{"id":31472,"date":"2023-03-01T18:59:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T02:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=31472"},"modified":"2023-03-13T09:00:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T16:00:09","slug":"leadership-lessons-from-wile-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/leadership-lessons-from-wile-e\/","title":{"rendered":"Leadership Lessons from Wile E."},"content":{"rendered":"

Leaders make a lot of decisions.\u00a0 After reading <\/span>Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/span><\/i> by the economist, psychologist and professor, Dr. David Kahneman, not only are a lot of decisions made on a daily basis but my decision making process involves the interplay of two systems. \u00a0 System one is the automatic system that acts without conscious effort, while system two requires a lot of mental effort. [1]\u00a0 <\/span>Some research suggests I make as many as 35,000 decisions every day. Researchers at Cornell University estimate individuals make 226.7 decisions each day on food alone.\u00a0 As your level of responsibility increases, so do the numerous choices one has to make. It\u2019s estimated that an adult makes about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions each day. [2] Each decision I make carries certain consequences that are both good and bad.\u00a0 Has anyone ever had a<\/span> problem arise when system one went to action, instead of system two?\u00a0 Or system two, when left in charge, led to a decision made out of inexperience, leading to disaster? [3]\u00a0 All of us are all too familiar with this leadership dynamic, even Wile E. Coyote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leadership Lessons from Wile E.<\/b><\/p>\n

*Disclaimer – Often the craft of teaching, especially elementary students,\u00a0 involves taking big concepts and breaking them down into more bite size chunks that students can master. Have a little fun with me here, Wile E. fans? (or not).<\/span><\/p>\n

As I was thinking about the concepts presented in Kahneman\u2019s book, and the need to relate to them in a fun way (it has been a crazy week), Wile Ethelbert Coyote, the creative coyote who never succeeded in catching his opponent, Road Runner, came to mind.\u00a0 This inventive, Saturday morning cartoon character lacked differentiation (impatient, often displaying emotion on a sign for viewers to read) and in many instances did not plan for potential consequences of his actions (often falling off of a cliff). [4]\u00a0 This persistent <\/span>coyote<\/span> went to extreme lengths to succeed, even if it meant hurting himself in the process. [5] While Wile E. Coyote may not have been the most differentiated leader, he often had to think fast, making unconscious decisions based on memories of past actions (that failed) and emotions (linked to that failure) to do all that he could to try to catch the Road Runner.\u00a0 In leadership, these gut decisions are about as right as many times as they are wrong, Kahneman states, therefore we can\u2019t rely on them with any confidence. [6]\u00a0 However, Wile E.\u2019s qualification is \u201cGenius\u201d (check out his business card).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Wile E. was often found consulting, or anchoring his decisions using the ACME catalog, A Company that Makes Everything catalog.\u00a0 Maybe similar to Amazon? \u00a0 He often anchored his success on the contents of the catalog hoping for the realization of his dream, a meetup with the speedy Road Runner.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

During decision making, anchoring occurs when individuals use an initial piece of information to make subsequent judgments. Once an anchor is set, other judgments are made by adjusting away from that anchor, and there is a bias toward interpreting other information around the anchor. [7] There have been times in my leadership when I have created an anchor, and then realized that a bias was created, framing my understanding of that situation, either positively or negatively.\u00a0 This happens quite frequently in education, when a practice is adopted based on an interpretation of data to later discover that a bias has formed for that particular method, but needs to be adjusted or shifted to allow for new learning.\u00a0 This may have also been the case for Wile E., noting that in many episodes he favored the use of explosives and extreme measures to catch and eliminate Road Runner, often ending in a fall off a cliff.\u00a0 Ouch!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\".\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

After trying several ACME products, Wile E. Coyote quickly jumps to conclusions, not having all of the facts.\u00a0 Referencing<\/span> the book, Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/span><\/i>, the author uses the acronym, W.Y.S.I.A.T.I. or \u201cwhat you see is all there is\u201d as a way to illustrate how leaders often jump to conclusions with limited information.\u00a0 I have found that it is helpful for me to ask questions and gain understanding as a way to understand the fact that there is more to the story.\u00a0 Chuck Jones, who directed most of the Wile E. Coyote shorts stated that he based Wile E. partly on himself, since he frequently failed or injured himself attempting to use tools or do repairs at home. [8]\u00a0 Jones\u2019 portrayal of his own struggles through Wile E. also reminds us that within all forms of art, what you see is not all there is.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I appreciate Chuck Jones\u2019 animation of a character, who like all of us, experiences the challenges of making decisions with a balance of both systems one and two.\u00a0 There have been a few times this week when I felt the effects of a busy and depleted system two, feeling tired and not wanting to make another decision.\u00a0 Amen? <\/span>While I may feel depleted when my systems are not firing as they should, I am incredibly grateful that God gives wisdom so that I can make good decisions even in my depletion . . .\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/b>If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.\u201d James 1:5 [9]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Feelings of depletion pass and while I may find myself wanting to hold up a sign with my emotions, \u201cIn Heaven\u2019s Name. . . What am I doing?\u201d, I center my mind on \u201c<\/span>whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things.\u201d\u00a0 Philippians 4:8 [10]<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] <\/span>Daniel Kahneman, <\/span>Thinking, Fast and Slow <\/span><\/i>(New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013).<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] \u201c<\/span>How Many Decisions Do We Make Each Day?\u201d Psychology Today, accessed February 27, 2023, <\/span>https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/stretching-theory\/201809\/how-many-decisions-do-we-make-each-day<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] <\/span>Daniel Kahneman, <\/span>Thinking, Fast and Slow <\/span><\/i>(New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013).<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Warner Brothers, \u201cLooney Tuesdays\u201d, accessed February 26, 2023,\u00a0 <\/span>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Aewj-0wcMIo<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] <\/span>\u00a0Edwin H. Friedman and Peter Steinke, <\/span>A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (10th Anniversary, Revised Edition)<\/span><\/i> (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2017).<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Daniel Kahneman, <\/span>Thinking, Fast and Slow <\/span><\/i>(New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013).<\/span><\/p>\n

[7] \u201c<\/span>The Anchoring Effect and How it Can Impact Your Negotiation,\u201d Harvard Law School, accessed February 27, 2023,<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.pon.harvard.edu\/daily\/negotiation-skills-daily\/the-drawbacks-of-goals\/#:~:text=During%20decision%20making%2C%20anchoring%20occurs,other%20information%20around%20the%20anchor<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8] Welcome to the Chuck Jones Virtual Experience, accessed February 26, 2023, <\/span>https:\/\/chuckjones.com\/characters\/wile-e-coyote\/<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[9] New Living Translation, James 1:5.<\/span><\/p>\n

[10] New International Version, Philippians 4:8.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leaders make a lot of decisions.\u00a0 After reading Thinking, Fast and Slow by the economist, psychologist and professor, Dr. David Kahneman, not only are a lot of decisions made on a daily basis but my decision making process involves the interplay of two systems. \u00a0 System one is the automatic system that acts without conscious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310,1],"tags":[2489,2052],"class_list":["post-31472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp02","tag-kahneman","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31472"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31806,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31472\/revisions\/31806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}