The Virtues of Being Unsettled

Phred Dvorak's "Theory & Practice" column in today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) talks about the dangers of experience:

"The more experience we have, the more overconfident we get," [says Kishore Sengupta, an associate professor at INSEAD who designs simulations that test for effectiveness in areas such as project management.]

Alan Over, a managing consultant at U.K.-based PA Consulting Group who participated in Mr. Sengupta's simulation, says he now questions his assumptions more...  "I try to force myself to be nervous," [Over] says.  "Whenever I find myself falling back on what I did last time, or think I'm doing well, I try to unsettle myself." [My emphasis]

I suspect Over's strategy of "forcing myself to be nervous" is an over-correction, but he's touching on an important dynamic.  I've found that I'm more likely to make mistakes when I'm too comfortable, when I assume that I understand a situation because it feels familiar--in a word, when I'm settled.

So although I don't think it would be helpful to make myself nervous--which I associate with feelings of inadequacy and incompetence--I fully agree that it's helpful to unsettle myself, to shake myself up to heighten awareness and ward off overconfidence.  In fact, I do my best work as a coach when I trust myself enough to ask the right questions but don't believe that I have the right answers for the client--that balance allows me to make effective use of my instincts, while allowing the client to find the answers that are right for them.

Coaching conversations are all so different and go in such unexpected directions that it's easy for me to maintain a "productively unsettled" state of mind in that setting.  But I can readily fall prey to the dangers of experience while doing other work, and Dvorak's article is a helpful reminder to challenge myself when I'm feeling comfortable and relying on past experience to guide my actions and choices.  As professor Vijay Govindarajan of Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business notes in the WSJ: "Experience becomes a liability in times of change."

Photo by TheLizardQueen.  Yay Flickr and Creative Commons.

Comments

[Rodney Johnson]

In my current work with CEOs, I'd convey that very few feel they have relevant experience in this downturn. They're anxious, nervous and at times, paranoid about what might lie around the corner. I'm certain most wish they had just a little more experience in similar situations than they do. Maybe then, they'd sleep a little better and believe in the decisions they're making just a little bit more.

[Ed Batista]

I certainly agree that we can feel too unsettled at times, Rodney, particularly these days. But my larger point is that while we're well aware that danger may lurk in unfamiliar territory, we often ignore the unique danger posed by situations that feel familiar and comfortable.