{"id":30956,"date":"2023-02-09T17:00:52","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T01:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=30956"},"modified":"2023-02-09T17:00:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T01:00:52","slug":"another-approach-to-slow-and-fast-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/another-approach-to-slow-and-fast-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Approach to Slow and Fast Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

In \u201cRare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead,\u201d Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder demonstrate how the leadership habits they discuss are grounded in brain science.[1]<\/a> They set out to convince the reader that by practicing the habits of 1) remaining relational, 2) acting out of your God-created true self, 3) cultivating the capacity to quickly return to joy after experiencing one or more of the basic six negative emotions, and 4) enduring hardship well, \u201c\u2026that the fruit\u2026is a dramatic increase in trust, joy, and engagement in the people you lead.<\/em>\u201d[2]<\/a> These four habits are referred to by the acronym RARE throughout the book. They are related to emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is defined in the book\u2019s Foreward as \u201c\u2026the soft side of leadership. It is all about the kind of person we are underneath the surface, and how we interact with others.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

A book on leadership that is shaped out of a Christian worldview, this book is classified under the social sciences. But it is more than that because of its engagement with brain science. Wilder brings that type of scientific perspective out of his background and practice in clinical psychology. His commitment as a follower of Jesus combined with his theology study shape the Christian worldview brought to the text. Warner adds to this out of his same discipleship commitment, theological training, and ministry practice.<\/p>\n

Their book is structured in such a way to allow the reader to choose how much and what part of their proposed leadership framework they would like to engage. The introduction provides a helpful overview of their thesis and the core components of the brain science they are utilizing. It is followed by Part 1 (Chapters 2-5) which \u201c\u2026discuss how the process of training the fast track works, reasons it has remained hidden for so long, how the leader\u2019s brain works, and how fast-track leadership develops.\u201d[4]<\/a> Part 2 (Chapters 6-11) is then a deeper dive into \u201c\u2026the four RARE leadership skills\u201d[5]<\/a> and the practices that develop them. They include what they call a \u201cBrain Science section\u201d[6]<\/a> at the end of each chapter to further detail the science behind their thesis. Chapter 11 includes an assessment for identifying emotional maturity. This is followed by a notes\/reference section and then a very helpful glossary of terms. The book ends with a short case study sharing \u201cA Day in the Life of a RARE Leader,\u201d[7]<\/a> information about both authors\u2019 ministry organizations, and brief biographies.<\/p>\n

I was most captivated by the authors\u2019 discussion of \u201cfast track\u201d and \u201cslow track\u201d brain processes as discussed in their introduction.[8]<\/a> Chapters 2-5 delve into further details. Their use of this language immediately called to mind Daniel Kahneman\u2019s \u201cThinking Fast and Slow\u201d[9]<\/a> and Michael Polanyi\u2019s \u201cThe Tacit Dimension.\u201d[10]<\/a> I am curious about both the similarities and distinctions in each of these authors\u2019 explorations of how the different primary processes of the brain work. Related to these works is also Bessel Van der Kolk\u2019s \u201cThe Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma.\u201d[11]<\/a> But in this post I will focus on the interaction between Kahneman\u2019s thinking on these brain processes and that of Warner and Wilder.<\/p>\n

Warner and Wilder focus on how these two brain processes (fast track and slow track) impact leadership. The left-brain processes of the slow-track system is \u201c\u2026optimized for management\u201d because \u201c[i]ts primary job is to monitor results and provide explanations and solutions to the problems we face.\u201d[12]<\/a> The right-brain process of the fast-track system, however, is primarily responsible for \u201crelational reality.\u201d[13]<\/a> It is \u201c\u2026our identity center.\u201d[14]<\/a> This means it \u201c\u2026controls how we regulate our emotions, how we remember who we are, who our people are, and how it is like us to act (that is, acting like the self God gave us).\u201d[15]<\/a><\/p>\n

Kahneman, on the other hand, also uses this language of fast (System 1) and slow (System 2) thinking. His concern is to better understand errors of judgment and choice, especially in uncertain circumstances. As I wrote in my post about Kahneman\u2019s book, \u201cHe contrasts the fast thinking of intuition (which includes perception, memory, and the mental shortcuts of heuristics), naming it System 1, with the slow thinking of effortful deliberation or System 2.\u201d[16]<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s interesting to me that Kahneman puts the emphasis on System 2, \u201cslow-track\u201d thinking in order to make better judgements and choices. It slows us down so we can begin to better understand the intuitions of our System 1, \u201cfast-track\u201d reactions and thus make reasoned decisions rather than reactive decisions. But when it comes to leadership, Warner and Wilder seem to place the emphasis on \u201cfast-track\u201d processes that are responsible for how we relate to others. Perhaps the insights from Kahneman and Warner and Wilder come closer to one another when the latter discuss the role of habits[17]<\/a> in disciplining \u201cfast-track\u201d processes. They write, \u201cWhen we leave the development of our fast track to chance we fail to mature and so we fail to lead under pressure.\u201d[18]<\/a><\/p>\n

Kahneman also hints at the intersection of joy and \u201cfast-track\u201d processes, something that is central to Warner and Wilder\u2019s brain science-leadership thesis. Kahneman writes in his chapter on cognitive ease: \u201c\u2026a remarkable discovery is the powerful effect of mood on\u2026intuitive performance\u2026putting the participants in a good mood before the test by having them think happy thoughts more than doubled accuracy.\u201d[19]<\/a> Warner and Wilder note, \u201cJoy levels are important in at least three ways. 1) The fast track in the brain is motivated to learn through joy. 2) People with emotional intelligence and relational skills always create joy around them. 3) Leadership skills do not transfer from one person to another in the absence of joy.\u201d[20]<\/a><\/p>\n

As I move toward the launch of my project portfolio, I want to explore further Warner and Wilder\u2019s insights around brain science and the development of leadership habits that foster not only maturity in a leader\u2019s self-identity, but also develops a community identity shaped by trust, joy, and engaged action. They have added another layer to my leadership map as I invest in the leadership development of others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Warner, Marcus, and E. James Wilder. 2016. Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead<\/em>. Chicago: Moody Publishers.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 13.<\/a><\/p>\n

[3] Ibid., 8.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 35-36.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 36.<\/a><\/p>\n

[6] Ibid.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid., 215.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid., 20-38.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Kahneman, Daniel. 2013. Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em>. 1st pbk. ed. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Polanyi, Michael, and Amartya Sen. 1966. The Tacit Dimension<\/em>. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Van der Kolk, Bessel A. 2015. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma<\/em>. New York, NY: Penguin Books.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Warner and Wilder, 26.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Ibid., 27.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> \u201cNavigating the Surreal.\u201d n.d. Accessed February 10, 2023. https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/navigating-the-surreal\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> Warner and Wilder, 29-31.<\/p>\n

[18]<\/a> Ibid., 58.<\/p>\n

[19]<\/a> Kahneman, 68-69.<\/p>\n

[20]<\/a> Warner and Wilder, 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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