Effective Leaders are Not Afraid to Challenge Their Beliefs

I think most of us like to believe our decisions are based on logic and reason after carefully considering all the options. It might surprise you to know that cognitive science says something very different. Cognitive science says that each of us has a worldview based on assumptions developed primarily from our experiences and knowledge at the time the assumption is established.

We can take two things from this statement. First, if our experience and knowledge is limited or undeveloped at the time of our assumption, then our decisions and behaviors will be based on that limited experience and knowledge.

A second takeaway is that unless we open our worldview to others and engage in dialogue different from our own, we are unlikely to challenge the veracity of our own beliefs. In that case, our decisions and behaviors may well be based on wrong data that never changes. Either way, our organizations may lose.

A great example is Eastman Kodak, the former film and photography giant that dominated their industry both here at home and abroad throughout most of the 20th century. They eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2012 because they were unable to successfully respond to the disruptive change as the industry transitioned from film to digital.

What is interesting about the Kodak story is that they had the market to make it happen. In fact, they had invested millions in their attempts to maintain their status. They had also purchased an online company which could have easily been used to make the transition to digital. Here is the real killer. They even had an engineer on staff who literally created the first digital camera.

So what really happened to Kodak? The strategy of their decision-makers was based on prior successes which totally blinded them from seeing the future direction of their industry. Their mental models — or internal images were outdated, and they lost.

The Kodak story tells us that it’s important to challenge our beliefs, which are crucial to good leadership and continued success.