What Cognitive Psychology Can Teach Leaders About Assumptions
Read the Scene Before You Solve the Crime What detective work can teach us about understanding before deciding
By Dr. Paul Dannar
A detective arrives at a crime scene after the story has already begun. Something happened there.
People acted, decisions were made, and events unfolded in a particular order. Some things may
have been moved while others were left untouched. Someone may be telling the truth, someone
may be lying, and someone else may be completely sincere and still be wrong about what they
saw. The detective wasn’t there, yet the detective is expected to determine what happened. That
requires more than finding evidence. It requires developing an understanding of the scene.
The temptation, of course, is to begin solving the crime immediately. A broken window suggests an
entry point.