How to Make Sense of the World

Last week, I sat down with Nola Simon to discuss issues on the intersection of work and education and we ended up having a wider ranging discussion.

Here is what she wrote a that highlights:

Most of the time when I speak to Mitch it's as part of my futurist buddy group. We rarely spend time on titles - we are too busy talking ideas. Our conversations are far reaching, imaginative and often surprising.  Mitch actually made my jaw drop during this episode - on the topic of challenging the status quo.  I appreciate him precisely because he challenges my thinking.

Key takeaways:

• Mindset is the way we see ourselves and the world, and it influences our behavior and outcomes.
• Sensemaking is the process of creating meaning from information and experience, and it involves being aware of our biases, assumptions, emotions, and perspectives.
• Sensemaking can help us overcome cognitive traps, such as confirmation bias, availability bias, anchoring bias, and framing effects, that can lead us to make poor decisions or judgments.
• Sensemaking can also help us be more flexible, adaptable, creative, and resourceful in facing challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing world.
• Sensemaking can enhance our communication and collaboration with others by helping us empathize, listen, ask questions, give feedback, and resolve conflicts.

Awesome quotes:

• “Education should be the way that we are preparing the next generation to assume their roles as adults.” - Mitch Weisburgh
• “I’ve always been interested in how our minds make sense of situations.” - Mitch Weisburgh
• “The brain has evolved to make decisions rapidly. How those rapid decisions very often lead us astray. How we can be aware when they lead us astray. How to prepare to be more flexible if we’re drawn off course. How to self correct. So that we’re more resourceful. How to deal with other people who are also making quick decisions and probably also being led astray.” - Mitch Weisburgh
• “Sense making is not something that you do once. It’s something that you do continuously.” - Mitch Weisburgh
• “The future is not something that happens to us. It’s something that we create.” - Nola Simon

And here is the recorded 35 minute discussion: https://thejanusoasis.libsyn.com/the-story-of-us-how-to-make-sense-of-the-world-with-mitch-weisberg