Newtonian Blind Alleys: II

Some decisions turn out well — or well enough — and some don't. Of the decisions that turn out badly, we don't always have time to examine closely what caused our errors. That's one reason why avoiding errors is better than trying to understand them after we make them. In that spirit, last time I offered a class of errors I called "Newtonian Blind Alleys." These are errors that are traceable, in part, to assumptions we make about how the world works.

The assumption I discussed last time is what I called universality. Universality is the idea that if a system behaves in a certain way in one context, then other similar systems will behave that way in every context. That assumption underlies Isaac Newton's theory of gravitation. And to a very good approximation, Newton was right.

But when we apply universality to managing organizations, we're taking a big risk. We make the assumption of universality when we adopt a particular management approach in our own organization because we've read or heard that it worked well in several other organizations. True, the adopted approach might work; but the evidence for that hope is rather flimsy.

Another one of those assumptions is that groups of related phenomena can be represented on a one-dimensional spectrum. The assumption worked well for Newton as he considered the nature of light.

Before Newton's work, the decomposition by prism or rainbow of white light into colors was believed due to corruption of the purity of white light, causing it to acquire different colors. Newton exposed a weakness in this theory by using a second prism to recombine the decomposed light back into white light, thereby proving that the prisms had not corrupted it. He proposed that the "corpuscles" of light were each endowed with a particular color, and that they could be sorted out by means of a prism into what he called the "colour spectrum."

The concept of The concept of spectrum
requires a one-to-one mapping
between positions along an axis
and some specific property of
the elements of the systemspectrum requires the existence of a one-to-one mapping between positions along an axis, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, some specific property of the elements of the system in question. As we now know, this idea works well for the study of light, because color corresponds to the energy of the photon when the photon is regarded as a wave.

The danger of the spectrum concept arises when we apply it to phenomena that have no associated single continuously varying numerical parameter.

For example, we speak of the "autism spectrum" when considering the range of disorders generally categorized as autism, even though there is no proof of the existence of a single continuously varying numerical parameter that maps to the different autistic behaviors. This leads us to regard distinct disorders as being related by a parameter, the value of which determines which of the different kinds of autism disorders might be present. It is possible that the various autism disorders are related by a single continuously varying parameter such as, for example, the prevalence of a particular neurochemical in the brain. But neither that possibility, nor any other similar possibility, has been established as fact. When, or if, we do isolate a biochemical cause of autism, we might also discover that thinking about autism as a spectrum actually delayed the advancement of knowledge. Or we might find that it helped. The point is that we do not yet have a scientific justification for applying the Newtonian spectrum concept to the problem of understanding the causes of autism.

Or consider the field of app development for mobile devices. Googling the phrase "full spectrum mobile app development" produces almost 100 million hits (as of this writing). Given that mobile app development is project-based and thus is an inherently discrete activity, how the spectrum concept applies to mobile app development is unclear, but the phrase does seem to be popular, probably because it has marketing power. To select an app development service provider or methodology not on the basis of its suitability for one's specific purpose, but instead on the basis of its breadth and applicability to a wide variety of situations, is probably questionable. For example, the ability of an app developer to create prize winning apps that interact with social media platforms might or might not be relevant to its ability to create apps that collect and transmit electrocardiographic data to one's health care provider. But we make management decisions like this frequently, because of the psychological power of the Newtonian concept of spectrum.

When next you hear the phrase full spectrum when used as a tool of persuasion, I hope you will consider the possibility that you're being invited to join someone in a trip down a Newtonian Blind Alley.   First issue in this series   Top    Next Issue

Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Conflict Management:

In the Groove

Under stress, we sometimes make choices that we later regret. And we wonder, "Will I ever learn?" Fortunately, the problem usually isn't a failure to learn. Changing just takes practice.

Managing Non-Content Risks: II

When we manage risk, we usually focus on those risks most closely associated with the tasks at hand — content risks. But there are other risks, to which we pay less attention. Many of these are outside our awareness. Here's Part II of an exploration of these non-content risks, emphasizing those that relate to organizational politics.

Should We Do This?

Answering the question, "Should we do this?" is among the more difficult decisions organizational leaders must make. Weinberger's Six Tests provide a framework for making these decisions. Careful application of the framework can prevent disasters.

Logical Presentation Can Be Ineffective

Although logic and reasoning are useful tools for problem solving and decision making, they're less useful for exchanging ideas among collaborators. Effectiveness in presenting one's own views to others requires more clarity than logic.

Additive bias…or Not: II

Additive bias is a cognitive bias that many believe contributes to bloat of commercial products. When we change products to make them more capable, additive bias might not play a role, because economic considerations sometimes favor additive approaches.

See also Conflict Management and Conflict Management for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming February 26: Devious Political Tactics: Bad Decisions

When workplace politics influences the exchanges that lead to important organizational decisions, we sometimes make decisions for reasons other than the best interests of the organization. Recognizing these tactics can limit the risk of bad decisions. Available here and by RSS on February 26.

And on March 5: On Begging the Question

Some of our most expensive wrong decisions have come about because we've tricked ourselves as we debated our options. The tricks sometimes arise from rhetorical fallacies that tangle our thinking. One of the trickiest is called Begging the Question. Available here and by RSS on March 5.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenjTnUayrCbSnnEcYfner@ChacdcYpBKAaMJgMalFXoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info