Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance reflects the difficulty in holding two opposing ideas in one's head at the same time. Aesop's Fables shares a classic example with "The Fox and the Grapes." 

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Idea 1. Own a learning culture. "Be a learn-it-all."

Idea 2. Keep it simple. 

Idea A. Buffett's 25-5 principle. List twenty-five priorities.

Idea B. Revise the list to the core five. 

Idea X. Have meaningful slides in your presentations. 

Idea Y. McKinsey slides - capture three major points. 

Idea i. More is better.

Idea ii Less is more. 

System 1. "Heuristics." Back of the envelope rapid decisions

System 2. "Cold and calculating." Deliberate complex decision

Concrete example: (via AI)

Imagine a veteran volleyball coach who tells players, “We adjust when the game gives us new information.” Then a freshman points out that the opponent has scored three times by tipping behind the block. The coach’s first impulse is to say, “Just dig it.” Now there’s a conflict between the coach’s belief about how they teach and how they just responded. The discomfort of recognizing that conflict is cognitive dissonance.

Beginner’s mind (shoshin) is what the coach can bring to the next moment. Instead of explaining away the freshman’s observation, the coach asks, “What did you see?” Maybe the film shows the short defender retreating as soon as the hitter starts her approach. The coach can use years of experience to fix the coverage and still let a freshman change what they see. That’s the openness Shunryu Suzuki describes in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.

An a 17-second illustration from The Last Samurai: Focus relentlessly.