{"id":36920,"date":"2024-03-20T19:55:42","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T02:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36920"},"modified":"2024-03-21T05:58:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T12:58:01","slug":"dealing-with-my-delusions-about-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/dealing-with-my-delusions-about-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing With My Delusions About Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2018 a Canadian woman rented a black Nissan Sentra sedan. She drove to a nearby Walmart. When she came out of the store she hopped in her car and drove home. However, she jumped in the wrong car, a black Infiniti hatchback, and drove off. It turns out that the owner had gone into Walmart and left his fob in the car. When she pressed the ignition button, the Infiniti started. She drove the wrong car for two weeks! Upon returning the car to the rental company she complained to the manager that they had rented her a dirty car, the ashtray was full, and they had left golf clubs in the trunk. When the manager tried to tell her that it wasn\u2019t the car she rented, she didn\u2019t believe him and dug her heels in. The rental company located the car, drove her to Walmart and showed her the Nisan sedan she originally rented. It was only then that she realized that she had driven the wrong car all along.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have been warned by several authors that I might just be like this woman, thinking I’m right when in reality I’m wrong. Living in a state of delusion.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t say I like being told that I could be wrong. I hate to admit it, but something happens inside me when someone tells me I\u2019m not right. Like the woman in the story, I dig my heels and try to prove my point, with even greater conviction. Katherine Schultz affirmed that fact in the book Being Wrong: Adventures in the margin of error.<\/em> Schultz began with the question, \u201cWhy do we love being right?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, in Why We\u2019re Wrong About Nearly Everything: A Theory of Human Misunderstanding<\/em>, Bobby Duffy reveals human misperceptions of social reality from health to sex, money, immigration, and crime. His extensive research reveals that complex forces, both in our brains and in our world, shape our delusions.[2]<\/a> The former include \u2018biases\u2019 and \u2018heuristics\u2019 that arise from, what Daniel Kahneman would call, System 1 (fast) thinking.[3]<\/a> The latter includes news media, social media and politics.[4]<\/a> We are deluded people who overconfidently live our lives in a delusional state and when presented with evidence to the contrary we are driven even more deeply into our delusions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I know that this book is about our misperceptions about the world but, for the purpose of this blog, I want to reflect more on my research. The problem I identified was that the lack of collaborative leadership practices among leaders in the Alliance Canada results in diminished vision ownership and participation of God\u2019s people in His mission. If I were to state this as an opportunity I would say, that widespread collaborative practices among leaders in the Alliance Canada would result in increased vision ownership and increased participation of God\u2019s people in his mission. It makes sense to me, but I wonder if I am just biased against a more heroic form of leadership and biased toward a more collaborative form of leadership, given my training and experience. Is this true? Do leaders who are more collaborative gain greater vision ownership by their people? Do more people get involved in God\u2019s mission when the leader is more collaborative and less directive? The only way to know if I am wrong is to test this with others through this process of collaborative design. I told a scientist what I was doing, and she said, \u201cThat\u2019s amazing. That\u2019s a rather scientific approach to leadership. This is exactly what leaders should be doing before they inflict their ideas on their people.\u201d As I test this assumption, I must be open to the fact that I could be partially or fully wrong. I realize how hard that will be because we generally hold misperceptions with unusual confidence.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Secondly, this book influences my NPO because the recommended approach is consistent with a more collaborative mindset. Simon Walker notes, \u201cCollaboration always involves creating space for other people genuinely to express themselves.\u201d[6]<\/a> In a more directive form of leadership, the leader typically receives a vision and then delivers it to their people, with the expectation that people will \u201cbuy in\u201d. However, a more collaborative form of leadership requires the leader to be curious, inquire, create space for others, and invite the feedback of others before acting. A more collaborative form of leadership causes the leader to test their assumptions and update their plans as they gain more information through interaction with stakeholders. This is exactly the kind of mindset that is encouraged in this book.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How do we deal with our delusions? In chapter 11 of the book, Duffy provides ten principles that help me deal with my own potential biases as I research my NPO. Here are my top five:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Accept the emotion but challenge the thought. Finding out I\u2019m wrong can trigger a host of negative emotions. I need to feel whatever it is I\u2019m feeling, but make sure to engage in slow and deliberate thought.[8]<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Cultivate Skepticism but not cynicism. As I research, I should hold a healthy form of skepticism toward my findings.[9]<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Facts are not cure-alls, but they matter. Pay attention to data.[10]<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Listen to stories. Tell the story of what is happening.[11]<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Better and deeper engagement is possible. Take time to delve into the real heart of the matter. Research, ask questions, think deeply.[12]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    I know that is not a book about my NPO or research specifically. However, it\u2019s a book that encourages me to update my view of the world as I gain new information while humbly knowing I could be wrong.<\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> \u201cOntario Woman Accidentally Steals Car for 2 Weeks, Mistaking It for a Rental,\u201d CBC Radio<\/em>, July 10, 2018, https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/radio\/asithappens\/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.4740605\/ontario-woman-accidentally-steals-car-for-2-weeks-mistaking-it-for-a-rental-1.4740610.<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> Bobby Duffy, Why We\u2019re Wrong About Nearly Everything: A Theory of Human Misunderstanding<\/em>, First US edition (New York: Basic Books, 2019), 225.<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> Duffy, 12.<\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> Duffy, 14\u201315.<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> Duffy, 8.<\/p>\n

    [6]<\/a> Simon P. Walker, The Undefended Leader<\/em> (Carlisle: Piquant, 2010).Chapter 5. Kindle.<\/p>\n

    [7]<\/a> Duffy, Why We\u2019re Wrong about Nearly Everything<\/em>, 21.<\/p>\n

    [8]<\/a> Duffy, 231.<\/p>\n

    [9]<\/a> Duffy, 232.<\/p>\n

    [10]<\/a> Duffy, 237.<\/p>\n

    [11]<\/a> Duffy, 238.<\/p>\n

    [12]<\/a> Duffy, 239.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In 2018 a Canadian woman rented a black Nissan Sentra sedan. She drove to a nearby Walmart. When she came out of the store she hopped in her car and drove home. However, she jumped in the wrong car, a black Infiniti hatchback, and drove off. It turns out that the owner had gone into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"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":[1],"tags":[3011,2640],"class_list":["post-36920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dglp03","tag-duffy","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36920","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\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36920"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36932,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36920\/revisions\/36932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}