Jeff Widman (.com)

I never thought of my friend Matt as clairvoyant. Until recently:

“So ABC happened…” – Jeff.
“Of course you did XYZ…” – Matt
“How did you know that?” – Jeff
“You responded that way to DEF and HIJ.” – Matt

Matt pulled together two situations to predict my response to a third situation.
It shocked me; I saw no connection between the three situations–they each involved completely different thought processes. But Matt, knowing my actions and not my thought processes, recognized a pattern.

Marketing researchers spend millions of dollars on focus groups, trying to recognize patterns. It’s hard work. It’s imperfect work. And understanding a pattern is different than recognizing it.

I think people are wired to recognize patterns in two ways:

1. Action–>Reaction. The tangible, concrete people–like Matt–watch life and say: “Whenever ABC circumstances happen, people respond with XYZ actions.” These people identify simple cause-effect relationships where others become distracted by complexity.
2. Thought-Process–>Reaction. The abstract people–like myself–watch life and say “Whenever people go through ABC thoughts and emotions, they respond with XYZ actions.” These people pull together a wide range of scenarios to see patterns when there is no apparent connection.

Neither way works better all the time. And I know from hanging out with Matt that sometimes he recognizes the pattern. Sometimes I recognize the pattern. You need both types because they identify different patterns.  Matt alternately shocks me with the patterns he recognizes and the patterns he misses.

Do you involve the other type of person in your decisions?
(I’m so abstract that I forgot the details of my conversation with Matt. )

Here’s the kicker: Patterns are always changing.

Virtual Assistant Needed: How to Hire And Work With a Virtual Assistant
Speaking at TEDx Zagreb in a few hours…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.