Shared Minds

Where 'we' means business.

Commentaries on why and how people come together to do things better. And why they don't. Lessons for leaders from business, culture and community.

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Marcus Iles · 1 min read
Having two eyes means that [humans receive two different versions of the same world.] The brain combines them in a neurological act called ['binding'] to create perspective. What you think is 'your truth' is actually a perspective that comes from your own different views.
An idea to take into Monday

One change programme. Five different stories.

Everyone in the room nodded. Everyone left sure the others meant what they meant. That's the false consensus effect: we overestimate how far others share our view, so agreement in the meeting hides five separate strategies on the ground.

CEO“It's our future.”A bold repositioning that finally makes us the business we said we'd be.
CFO“It's the savings.”Twelve per cent off the cost base by year two, and a cleaner balance sheet.
CPO“It's the culture.”A chance to reset how people are led, rewarded and developed.
COO“It's the systems.”A platform migration with a hard deadline and no room for drift.
CMO“It's the brand.”A new story to tell customers, starting with next quarter's launch.

Same slide deck. Same sign-off. Five different ideas of what success looks like.

Coordinated action depends on three things being genuinely shared.

Get all three and you have something that behaves like a shared mind: thousands of decisions, made without supervision, pointing the same way.

AttentionPeople attending to the same priority, not just seeing it on the agenda.
InterpretationA common understanding of what it means, why it matters and what it asks of each of us.
ExpectationA belief that the organisation will still care in two years' time, when it's inconvenient.

“A strategy nobody can retell is not shared, however nicely designed the original PowerPoint deck may have been.”