Imagine the consequences
Critical thinking is like common sense – not that common. But it is an undeniably valuable skill. It is the foundation for making sound choices. So how do we improve the way we make decisions as a nation?
All sorts of random thoughts tumble through my head while out biking and running. Some stick and some blow right on through. This is one that stuck. Imagine the consequences. It stuck because it has wide application for both good and bad outcomes.
Imagine the world we would live in if everyone could consider this statement before making a decision that had lasting effects.
Imagine the consequences of having that one extra beer before driving home and losing your licence for 6 months. Would you then think twice about knocking it back?
Imagine the consequences if you gave that shy and quiet colleague a put up every time you caught them doing well. What would that do to their confidence?
Imagine the consequences if you contributed 4% of your pay into Kiwi Saver instead of 2% after working out the cumulative difference.
Imagine the consequences if you learned to speak mandarin?
Imagine the consequences if you took your children on their first tramping trip?
How do we get people to think beyond the now? We live in a world that encourages instant gratification, likes and material trappings. And this is made more difficult as we are also programmed to prefer a small benefit today over a larger benefit tomorrow.
In one well known study, people were asked whether they would like $100 today or $120 in a week’s time. The majority chose $100 today. When they were asked if they preferred $100 in 12 months’ time, or $120 in 12 months and 1 weeks’ time, then $120 was the preference. The same gap but in the future. Go figure. We are blind to our irrationality.
Emotion drives our decision making, despite how much we like to think we are considered and rational beings. The part of our brain that deals in logic is just the PR division for the shot calling emotional department of our brain.
So how does one override thousands of years of evolution? The answer is critical thinking. Critical thinking helps avoid letting our many biases take the easy short cuts with our opinion forming and decision making. It is about challenging assumptions and reframing choices. Looking at things from others’ perspectives. Considering unintended consequences. Contrasting how you will feel about a decision next week, next month, and next year.
But in these attention shortened times this is not easy to communicate, as there is always the next clickbait headline that offers us some sweet and easily digestible sugar for our brains. We know deep down that we should be employing that cognitive capacity for something more meaningful, like learning about new things that expand our horizons, planning our future, nailing parked goals, or just talking to real people about real things. But hey, there’s plenty of time tomorrow...
So we need to create the hook, the entrance to the critical thinking conversation in a way it is appealing, not patronising, and ambiguous enough that it can be repurposed by its audience, but without losing its meaning.
If we could make ‘imagine the consequences’ part of the kiwi lexicon in a similar way as the clever marketing people at Tui have managed to with their ‘yeah right’ statement, then we would have a simple and memorable way in which to check ourselves and others when making decisions that have the potential to be of dubious quality.
I’m thinking a multi-sector approach where both public and private organisations like LTSA, insurance companies, finance companies, travel companies, the Commission for Financial Capability, health sector companies and the education sector to start to use the term ‘imagine the consequences’ in their communications. The shared goal being to get their audiences to think beyond the now and consider the future state, turning New Zealand into a nation where critical thinking became habitual.
Taking a leaf from the Tui playbook, we take a humorous approach and build it over time. As a messaging platform it offers a lot of creative latitude for the participating organisations.
If this could be done successfully, everyone benefits. We get better decision making in our personal lives, businesses become smarter, and government more effective.
Imagine living in a country that attracts the world’s attention through the quality of our decision making. Layer this with our number eight wire mentality, friendliness, and can-do attitude, it would truly help carve out our identity in the world.
So what next? My guess is you will agree in your head, think this would be cool if it happened, and then flick over to Insta/Stuff/FB/email and forget you ever read this.
Such is our attention span these days….
