Perception, Behavior and Green-Tinted Glasses

In "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," Oliver Sacks, a neurologist who writes like a novelist, tells the story of Madeline. Madeline was a 60-year-old woman who was blind and had cerebral palsy. She was from a well-off family who ensured that throughout her life, her needs were met. So much so that she and those around her believed her illness prevented her hands from working. Madeline herself referred to them as "god-forsaken lumps of dough."

Since cerebral palsy does not typically paralyze hands, Oliver Sacks set out to see if perhaps her hands could work. He started giving Madeline challenges to compel her to use her hands. After a few weeks and a concerted effort, they found her hands were not useless; she could feed herself and hold and touch things around her. After realizing and living in this new reality, Madeline became a sculptor with local recognition in her community. 

Madeline's story speaks to the power of perspective. It is a reminder that the way we see things affects our perceptions, which affects our behavior. As we reinforce our perceptions with behavior, we build confidence that our perceptions are accurate. Madeline had the perspective that her degenerative illness had kept her hands from working. As such, she and those around her behaved in ways that reinforced that idea. The more they operated on that belief, the less she used her hands and the more trustworthy the idea that her hands were useless seemed to be. When we have a definitive perspective, we do not feel the need to look or explore further.  Our perception reinforces our behavior, and our behavior reinforces our perception. 

It is similar to an element of the book "The Wizard of Oz" that did not make it into the movie. In the book, the Emerald City is not Emerald at all. Instead, the Great and Powerful Oz ordered that everyone who lives there wear green-tinted glasses. When Dorothy questions the Wizard, he explains that the people of Emerald City have been wearing their glasses for so long that they have come to believe that everything was green. He reminds Dorothy that the lens through which we choose to see the world colors everything we see. 

In Moving Minds, we help participants identify where their perspectives are limited and challenge them to change them, even just a little. For example, in an early activity in the Moving Minds workshop, we ask participants to create a dance using a given set of parameters. They make the dance, practice it, teach it and then perform it. The moves become solidified in the participant's body and mind. Then, after they have done this work, we ask them to take the same elements and make a dance that is completely different from the ones before. 

Although participants understand that this premise is possible, they still often find themselves stuck in their perspective. For example, they will say things such as: "I don't know if it is possible to come up with a completely different move because I am supposed to move my chest, and I am not sure if there is another way to move my chest other than the way I already did." Or they will come up with a move that they believe to be different, only to realize when they perform it alongside the original that it is similar to the older move.

Eventually, after a few trials, most people can develop a second and third move that all look entirely different from each other. One participant reflected that "The biggest challenge (to making a new move) was thinking that there could be one other way to make a completely different move. However, once I got past that block, I realized that there isn't just one different way to do it but many ways." 

When we change our perspective, we rarely see only one new difference. Instead, we set off a chain reaction of potential. In Madeline's case, once she realized that her hands weren't useless, a myriad of ways she could use them presented itself to her. One way was to make art. It is bittersweet to think of the reaction Madeline may have had before she met Dr. Sachs if someone had told her that she would become a sculptor. What if it wasn’t because she was cured of her cerebral palsy, but instead she was able to change her thinking? It is easy to imagine Madeline seeing those comments as a cruel joke. 

In Moving Minds, we try to convey the value of changing our perspective. We have so many preconceived notions of what our minds and bodies (individually and collectively) can and cannot do. We have solidified these ideas such that we rarely see the need to question them. When we start to challenge what we can do, we are not likely to realize something as drastic as Madeline, but we do begin to learn something new about ourselves and others. These realizations can sometimes feel like magic.

I'll Ax Throw With You, If You'll Dance With Me

In addition to Moving Minds, I have worked as a research associate for a management consulting firm. Over the years, the firm has had difficulty retaining full-time female consultants and women in leadership roles. It is not for lack of trying. An effort would be made each hiring cycle to bring more women on, but they often left within six months to a year, causing the recruitment process to start all over again.

It is not that the atmosphere was openly hostile to women. The tone in the office was exceedingly polite. I never saw or heard any of the men be openly masochistic or disparaging towards myself or the other women in the office. Instead, there was a social structure within the organization that put women into a position where they constantly needed to make an effort to adjust to the men. It was commonplace to be the only woman in a meeting. On the other hand, men were comfortably in their element with other men and perhaps a woman or two. 

The office’s social structure made it difficult for women to fully participate. First, the male-dominate power structure added difficulty to the interactions between managers and subordinates. For example, you would often see a manager take a male subordinate to lunch solo, but rarely would you see the same happen with the women. Second, when it came to company-sanctioned events, they often skewed towards events where the men were at ease.  

The firm made an effort to create team-building exercises, including events such as drinks at bars, ax throwing, playing darts, and rock climbing. For me and other women I spoke to, it felt like part of my role was to demonstrate an ability to hang by drinking whisky and throwing an ax with the best of them. As a reward, we would feel respected and admired by our colleagues. They were impressed that we could hold our own. It is not that these outings weren't fun. Although designed to bring the group together, each event seemed to make the men feel more at ease while challenging the women to move out of their comfort zone. 

We have heard feedback from offices when pitching a Moving Minds workshop that they can't picture their male coworkers participating in a dance experience. You have to wonder if the same concerns for the comfort and desires of the women are raised upon the suggestion of ax-throwing events at my office? Or, if concerns are raised, would they be countered with an argument that such events are good for the female coworkers because they make you feel uncomfortable and push you out of your comfort zone?  

Dance is not an inherently female art, just as ax-throwing is not inherently male. But inherent in dance are feminine attributes such as grace and flexibility, just as ax throwing has masculine strength and power attributes. There is an imbalance in the workplace in how often women must take on a male perspective versus how often men have to take on a female perspective. It was not that the men at the firm were opposed to trying out a female point of view. It was that the workings of the office hardly challenged them to do so.  

Dancing as a team-building exercise has many benefits to both men and women on a team. The benefits of dance can make a positive change in the work environment. Dance improves both physical and brain health (Harvard Dancing and the Brain). Participation in contemporary dance improves cognitive flexibility, the ability to think about multiple concepts simultaneously and switch attention between them. Dance also improves decision-making, reduces stress, and develops new neurons in the brain's executive function region. More recently, increased movement has also been found to improve creativity. 

It’s regrettable to think that we would pass up the physical and mental benefits of dance simply because it might make a few people feel uncomfortable. Full inclusion is not simply about taking down the "No Girls Allowed" sign from the treehouse. Full inclusion is challenging each other to learn from our differences and our natural tendencies. Women in the workplace have been accepting this challenge for years. Are the men in the workplace up for it too?

Dance and Critical Thinking

Moving Minds uses research on critical thinking and dance expertise to help people become better decision-makers and problem solvers. We often attribute critical thinking competence to scientists, doctors and engineers, not artists and dancers. We see critical thinking as a fact-based, analytical skill rooted in reality. Dance, on the other hand, is about creativity, expression, and talent. What does critical thinking have to do with dance?

Critical thinking is not limited to scientific thinking or logic. We use critical thinking every time we face a perplexing situation without an immediate answer. It’s the process of evaluation we go through before we make decisions or try to solve a problem. It is not problem-solving or decision-making in and of itself. When we imagine and explore all of the possible solutions or outcomes to a problem or situation and then evaluate them to make a decision, we are using critical thinking. 

Lesser-skilled critical thinkers tend to see decisions as binary, with one choice as flawed and the other as "right." They also see the answer to their problems as "out there." They express a lack of control over their choices and doubt that there is a benefit to imagining or exploring their options. They do not see the answer as a solution they can construct, but rather a predetermined outcome or option. For this reason, lesser-skilled critical thinkers often do not see the value in exploring the depth of outcomes within a given problem. Higher-skilled critical thinkers understand that there are multiple ways to look at any problem or situation and believe that doing so is worthwhile. They know that if they spend time reflecting and examining a situation, they will find new ways to think about it. Furthermore, they do not see the lack of a perfect solution as a reason to give up. They understand that although there isn't a right answer for their problem, there are still answers and outcomes that are better than others. 

Dancers, as with any artist working in any medium, are highly skilled critical thinkers. Art is a process of decision-making. When someone is choreographing a dance, they make multiple decisions. There is an unlimited amount of possible ways to make that decision. Therefore, although there is rarely a right way to move, there are multiple possible ways to do so. The dancer knows that no one move will completely convey what they want to the audience, but there are better and more expressive ways to move than others. 

To create and perform their work, dancers must take their ideas and embody them. Dancers are experts at embodying ideas. They do not only think about what a movement will look like, but also how it will feel. They explore the limits and restrictions of their body and know what discomfort to ignore and what pain must be respected. They take time to explore the sensations in their body to understand the best way to convey their ideas. They allow their bodies to stretch and move to the sensations they feel, as opposed to restricting them. On the surface, it might feel like these skills are not related to the decisions that we make in our everyday life. By exploring the process of dance and movement, we too can learn an embodied approach to critical thinking. 

When it comes to critical thinking, one of the biggest deterrents is fear. Fear is a physical reaction in the body, not a thought in the mind. It is a signal our body sends to our brain. Our brain then reacts swiftly and mostly unconsciously. If the fear comes from a physical object, our brain will tell us to fight or flee. If the fear comes from an idea, our brain tells us to fight the idea or get it out of our heads. Just as an explorer can not be afraid to open doors and look around corners, when we are in the process of critical thinking, we can not be fearful of imagining, exploring, and examining all possibilities in front of us. 

Dance is an excellent way to practice and study the feelings that startle us. Novelty, such as that found in a new problem, an unconventional idea, or a belief antithetical to ours, often triggers a fear response. When we are afraid of a problem, idea, or belief, we give up the opportunity to evaluate it and limit what is possible. In challenging their bodies to be expressive and flexible, dancers are not just getting better at what is already known; they open themselves and their audience to new ways of thinking and feeling. 

In Moving Minds, we challenge participants to try different perspectives. We challenge them to expand their thinking about what they see and how they participate in it. We also challenge them to consider how each of these perspectives feels in their bodies. How is their body reacting when they are in vulnerable situations and how is that affecting their decision-making? We challenge participants to slow down and feel the feedback their bodies give them so that this information doesn't become a trigger for fight or flight, but an avenue to explore and find new perspectives. 

Seeing critical thinking as a process that is just as much a dance as it is a scientific endeavor can help us become better decision-makers. It can remind us that most decisions are not about discovering or finding the solution to a problem. Critical thinking is an exploratory process that, in most cases, moves us incrementally towards a better understanding of what is in front of us. Like the dancer we can know that, although the possibilities can feel endless, there is value in taking time to explore them. We can also realize that our bodies have as much to tell us about these possibilities as our minds. 

When We Get Back Together

Have you watched a television show or video from the time before Covid-19 and caught yourself wince at how close people are standing to each other? Or dreamt of large, crowded parties, laughing with friends, only to note upon waking that you didn’t think once about your mask or your distance in the dream? After lockdown, quarantine and social distancing, it is hard to imagine being nearby others and feeling at ease. It is hard to picture sharing an elevator with strangers or reaching out your hand to introduce yourself to one. 

The opposite is easier to imagine: the feeling that being with others is risky and potentially harmful. We can imagine approaching a room full of people with trepidation. Or envision someone coming towards us in a hallway, our body tensing up and not knowing what to do or say. Even after we get the Covid-19 vaccine, our bodies will take some time to feel safe again. Although heightened hygiene may be a lingering benefit of these times, there will also be lingering disadvantages, including being out of practice in our social interactions.

Even before the pandemic, social isolation was an issue, so much so that the UK government established a Minister of Loneliness in 2018. Japan’s new prime minister followed suit this month. Studies show that eye contact in face-to-face interactions improves people’s perception and memories of each other. Additionally, a growing body of research on touch has found that it has both physiological and psychological effects. For example, certain types of touch lower our blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol, while stimulating memory and hormones associated with positive emotions. 

Although social anxiety and isolation were known issues before the pandemic, there is reason to believe that this is a great moment to address them. It appears that the majority of CEOs agree. In a recent Fortune/Delloite survey (2021) of 100 CEOs, 98 expressed the belief that mental health and well-being will be a priority even after the pandemic is gone. One of the first steps in prioritizing mental health and well-being will be to celebrate all of the ways we have managed to stay healthy and connected over the last year. The second will be to acknowledge that the simplest of human interactions, such as looking someone in the eye or giving a hug, can profoundly affect our mental health and well-being.

In Moving Minds, this is where we start. We know that eye contact and touch are cornerstones of communication and collaboration, facilitating decision-making and innovation. If you want to trust someone with your ideas, feelings or opinions, you have to be able to look each other in the eye or extend your hand out to touch them. You have to feel safe to do so. Although these simple gestures once seemed so commonplace, we can’t take them for granted anymore. Nor can we take for granted how meaningful it will feel when we finally get to do it.