the time or energy to first seek to understand bullshit. Maybe I should be more open-minded. Maybe I should have more grains of salt with what information I consume in general. Being open to learning is generally good for one’s survival, so why not apply that in these cases?
I’m just saying it’s hard.