Shinota - Articles

FILTERS - Do you know how to find certain distinctions in your thinking?

Ashok

When I had to fix up an appointment with one of my old friends in a new city during my visit, I called him and asked him how to reach his home from one of the busy roads of the city. He went on giving right, left directions on the phone, explaining in detail, which I could not understand. I listened to him till he completed and then asked him about the nearest landmark and how far it would be from the landmark and the street name and so on, so that I could enquire when I reached the landmark.

It is tempting to explain things more in a way we like than in a way the listener likes. Though it is the same information, the style we adopt in presenting the information may play a very important role in relating to one another.

In the above instance, my friend's explanation was very detailed and I wanted to have a broad picture and to work out the details, on my own, when I needed them. I somehow didn't like to overburden my memory, with all the directions he gave or I could say, I am not used to. I have somehow got myself used to big chunk (filter) thinking.

Filter is a programme run by our mind by which we sort out unwanted information and take only selective information from what is presented. Understanding others’ filters and learning to relate to your customers or colleagues through their filters is a way to build mutual trust and rapport and enable the flow of ideas between you and another smoothly. There may be hundreds of filters, unique to each person in this world. Those listed below are a few of them, broadly seen among people. Learning to identify your own and others’ filters is the first step, before you master them and go on to discover more such filters people use.

There are no rights or wrongs. It is whether you can relate or not.

1. Associated / Disassociated

When you see the KBC programme, you can see some of the participants going through a mixture of emotions as they move from one question to another. On the contrary, you could see some people, remaining very still and calm, even after winning a huge sum of money.

The first set of people are said to be associated with the outcome of the competition and they live through their emotions at every step, while the second set of people are totally dissociated and hence are able to keep their calm and composure.

What filter could be active when Tendulkar faces the ball, when he has already scored 99 runs? Can you visualize that?

2. Towards / Away From

Your ability to think about what you want is termed as “Towards” filter and your ability to think about what you don't want is termed as “Away from” Filter.

In one of the test matches against Pakistan, the Indian team lost very badly by losing substantial number of wickets on the last day and just holding the fort on would have resulted in a draw. Tendulkar was criticized for facing more than 100 balls and scoring just 18 runs or so. The captain Sourav said, they wanted to avoid losing the match by holding on and pressing for a draw instead of making runs and going for a win. This is what we term as “Away from” filter and this filter is known to be ineffective for goal setting.

Dr. Abdul Kalam, our president, talks about Vision 2020. Which filter could he be using? Why?

3. Big Chunk / Small Chunk

Thinking in terms of the big picture is what we say as “Big Chunk Filter” or a “whole picture filter”. Thinking in terms of small details is what we say as “ small chunk filter or “detail filter”.

Would you as a leader like to explain every detail of the work to be completed for your company's next project to your subordinates or would you just give an outline and ask them to work out the details? Moreover, how would you like them to explain to you what they plan to do?

4. Match / Mismatch

Have you ever come across people, who would always start their communication with a “No”, irrespective of what you ask? It means they are very skilled at using the “mismatch filter”.

People who use the “match filter” attempt to identify the similarities and people who use the “mismatch filter” attempt to identify the differences.

What happens to the couple if the man has the “match filter” and his wife has the “mismatch filter” or vice versa?