Just this past week I was engaged by a friend in debating a certain topic. My friend’s position was the same as what he watched on his favorite media channel. For me though there was more to the story.
Our discussion went down the line of what does the science say regarding the matter. I searched online finding multiple documents, news articles and other media that showed the case was far from closed. This didn’t seem to help. For some time, it confused me as to why the evidence made no impact on my friend’s point of view.
I began to wonder if our Birkman scores had anything to do with our impasse. For context he is also a client of mine. It was the difference between our Thought scores where I believe I found the reason for our inability to agree. He has a low Usual Behavior – Thought score whereas I have a high score. A Low score translates in part to someone who sees issues in terms of black and white, a preference for minimal ambiguity and that issues are reduced to the simplest form. That was exactly what I was witnessing with my friend in our little debate.
On the other hand, my Birkman report revealed this about me, “You are able to see many shades of grey and consider the subtle sides of issues that others may miss”. Wow, that was it. To me the subject under discussion was not clear cut as so many research studies revealed an ongoing debate rather than established fact.
Of course, this doesn’t reveal whether either my friend or I were just being stubborn. However, it brings to light the challenges people have when thinking through matters. Could our Thought score limit our ability to be enlightened on a subject? An interesting question. Certainly, someone with a low Thought score would do well to be aware of this possibility.
What is your Thought score?
If you’d like to know more about the Birkman Method please contact me.
