Improving Decision Making with the Ladder of Inference

My Twitter colleague, Renee Charney of Charney Coaching & Consulting wrote a great post on her blog on the Ladder of Inference. Like Renee, I like this tool and it is a great tool for moving from faulty decision making to informed decision making. It’s helpful for preventing us from making that all too human mistake of jumping to conclusions.

What I like about this tool is its power to get us to take an honest look at our thought patterns, our strategies for collecting data, and the actions we take based on the assumptions we have made.  The Ladder of Inference explains why our confidence in the decisions we make is sometimes overrated. Peter Senge, who popularized this mental model in his book, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, notes the following about the assumptions behind our decision making:

• Our beliefs are  the truth.
• The truth is obvious.
• Our beliefs are based on real data.
• The data we select are the real data.

We may not say this directly, but through our steadfastness in the decisions we make, this is exactly the message we are sending to those around us.  The problems with the preceding observations are that (1) we never have a 100% batting average in the quality of our decisions and (2)  life and the workplace are too complex for our over confidence in our own decision making.  There are instances when our data and beliefs are faulty and when the truth is less than obvious.  In these times, the Ladder of Inference can be particularly helpful in grounding us in reality.

In the following video, Business Author Ed Muzzio provides some insights on using the Ladder of Inference to question assumptions:

Conclusion: Despite the craziness of our time, we need to slow down and question our assumptions to make better decisions.

Tagged as: management, organizational productivity, survival skills

About the Author

Robert Tanner is the founder of the Management is a Journey Blog and Principal Consultant at Business Consulting Solutions LLC. He is a certified change management consultant, management mentor, trainer, and an Adjunct Professor of Management. Robert has a passion for helping managers and leaders fulfill their potential. Connect with Robert on Google+ and Twitter. To join the mailing list, subscribe here.