Why Knowledge Games Work
The way humans gain the lion’s share of what we know is through a slow process of gathering informational knowledge – accumulated layers of additive information based on years of exposure and experience. For example, my knowledge of Spanish is informational knowledge. I learned it through years of listening to Spanish speakers and eventually formalized it by taking multiple semesters at university, building up bits of knowledge to get a fairly complete understanding of the language. And along this learning path, I had an anticipated outcome – fluency. I would eventually know enough verbs, conjugations, vocabulary, etc. to present myself as a Spanish speaker. But nowhere along that learning curve did I create something rather than just accumulate it. Spanish was already there; it was just a matter of me methodically crawling through it, adding to my increasingly large pile of information.
And this is how most of us approach problem-solving – by applying informational knowledge. We think of a problem (or perhaps create one!), get a sense of its magnitude, reference relevant information we know and then apply it as a solution. And there are many situations in which this is a perfectly appropriate plan of attack: you see someone choking in a restaurant, you hurriedly scan your knowledge from the past, you perform the Heimlich. Brilliant. But the shadow side to this type of problem solving is that it confines you to the boundaries of the smaller pieces of the pie chart above – the realm of what you know and the realm of what you know that you don’t know. So if you know the Heimlich (even half-assed), you try it. And if you know that you don’t know the Heimlich, you’re likely going to seek out someone who does and ask them to solve the problem. But it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to spontaneously invent a new move and liberate a choking gentleman from his hambone. That’s just not the way informational knowledge works. And if you impress yourself by actually inventing a new anti-choking technique, well, surprise. You’ve just entered the realm of transformational knowledge.
Transformational knowledge is knowledge that can seem to appear out of the ether. It emerges almost as a flash – a eureka moment – and appears most often when we’re either under duress or in a child-like state of learning. But since most of us eschew being “child-like” – we do take ourselves rather seriously – rarely do we get access to the biggest piece of the pie chart. We spend almost all of our time vacillating between the two dinky realms of either ‘what we know’ or ‘what we know that we don’t know.’ So it’s not shocking that when we’re tackling problems – business or personal – we find our way to the same results. How innovative can we really be when we’re treading and retreading the same ground? But don’t misunderstand; we’re not at fault – we can hardly be held responsible for what we don’t know that we don’t know. But we can be responsible for actively trying to get access to that space. To that big, mysterious piece of the pie that’s hoarding almost all of the creative solutions.
Knowledge games, as set forth in our book, are powerful because they’re designed to help us move out of the familiar and predictable and into the uncertain and unknown – where creation actually lives. We’re including games and meeting processes in which the rules aren’t rigid, you can veer away from a directed outcome and you’ll often be surprised at how it all turns out. We’re giving you tools to create, not repackage. And this is important because, as Einstein understood, “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
Eureka.
Note: This post was inspired by Landmark Education, a forum that applies the notions of informational vs. transformational knowledge in the areas of human consciousness and performance.
I try not to think about what I think about or know or do not know. I generally default to Socrates who said something like “All we know is that we know nothing” Which I often reduce to “We don’t know sh*t about sh*t.”
I solve problems by doing, and analyzing afterwords, as it seems to work out for the best in most cases. I guess my mind already knows what to do before it lets my conscious know that I know what to do. You know?
And when we acknowledge that we don’t know sh*t about sh*t, I consider that a eureka moment. Because that’s when you’ll let your subconscious start to do the work. It’s sort of like yielding to the creative rather than bossing it around with our analysis. And that’s not to suggest that analysis doesn’t have its place, it’s just that I think we become more effective problem-solvers and people when we entertain possibilities outside of those we already know. And good point – much of those discoveries happen when we just starting DOING sh*t and then asking questions later. Thanks for the comment, Jess.
Great post Sunni. Delving into a little Landmark too?! Nice. I do love that “Universe of Knowledge” visual. I had forgotten about it.
By the way, I had a dentist appointment today. After he was done drilling my teeth for an exceptionally long time (OUCH!), I asked him what was going on. I was thrilled to see him grab a piece of paper and draw a visual of my tooth, the cavity, nerves, etc. If my dentist can vizthink, anyone can vizthink. (Hmmmm… seems like the title of a blog post.)
Thanks for continuing to help me think differently… Steve
I had to throw some Landmark in there – it seems so applicable for so many things. Kind of like visual thinking! And more dentists should draw for their patients; it could take some of the fear of the unknown – “Oh, so you’re not drilling into my actual jaw. Thank god.” Thanks for the comment, Steve.
Sunni, I think you would enjoy Kim and Jason’s blog “Escape Adulthood,” if you haven’t already seen it. It’s about being childlike, not taking ourselves too seriously, embracing creativity and saving ourselves from “adultitis.” Check it out: http://kimandjason.com/blog/.
Thanks for the tip, Lisa! I can always use more practices to stop suffering from adultitis.
Can’t wait for your book to come out, Sunni! I think we all need to play more. Besides being fun (which is worth a lot by itself), it’s the fastest avenue to our creative selves – as all kids and artists know! In the spirit of sharing tips, one of my favourite books on the subject is “Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art” by Stephen Nachmanovitch (http://bit.ly/8tSQRS). And on the subject of not taking ourselves too seriously, Ben Zander gives us Rule #6, as follows:
Two prime ministers are sitting in a room discussing affairs of state. Suddenly a man bursts in, apoplectic with fury, shouting and stamping and banging his fist on the desk. The resident prime minister admonishes him: “Peter,” he says, “kindly remember Rule Number 6,” whereupon Peter is instantly restored to complete calm, apologizes, and withdraws.
The politicians return to their conversation, only to be interupted yet again twenty minutes later by an hysterical woman gesticulating wildly, her hair flying. Again the intruder is greeted with the words: “Marie, please remember Rule Number 6.” Complete calm descends once more, and she too withdraws with a bow and an apology.
When the scene is repeated for a third time, the visiting prime minister addresses his colleague: “My dear friend, I’ve seen many things in my life, but never anything as remarkable as this. Would you be willing to share with me the secret of Rule Number 6?”
“Very simple,” replies the resident prime minister. “Rule Number 6 is ‘Don’t take yourself so damn seriously.’”
“Ah,” says his visitor, “that is a fine rule.” After a moment of pondering, he inquires, “And what, may I ask, are the other rules?”
“There aren’t any.”
Avril, thanks for your sweet comment. (And for the joke. I’ll remember that.) One of the challenges with presenting “play” in the workplace is exactly that: people perceive play to be all fun and games and they can sometimes dismiss its value. Which, as inventors, innovators, artists and children know, is folly. I hope Knowledge Games serves to legitimize playing at work. That is certainly one of our goals.
Cheers,
Sunni
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