Rebel Ideas_Summary

THE INTRODUCTION Rebel Ideas, according to the author - Matthew Syed offers a radical guide to success that can easily be applied to business as it can to everyday life. It challenges hierarchies, encourages constructive dissent and forces us to think again about where the best ideas really come from. Join us every Friday as we dive deep into this book, Chapter by Chapter. Courtesy: PD-TD Leadership Book Club

Chapter 1 – Collective Blindness 'Leye led this first review, introducing the book to be about diversity - not just demographic, but cognitive diversity. The power of bringing people together who think differently from one another. Using the 9/11 attack and CIA as a case study by the author, he pointed out what seemed to have failed in that incident - Poor Communication between the intelligence service, universalism, complexity of the attack, and more importantly, the homogeneity at the CIA which created a vast collective blind spot. Discussions revolved around ‘perspective blindness’, which refers to the fact that we are oblivious to our own blind spots. We perceive and interpret the world through frames of reference but we do not see the frames of reference themselves. This, in turn, means that we tend to underestimate the extent to which we can learn from people with different points of view. Other key lessons include: Not judging a book by its cover – appearance can be deceptive, The importance of Communication and Collaboration, Developing capacity to connect the ‘dots’ Understanding that the problem is in the bigger picture, not in the details, The need for Cognitive diversity in teams. Considering the fact that problems and challenges faced today tend to be more complex and non- linear, groups that contain diverse views have a huge and often decisive advantage. 'Leye went ahead to also differentiate between homogeneous and diverse teams, and the latter tend to be richer and more nuanced towards understanding their fellow human beings. Ask Yourself JOIN US AS WE READ AND REVIEW THE CHAPTERS OF How open am I to diversity of opinion and experience? THIS BOOK EVERY FRIDAY. Do I encourage people to speak up, and challenge thoughts within my team? How can I improve on getting cognitive diversity when critical decisions are to be made? \"If you really consider differences of opinion and dissenting views and different experiential bases, what you get is a richer and more accurate view of the world\" - Carmen Medina Courtesy: PD-TD Leadership Book Club

CHAPTER 2 – REBELS VERSUS CLONES ASK YOURSELF Abubakar while leading the review and discussions on this chapter drew attention What clone-like groups do I to the lessons from several case studies and examples that the author shared. For belong to? simple problem domains like a race, one skillful person might possess all the How willing and ready am I to information, hence, diversity is unnecessary. However, for complex and challenging have people that won't mirror problem domains like economic forecasting or predictions, no one person can have my perspectives on my team? all the relevant insights. Even the smartest individual will have only a subset of knowledge required and will have overlapping frames of reference, thus rendering them collectively myopic. Wise groups on the other hand, express a different dynamic. They are not clone-like. They do not parrot the same views. Instead, they are more like groups of rebels. Also, our social networks are full of people with similar experiences, views and beliefs. Even when groups start out with diversity, this can be squeezed out by a process of social osmosis as people gravitate towards the dominant assumptions, a phenomenon known as ‘assimilation’. Diversity contributes to collective intelligence, but only when it is relevant. The key is to find people with perspectives that are both germane and synergistic. Diverse groups of problem-solvers consistently outperformed groups of the best and brightest. A case study is the Bletchley Park team during the WW2 which was diverse across multiple dimensions. They had different intellectual backgrounds, but also demographic backgrounds. This was instrumental in the success of cracking the Enigma code. \"Minority viewpoints are important, not because they tend to prevail but because they stimulate divergent attention and thought.\" - Charlan Nemeth Courtesy: PD-TD Leadership Book Club

Chapter 3– Constructive Dissent Tobenna started the review of this chapter by highlighting lessons from two incidents used as case studies by the author - the expedition teams of Mount Everest in May 1996, and the United Airlines flight 173 of December 1978. In VUCA situations, dominance dynamics can have darker consequences, and for diversity to work its magic, different perspectives and judgements must be expressed - what we have called rebel ideas. However, the real choice is not between hierarchy and diversity, but about how to gain the benefits of both. Meeting ineffectiveness is attributed to dysfunctional communication - where member's insights are suppressed or even go to parrot the opinions of the dominant persons or HiPPOs on the team. The determination of when to use dominance dynamics and prestige dynamics - the two types of hierarchy, is critical for success in making and executing complex decisions. These techniques help protect cognitive diversity from the dangers of dominance: The 'golden silence' - Here, the team silently read a six-page memo that summarizes, in narrative form, the main agenda item for 30 minutes at the start of a meeting. Brainwriting - Here, team members write them down on cards, which are then posted on a wall for the rest of the group to vote on instead of stating the ideas out loud. When the environment is complex and uncertain, this is precisely when one brain – even a dominant brain – is insufficient to solve the problem. It is precisely when we need diverse voices to maximize collective intelligence. And yet this is precisely the time when we unconsciously acquiesce in the dubious comfort of a dominant leader. This leaves us with a dangerous paradox. Ask Yourself Do I create a psychologically safe environment for people to offer suggestions? As a leader, am I able to transit between the dominance and prestige techniques within my team? JOIN US AS WE READ AND How do I manage my team's anxiety in VUCA times and still ensure diversity in order to maximize REVIEW THE CHAPTERS OF collective intelligence? THIS BOOK EVERY FRIDAY. \"The greatest tragedy of mankind comes from the inability of people to have thoughtful disagreement to find out what's true.\" - Adam Grant Courtesy: PD-TD Leadership Book Club

CHAPTER 4 - INNOVATION ASK YOURSELF Nnamdi began this review with the stories around how 2 innovations - wheeled Do I have an open mind? Am I welcoming to innovative luggage, and Electrification, were faced with rejection challenges before being changes? finally accepted. We learned that in a fast-moving world, we need to master not How well am I expanding and leveraging on my social merely the art of invention but of personal reinvention. This can be achieved by; network to help feed my mind for innovations? Do I socialize with people, or I stay fixated on doing my Having an outsider mindset (wandering - according to Jeff Bezos), and tasks and meeting my targets? Thinking through the assumption reversal. Nnamdi also went further to discuss the 2 kinds of innovation: Courtesy: PD-TD Leadership Book Club 1. Incremental: the idea of knowledge deepening within well-defined boundaries 2. Recombinant: fusing ideas from different fields, and previously unrelated. Innovation is not just about creativity, it is also about connections. If you come up with a new idea and share it with other people, its potential increases. This is known as information spillover. Once ideas are shared, they are not just transmitted to other minds, but they can now be combined with yet more ideas, hence, creating the possibilities for multiplication and not just adding up. Big networks permit great scope for recombination of ideas, competition between ideas, and information spillover. When people are linked to similar people and ideas, they tend to make similar connections and discoveries. However, the more people retreat into their silos, the more tthey perceive new ideas as threats rather than opportunities. A case study of 'Route 128' and 'Silicon valley' helped explain the importance of social networking to innovation. Here, the differentiating factor for success and business continuity between both communities was the dense social networks and open labour markets of silicon valley. This encouraged experimentation and entrepreneurship. \"If you want to have cool technology, it is better to be social than smart\" - Joseph Henrich

CHAPTER 5– ECHO CHAMBERS Tolu, while leading this review, drew attention to the lessons learned from the author's story of Derek Black. According to her, Echo Chamber is an environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced and alternative ideas are not considered. Echo chambers are structures of strategic discrediting, rather than bad informational connectivity, and can exist even when information flows well. People enter and remain in Echo Chambers usually through one or more of these phenomena: Beliefs: Which are regularly repeated by people that surround us. Epistemic Wall: A phenomenon that doesn't allow us to question our own positions, but rather reinforce our beliefs even in the face of contrary beliefs. Ad-Hominem: Here, individuals in echo chambers rely on attacking people's credibility, rather than cross-checking the evidence of their points or argument. Polarity: Usually amplified by echo chambers and ad-hominem arguments which results into polarized groups and reduced discourse. Exiting an Echo Chamber would require us to: JOIN US AS WE READ AND Embrace Diversity REVIEW THE CHAPTERS OF Interact More THIS BOOK EVERY FRIDAY. Be Open Minded to Engage Contrary Opinions and Evidences Trust and be Trustworthy Trust is an essential ingredient of belief formation. Because we don’t have the time to check the evidence for everything, we have to take some things at face value. The world of information, somewhat like commerce, is presupposed by trust. Ask Yourself Do I operate in some form of echo chamber - good or bad? How can I be more open to engage opinions and evidences that are contrary to mine? Do I trust my leaders, and can I be trusted? \"They say distrust is contagious. Sometimes, trust can be contagious too\" - Matthew Stevenson. Courtesy: PD-TD Leadership Book Club

CHAPTER 6 - BEYOND AVERAGE ASK 'Wale began this chapter's review with case studies of the research conducted by YOURSELF Eran Segal on the \"Optimal Diet\", and the Aircraft Cockpit Design by the US Air Force in the 1940s. These and other case studies in this chapter pointed to the How well do I understand the dangers of standardization based on an average of a sample population. The peculiarity of my team average is, in a certain sense, non-representative. A ‘multimodal distribution'. members, and use this information to guide my We live in a more standardized world where education, working arrangements, relationship with them? policies, medicine, even psychological theories have become standardized. And all, How can I create an open and in their different ways, fail to take into account human diversity. We are all different flexible atmosphere in my from one another. We have different physical dimensions, but also different team for members to express cognitive traits, strengths and weaknesses, experiences and interests. Thus, our their differences and also feel systems should, where possible, take account of this variation. empowered? Although standardization can often be useful and valuable. When institutions are too rigid, everyone suffers as it is one step away from treating people not as diverse individuals, but as clones. Workers capable of altering the script are more likely to take action to fix problems, and make changes that make them happier and more productive to their jobs. These are also some desirable attributes to get beyond the average: Differentiation Diversity Personalization Flexibility Flexibility has dangers, of course. When we have the latitude to make changes, we also have the freedom to get things wrong. There always has to be a balance. \"Diversity is a part and parcel of humanity. It is time to take it seriously\" - Eran Segal Courtesy: PD-TD Leadership Book Club

CHAPTER 7 - THE BIG PICTURE Courtesy: PD-TD Leadership Book Club Kenneth opened this review with a contradiction to the popular saying that \"Big Brains lead to Great Ideas\". From all we've read in the book, and conclusions from a study by researchers at the Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, it rightfully should be \"Great Ideas (via accumulation and recombination of simple ideas) lead to Big Brain.s\" Our species is the most formidable on the planet not because we are Ask Yourself individually formidable, but because we are collectively diverse. By bringing different insights together, by connecting within and across generations, by How can I eliminate Unconscious Bias in my recombining rebel ideas, we have created innovations of a quite breathtaking team and optimize Cognitive Diversity? kind. It is our sociability that drove our smartness, not the other way around. Am I open to learning from anyone, no matter Diversity is not merely the ingredient that drives the collective intelligence of their age? human groups, it is the secret of our success. Am I a giver? Will I go all out to share knowledge and help others? Further within the chapter, here are 3 applications of lessons from the book; Unconscious Bias: This refers to how people get denied opportunities because of arbitrary factors such as race or gender. Shadow Boards: These consist of young people who advise executives on key decisions and strategies, thus lifting the conceptual blinkers that can attach to age. Giving Attitude: The growing importance of diversity presents powerful evidence that people with a giving attitude are becoming ever more successful and are able to construct more diverse networks. Diversity is the ingredient that can help us to solve our most pressing problems, and help us to break free of all negative echo chambers. \"Great cultures bring problems and disagreements to the surface and solve them well. They love imagining and building great things that haven’t been built before.\" - Ray Dalio.