partum intelligendo

Who are you? and Where are you?

At some recent conferences, the issue of identity has cropped up a few times - usually with the underlying assumption that each individual has a core identity. It's a seductive idea - and one that I've seen permeate organisational human resources, the self-help movement and research fields.

The inference taken from that assumption is that our identities are independent of our location or context, that work done to change an identity in one environment will "stick", transferring to other environments.

But it's not true. Our identities shift all the time - and our behaviours along with them. They change by location, by environment, by role we're playing.

Harry Eyres' recent FT article after a meeting with Amartya Sen hints at this here: "Many hats, not just one".

To give an example of how plural such affiliations can be, Sen writes that “the same person can be, without any contradiction, a South African citizen, of Asian origin, with Indian ancestry, a Christian, a socialist, a woman, a vegetarian, a jazz musician, a doctor”, and so on.

(My daughters know that my nationality depends on the shape and size of the ball being used on the screen and whether the sticks on the pitch are 100 metres apart and very tall, or 22 yards apart and waist-high. My patterns of behaviour and attitude will change depending on whether I see myself as being sibling/consultant/facilitator/mentor/offspring or parent.)

That shift between identities can be subtle - but I've often thought that, when we want to stress or un-stress a particular behaviour, one of the ways to do so is to look at the roles that generate it - and use that understanding to develop new approaches or interventions.

I love Sen's phrase in the article "viciousness of single identity politics" that boils someone down to a single role on which a group focuses. By looking farther afield at their other roles, we give them more humanity in our own eyes as well as giving us and them more choices to look at.

A new bad correlation, courtesy of Tim Harford

When we do SenseMaker™projects, one of the things that regularly crops up is the difference between correlations and causation. It's often the case that people read more into correlation numbers than is appropriate. And I always like having good examples for strong correlations that can be over-interpreted. Up until now, I've tended to fall back on divorce rate and national statistics.

But now, courtesy of the excellent Tim Harford (who's "Adapt" I'm enjoying as a well-written layman's guide to approaches to complex systems and environments), I've got a new one. I won't spoil the surprise - go read it here. The cheap and short version - size matters...and correlates.

Busking with a sense of humour

I spotted this busker at the bottom of the steps opposite the Bali memorial on Horseguards Parade and King Charles Street. Given that the building behind her is the Treasury, she obviously has a keen sense of humour - where else would you want to be seen fiddling?

Highly recommended - Cognitive Edge courses for Autumn 2011

There are spaces left on the London course this Autumn for Cognitive Edge accreditation.  It's running 13th-14th September for the main Cognitive Edge background and methods, with the SenseMaker™ workshop immediately following.

For researchers, marketeers, communicators, as well as the more obvious knowledge management professionals, there is no course that I'd recommend more highly.  The first two days are highly experiential - learning techniques and the tools that we apply to help people Make Sense of their environments - great for facilitators.  Day 3 is for those who are planning on using SenseMaker™ for a narrative project.

Details and registration at the link.  (There is one in Dallas the following week, but the Washington DC one the week before is already full.)

Cognitive Edge - News

 

And, for full disclosure, I'll be at the London one, helping present and sharing some of our experiences with the tools.