You have an important project meeting with Jerry Jones on your calendar for 10 am in room 435. You are sitting at the table but Jerry Jones is nowhere to be seen. The clock on the wall says 10:10. Still no Jerry Jones. You think to yourself, “Well, okay, fine. Obviously, Jerry doesn’t really care about this project.”
That kind of thought is a normal human reaction. Unfortunately, once the thought occurs to you, it is easy to now treat your interpretation of events as a fact about Jerry’s commitment to the project.
The Iroquois recognized this tendency and the “Rule of Six” suggests that before taking any action, you should first generate at least six interpretations, not just one. In this particular hypothetical case, several come to mind.
- Jerry doesn’t care about the project so he’s not coming or doesn’t care how late he is.
- Jerry comes from a culture where 10:10 is not actually late for a 10 am meeting.
- Jerry was unattainably delayed.
- You wrote down the wrong room for the meeting.
- You are not actually in room 435.
- You are in room 435 but in the wrong building.
- You wrote down the wrong time.
- The clock on the wall is wrong.
- You wrote down the wrong day for the meeting.
- Jerry sent you email asking to change the meeting time but you haven’t checked your email.
Of course, it’s always possible that your initial interpretation is correct. But you cannot assume it is correct simply because it’s the first thing that popped into your mind. The Iroquois “Rule of Six” suggests that you generate other hypotheses. Then, you may find ways to gather evidence about the various hypotheses before taking action.
One problem with treating your initial interpretation as “fact” is that you may take precipitous and self-defeating action based on a faulty hypothesis. You may indeed get so upset with Jerry that you write a large note on the whiteboard for Jerry: “Jerry. Thought you cared about the project. I waited 15 minutes. I have other stuff to do.” You leave in a huff.
Meanwhile, it turns out that Jerry was waylaid by the CEO of your company on the way to his meeting with you. The CEO asked many questions about the project and Jerry did a great job of “selling” the importance of your project. He arrives in room 435 at 10:20 full of enthusiasm and good news. You are not there. Instead, there is just your curt note on the board.
Now, how are we going to apply this to public communication? For this, you will need to read the next post.
PS: I became aware of this idea through the work of Paula Underwood (see first link below).
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/41/129.html
For more thoughts on the “Iroquois Rule of Six” see:
https://morgsterious.wordpress.com/2011/01/
https://www.slideshare.net/John_C_Thomas/the-walkingpeople
