Need to judge a risk more clearly? Think about it in a foreign language, says recent research findings. But does the foreign language need to be verbal for this to work? I think not… and here’s why.
First, the research:
University of Chicago psychology researchers conducted a series of experiments on more than 300 people from the U.S. and Korea to see how thinking in a foreign language affected risk in decision making. Published on April 18, 2012 by Psychological Science, the research findings were surprising. Rather than making the same decisions that they would have in their native language, the people displayed a “foreign language effect” on their judgment of risk in decision making: they made decisions that neutralized the risks they faced by making the decisions.
Thinking in a second language reduced deep-seated, misleading biases that unduly influence how they perceived risks and benefits.
Why did this “foreign language effect” occur? According to the researchers: “. . .these effects arise because a foreign language provides greater cognitive and emotional distance than a native tongue does.” (Keysar, et al., 2012.)
(For a great overview of the research in layman’s terms, check out this Wired article by Brandon Keim.)
Applying this to visual thinking:
I contend that you don’t have to think in Turkish for this to work. While this research focused on thinking in a foreign spoken language, the primary benefit comes when one thinks through the problem in a non-native language. And for many of us, I believe that these findings can translate over to thinking in a visual language.
I’ve seen this shift in people’s thinking time and again when conducting visual coaching sessions or even providing graphic facilitation for a team:
People seem to see – and think – more clearly when they solve a problem or share an idea using simple drawings.
An example of this popped up just this morning as part of a Facebook conversation started by Ellie Pope of Productivity Poolside:
Felena is talking about the visual coaching sessions I do with clients, but you can achieve the same results for yourself right now.
Leveraging your own (Visual) Foreign Language Effect:
So how can you use a visual language to help you mitigate risk for a pending decision?
Simple. Get out a sheet of paper and grab a maker. (Go ahead. I’ll wait.)
Got it? Great. We’re going to make a pizza. (A “problem pizza,” that is!)
This process comes from my friend Dan Roam, and it’s dazzling in its simplicity and effectiveness.
Here we go:
1. In the upper left corner, draw a little stick-figure of yourself. Label it as “me.”
2. Next, draw a big circle on the rest of the page. Label that as “my problem.”
3. Now, start drawing the answers to the following questions:
– Who/what?
– How much?
– Where?
– When?
– How?
– Why?
As you translate those answers into simple drawings, see how this affects the decision you ultimately make. Does it make the process less emotional for you? Is it easier to come to a decision? Do you reach that decision and then notice your gut saying “but I don’t wanna!”? And how does your response to that reaction change?
I think I’ll need to do one of these problem pizzas for jumping back into my own psychology roots and pursuing some follow-up research on the topic! What problem pizza is calling your name?
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