Current e-Journal

Catalytic Thinking Exercise:
Expose Assumptions with Ease

Two young fish are swimming along when they meet an older fish, who nods at them and says ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ The two young fish swim on for a bit. Eventually one looks at the other and asks, ‘What the hell is water?’

~ David Foster Wallace

There are so many waters we humans swim in. Family dynamics. Workplace systems. Cultural norms. Capitalism. Democracy. Patriarchy. The list is long.

Whether we are the victims or beneficiaries of those systems, we are all part of those systems. They live inside us, invisibly creating the assumptions that will determine the actions we take.

Assumptions about what is possible. Assumptions about resources. Assumptions about each other.

A necessary part of dismantling harmful systems is unearthing those assumptions. Unfortunately, that is often more easily said than done

First, assumptions are, by definition, invisible. Like the water we swim in, how does one identify something we don’t realize is even there?

Secondly, though, is how we feel during the process of unearthing those assumptions. Especially in circumstances where our beliefs and assumptions are part of how we define ourselves, the process can feel challenging, uncomfortable, and even painful.

Feeling challenged, our defenses go up, making it more difficult to step into a place of vulnerability and self-reflection – the opposite of what is needed for creating what is possible!

What, then, could work more smoothly? The answer can be found in the questions of Catalytic Thinking.

Because those questions feel safe, they allow us to explore with curiosity, while gently unearthing the assumptions and beliefs we might otherwise feel uncomfortable openly confronting.

Try this:

Catalytic Thinking encourages us to aim at what is possible, and to then determine the conditions that must be in place to turn that possibility into reality. Those necessary conditions for success include community attitudes and beliefs.

For that reason, questions about "conditions that must be in place in the community" are the key to unearthing our assumptions. Because it is a lot easier to see our values when we are talking about what others need to value. Here’s what that can look like.

Step 1: Ask the group…

• • In order for our community to be more humane and more equitable (or whatever you are seeking as your ultimate goal), what must the people in our community understand?
  • What must those individuals know?
  • What must they value and believe?

You’ll notice that these questions are not asking people about their assumptions. You’re instead asking them what OTHERS need to believe, not themselves. And yet, as folks answer those questions, what they are actually sharing are, in fact, their assumptions. They assume people would need to know X, or that people in their community would need to value Y. They have shared their assumptions without your directly asking for them.

Step 2: Dig deeper
To move beyond the surface, for each of their answers, ask, “What is important about that? Walk me through what you’re thinking.” That allows folks to dig deeper into their assumptions, again focused not on themselves, but on their beliefs about others.

Step 3: Focusing inward
From there, folks can slowly turn the camera back on themselves. For example, if they say, “The people in our community would need to listen respectfully and learn from people with whom they disagree,” you could then ask…

• • Do we walk that talk? In what ways are our own actions either reflecting or failing to reflect that?
  • What might it look like if we were listening and learning from the people with whom we disagree? What would we see happening? What would we hear?
  • Importantly, are we actually doing that? Where are examples of where we might improve?
  • What might we do to ensure we are walking the talk we wish others would walk?

These conversations don’t feel immediately antagonistic or self-revealing. And yet they ease folks into talking about stuff that might otherwise cause considerable angst. Often these conversations quietly stick with people long after they’ve left the room, leading people to reconsider their own role in perpetuating systems they didn’t realize were so deeply engrained in their being. All without directly asking them to do so.

That is the power of questions to change our assumptions and beliefs. The questions of Catalytic Thinking are designed to work with the mechanics of our brains rather than always fighting with the defensive parts of the brain. That is why, in these times of division and fear, the questions of Catalytic Thinking are crucial for moving us forward together.