The ladder of inference is an important tool in understanding how we think and helping others understand why we think what we do. When working with others, this is an important capability. This brief video explains how to use the ladder to develop your leadership capability.

1. 1
Climbing
a
Different
Kind
of
Ladder
LADDER
of
INFERENCE
Presented
by
Sylvia
Gaffney,
Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

2. 2
Climbing
a
Different
Kind
of
Ladder
LADDER
of
INFERENCE
In
collabora:on
with
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

3. 3
Why
the
Ladder?
✓ Improve
communica:on  Facilitate
conflict
solu:ons
✓ Reach
agreement
or
 Improve
team
interac:on
advance
resolu:on  Open
for
diverse
opinions
✓ Arrive
at
new
possibili:es  Prevent
overreac:on
✓ Learn
from
another’s
 Understand
your
perspec:ve immediate
response
to
a
✓ Allow
for
mul:ple
voices situa:on
✓ Understand
resistance
to
 Uncover
own
&
other
change biases
✓ Surface
outdated
 Unearth
reasoning
&
origin
assump:ons of
your
assump:ons
 Surface
and
test
your
✓ Understand
the
logic
thinking
before
you
discuss
behind
recommenda:ons
a
topic
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

4. 4
Consider
and
Remember
Two
or
more
ladders
in
any
conversa4on
✦
Unconscious
&
Automa.c
✦
Auto
Pilot
✦
Mental
Models
✦
Different
Interpreta.ons
✦
Jargon
&
Acronyms
✦
Emo.onally
Charged
Triggers
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

5. 5
Make
the
Ladder
Work
Take
Ac:on
Make
Assump:ons,
Draw
Conclusions
&
Adopt
Beliefs
Add
Meaning
Select
Filtered
Data
Screen
Data
Observe
from
a
pool
of
all
available
Data
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

6. 23
6
Intui:on
and
Experience
Count
In
addi'on
to
walking
down
the
ladder
✦ Trust
flashes
of
insight
✦ Rely
on
lessons
learned
✦ Have
knowledge
&
know-­‐how
✦ Been
around
the
block
a
few
.mes
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

7. 7
Context
MaVers
Content
=
Actual
words
or
behavior
Context
=
Background
for
content
✦
The
framework
✦
The
environment
✦
The
seJng
✦
Like
the
canvas
for
a
pain.ng
Contextual
clues
needed
for
shared
meanings
Consider
the
villagers
response
when
the
boy
cried
wolf!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

8. 8
Making
the
Ladder
Work
for
Us
Awareness
✦ Self
✦ Others
✦ Situa'on
Advocacy
–
clarifies
my
Ladder
Inquiry
–
explores
your
Ladder
Our
natural
tendency
&
comfort
with
default
approach
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

9. 9
Default
Posi:on
-­‐
Advocacy
or
Inquiry
Natural
Tendency
=
Promote
or
Ques'on
More
Comfortable
Either
Or
Both
Can
LEARN
to
be
more
Adept
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

10. 10
Purpose
of
Advocacy
Advocacy
✦ Reveals
your
thinking
✦ Describes
the
data
you’re
operating
from
✦ States
your
assumptions
✦ Inquires
into
other
people’s
reactions
to
your
point
of
view
✦ Encourages
others
to
provide
different
perspectives
or
question
yours
✦ Helps
you
listen
with
an
open
mind
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

11. 11
Purpose
of
Inquiry
Inquiry
✦ Expands
current
understanding
✦ Explores
how
another
person
views
the
world
✦ Advances
genuine
curiosity
✦ Encourages
openness
to
another’s
perspective
✦ Promotes
Inquiry
not
Inquisition
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

12. 12
Climb
UP
Advoca:ng
Move
up
one
rung
at
a
'me
allowing
others
to
follow
your
thought
process
Reveal
your
thinking
and
how
you
arrived
at
your
conclusion
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

13. 13
Ques:ons
to
ask
when
Advoca:ng
“What
quesAons
do
you
sAll
have?”
“Does
it
make
sense
to
you?”
“What
am
I
missing?”
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

14. 14
Advocacy
RISK
Vulnerability
possibility
–
you’re
out
there
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

15. 15
Walk
DOWN
Inquiring
Find
out
data
person
is
using
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

16. 16
Ques:ons
to
ask
when
Inquiring
“What
do
you
mean
when
you
say…?”
“Is
there
a
different
word
or
phrase
that
would
help
clarify
your
meaning?”
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

17. 17
Inquiry
Challenge
&
RISK
Difficult
to
listen
and
not
defend
Culture
usually
rewards
having
answers
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

18. 18
Balancing
Advocacy
&
Inquiry
only
or
over
Advocate
✦ Listening
diminishes
only
or
over
Inquire
✦ Knowledge
not
shared
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

19. 19
Dysfunc:onal
Use
of
the
Ladder
Intent
to
understand
is
the
cri4cal
condi4on
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

20. 20
Trust
-­‐
Respect
-­‐
Civility
Create
and
sustain
a
genuinely
safe
space
to
allow
for
risk,
vulnerability,
shared
meaning,
and
breakthrough
thinking
✦ Trust
–
depend
on
&
believe
in
you
&
me
✦ Respect
–
value
I
have
for
myself
&
you
✦ Civility
–
beyond
courtesy
&
politeness
“Trust
is
the
acAon
side
of
respect
–
show
your
respect
by
trusAng.”
Caela
Farren
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

21. 21
Pause,
Reflect,
Check
Either
aware
of
each
rung
of
the
ladder
-­‐
OR
-­‐
likely
to
do
It
AGAIN
and
again
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

22. 22
Recap
Ladder
of
Inference
✦ All
rungs
take
place
in
your
head Awareness
&
Reflec:on
✓ Surface
your
own
thinking
✦ Is
unconscious
process ✓ Capture
it
and
consider
it
✓ Think
about
your
Thinking
✦ Trip
up
the
ladder
is
rapid Advocacy
✓ Make
your
thinking
and
✦ Seems
reasonable reasoning
visible
to
others
✓ Communicate
your
perspec've
✦ OOen
leads
to
misguided
beliefs Inquiry
✓ Listen
with
intent
to
learn
✦ Reflexive
loop
affects
the
data
✓ Use
unaggressive
language
to
ques'on
and
learn
you
select
next
.me ✓ Ask
self
and
others
WHY
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

23. 23
For
More
Informa:on
Presented
by
In
collabora2on
with
Sylvia
Gaffney,
Ph.D.
OPTIMIZE
Central
info@ico-­‐consul.ng.com
sylvia@gaffney.com
www.ico-­‐consul.ng.com
www.gaffney.com
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

24. 24
For
More
Informa:on
Presented
by
Sylvia
provides
custom-­‐designed
consul.ng
services
in
organiza.onal
effec.veness
and
change
managements
assistance
to
companies
on
a
na.onal
and
interna.onal
basis.
Her
work
helps
companies
integrate
their
business
planning
through
a
systems
perspec.ve.
She
facilitates
processes
to
Sylvia
Gaffney,
Ph.D. improve
team
building
and
blending,
leadership
development,
intergenera.onal
OPTIMIZE
Central challenges,
cultural
change
issues,
sylvia@gaffney.com resilience,
strategic
reten.on,
and
strategic
staffing.
Sylvia
owns
and
operates
Gaffney
www.gaffney.com Corporate
Strategies
and
Op=mize
Central.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011