V O LU M E 5 , N U M B E R 9

Reflections
The SoL Journal
on Knowledge, Learning, and Change
FEATURE ARTICLE

Insight and Wisdom
Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer

Commentary
Charlie Fischer

Commentary
Miguel Oliveira

Commentary
C. Sherry Immediato

Published by The Society for Organizational Learning

ISSN 1524-1734

reflections.solonline.org

FEATURE

Insight and Wisdom:
New Horizons for Leaders
By Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer

Organizations invest heavily in skills assessments,

Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer call on us to do

executive coaching, and other programs to develop

just that. By becoming aware of our mental states,

leaders. Often lost in these training regimens isand learning to step back and quiet the mind, we

one of leadership’s most essential tasks: expand-can elicit fresh thought almost at will and, theing people’s capacity for high-quality thinking.

authors say, with profound results. Embedding that

Though they’re critical to the success of all organi-skill in an organization can be a leader’s real legacy.

zations, we seldom stop to examine our individual

Think about it.

and collective thought processes. In this issue,— Paul M. Cohen, Senior Editor

n essential role of leaders is to activate the inherent intelligence and wisdom of theirorganizations. All leaders have seen the benefits of clear and fresh thinking in theirteams and organizations, and in their own work and lives. Yet many of the leaders
we speak with report that their teams rarely perform at a level equivalent to or beyond “thesum of the parts.” They have all too frequently seen bright and extraordinarily well-educatedpeople set strategies and make decisions that yielded genuinely bad outcomes, often on thebasis of what was viewed at the time as good logic.
In late 2002, we set out to see whether the application of a few simple ideas and methods
could dramatically improve the presence of insight and wisdom in executive decision making.
Our hypothesis was that with increased frequency, strength, and traction of insights, thinking
would improve, as would the resulting decisions. Individuals and their organizations would
ultimately show enhanced performance. We also expected that as insight grew in individuals,
they would exhibit better personal and business judgment – what we commonly call wisdom.
In this article we’ll discuss the results of the first 18 months of this effort.
Everyone has had the experience of a striking insight that comes out of nowhere, yetalmost instantly clarifies or resolves a seemingly intractable problem. Moments of insight canbe found in the development of an enduring, unusual, and differentiated strategy, a breakthrough invention, or the commitment to a high-aspiration goal. Curiously, these insights
generally occur in the shower, on vacation, while running, or on waking, but disappointingly,
not during the pressure of a normal workday when they are, perhaps, most needed.
The approach we developed and tested, which we call Insight Thinking Methods (ITM),
enables individuals, alone or in teams, to precipitate higher-quality insights with greater frequency and in the business setting. We applied the methods primarily to formulating businessstrategies and solving vexing problems that had persisted for a long time and defied previous
attempts at solution. With the use of ITM, managers reported having more fresh ideas andACharles Kiefer

reflections.solonline.org

Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer O Insight and Wisdom 1© 2004, Society for Organizational Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Robin Charbit

better business judgment. They were less likely to make mistakes, and they were more able
to understand and appreciate the new ideas of others and to help others think more clearly.
Breakthroughs in thought, and ultimately in business results, required only a fraction of thetime and resources more typically spent.

Outcomes of Better Thinking
A review of nearly 20 applications of Insight Thinking shows some common factors andsome very agreeable business results. In many cases an insight appeared to flow directlyfrom the application of these methods. In others, it became embedded in existing work andsocial processes, and results were achieved – through an enormous amount of work done bymany people – using additional methods. In such cases Insight Thinking served to amplify,
accelerate, and lubricate the work. The frequency of positive results is unprecedented inour experience but is unsurprising in one respect. When people improve the quality of theirthinking – when they become, in effect, smarter – the effects spill over into every aspect of
their work, personal lives, and relationships. In the workplace, the characteristics of InsightThinking include:• Rapid Pace. Project durations were shorter – in some cases as much as 80% – and there
were a few examples of a breakthrough solution occurring during the kickoff meeting. For
example, in 15 minutes the executives of a $1-billion, food-ingredients company resolveda structural problem with their Asian joint venture that had defied solution for the previous six months. In another company, manufacturing executives created, evaluated, andconverged on a new organizational structure for their several-thousand-person organization in six hours.
• Reduced Resource Requirement. Less money and fewer people-hours were used compared with similar efforts in the past. In one case four executives reduced the annual $250million R&D budgeting decision from a historically contentious, six-month process to a
45-minute meeting.
• Commitment, Confidence, and Ease of Implementation. In every case, commitment
was intrinsic and implementation followed with less-than-normal need for monitoring,
management, revisiting of issues, and re-launches. Moreover, people typically developed
increased confidence for success in the task at hand and for the company as a whole.
• Enhanced Teamwork and Group Effectiveness. Meetings were more focused and productive, with fewer off-point comments and less repetition. People fixed or aborted meetings that weren’t going well. They discussed tough subjects easily, even in large, typicallydifficult meetings, and maintained or recovered their equanimity when differences arose.
For example, by the end of a six-week review of their strategy and associated issues, a
self-declared dysfunctional management team had become collaborative, synergistic, andrecommitted to that strategy. Two months later, when their parent company went throughthe upheaval of a new CEO (and associated across-the-board cost reductions), the teamremained on course and produced their best financial performance ever.
In general the results attained were of higher quality than was expected, sometimes
surprisingly so, whether a result was the clarity of the strategy (simple, obvious, novel, hard
to copy, or more resilient); the impact of the solution (dollars produced); or the degree of

2 Insight and Wisdom O Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer

Reflections O Volume 5, Number 9alignment and agreement. By the end of the process, problems or issues came to be viewed
with greater clarity and coherence. Usually the solution became obvious, simple, and easy to
implement, and in nearly half the cases, problems simply dissolved and therefore did not
require further attention or action. In most cases Insight Thinking was acquired rapidly; 30
minutes of exposure often had a dramatic effect.

What Is Insight?
Insight can be said to be a particular form of “fresh thought.” If you reflect for a moment,
you will notice that much of our thinking is reviewing, reusing, and rethinking thoughts
we’ve already had. For convenience we’ll term this “memory-based thought.” Much of oureducation has been oriented to memorizing and absorbing facts and methods so that they canbe recalled and applied when new problems are encountered. Memory-based thought is very
useful when the answer to the new problem is already known or when it can be discoveredby a known method using known facts.
Fresh thought is less frequent and noticed than memory-based thought, and is merely athought (whether good or bad) you’ve never had before. Some fresh thoughts can be illuminating and generative; others can be erroneous. Regardless of type, fresh thought carries withit a recognizable, lighthearted, energizing feeling, which we will later show to be important.
Most people will recognize and remember low- and high-quality fresh thought.

The Nature of Insights
An insight is a high-quality fresh thought and shows you some truth or solution that you’dbeen missing. Insights feel “right” and are satisfying and pleasing – much like the feelingyou get when you intuitively find the place for that strangely shaped piece in the puzzle withwhich you’ve been struggling. Often, they permanently change your fundamental understanding of the situation at hand. Remember the time in school when, despite the teacher’sreflections.solonline.org

Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer O Insight and Wisdom 3

best efforts and frequent repetition and explanation, you just didn’t “get” what was being
explained to you? Then, all of a sudden, it was clear to you. Insight is like the bird in the treethat you cannot see until someone leads your eyes to the branch. It wasn’t there (even though
it was) and now it is!
Insights can be small – your intuitive discovery of a new and effective short cut in yourword processor program, or a slight shift in the way you hold your golf club, for example.
Or they can be life-transforming epiphanies, such as
Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, which hedescribed as “the happiest thought of my life.”
An insight goes beyond an intellectual understanding – the ability to repeat an idea that someone
else has articulated, or to follow a set of rules or aprescription. With deeper understanding, you become fluent enough with the idea that, for example,
you can participate in an unstructured, free argument or compare and contrast the idea with others.
The idea is still really someone else’s, but you are on
your way to being generative. Then, in an unpredictable moment, when you experience theidea in a more intense or integrated way; it becomes yours. Your understanding going forward is irrevocably altered. Your understanding of everything in the past can change as well
– often so much that you can no longer see the idea in the old way.

An insight goes beyond
an intellectual understanding– the ability to repeat an ideathat someone else has articulated, or to follow a set ofrules or a prescription.

Increasing Insight
There is little doubt that insights are good. So how do you have more of them? The simple
answer is to spend more time in a state of mind that is conducive to having insights. Thatstate of mind has a flowing feeling to it. Each thought flows into the next at a nice tempo
and in its own time. There is no pressure, no rush, and no urgency. There is a sense of space
between each thought – a breath, a pause. In each of these spaces is the possibility for a fresh
thought. In a sense, the spaces between thoughts are the source of insight. If there are no
spaces, there is little possibility of insight. Much of the thinking of people with a primarily
Western background and lifestyle has the quality of being forced or pressed. Each thought iscrushed into the next. When we want to solve a problem, we step on the gas and try to power
through. When we’re engaged with this quality of thinking, though it might seem normal, thepossibility of insight is reduced or eliminated.
In contrast, insight-rich thinking is probably more consistent with the “flow” state written
about so often in the context of sports or the performing arts. One subtle difference is thatwhat we term Insight Thinking does not always have that “peak experience” feel to it thatpeople associate with being “on” or “in the zone.” It is more akin to a gentle walk homealong a familiar route. It is easy, peaceful, and unlabored.
To increase the frequency of insight you simply want your thought to flow more often. The
good news is that this “insight state of mind” (calm, clear-headed, focused) is so basic andnatural that you return to it, almost without noticing, when you’re not thinking in otherways. In any moment that you aren’t in that state of mind, you have somehow, and in a way
unrecognized by you now, thought your way out of it. To return to that state all you need do
is stop thinking your way out of it! One colleague likens the phenomenon to holding abasketball under water. The natural state is for the ball to float effortlessly on the surface,

4 Insight and Wisdom O Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer

Reflections O Volume 5, Number 9whereas keeping it submerged requires work. In a similar way, it takes mental work to“lower” one’s state of mind and be out of flow. Just noticing that and, if necessary, stopping whatever you were doing, naturally returns your mind to a calmer, quieter state. This
stands in sharp contrast to much else we do, wherein the desired state requires us to do
more, not less.

Dropping Out of an Insight State of Mind
While simple in concept, fresh thinking can prove challenging for at least two reasons. First,
while memory-based (and other repetitive) thinking can be useful for certain things, the problem is that it becomes self-reinforcing – almost demanding that we use it more and more,past the point of usefulness. It becomes a habit and dominates. Memory-based thinking isuseful; the unmindful habit of its use is not, because unconsciously it disconnects us fromaccess to insight. Even the most analytic of us knows this. While often employing rigorous
analytic thinking, great performers in all fields report that their best insights and solutions toproblems generally occur when they stop, relax, and shift their focus, often to some unrelated
thing. Consider that it’s rather like a muscle: both the relaxed and contracted states are good,
but the power of contraction requires the periods of relaxation. It would be exhausting anddebilitating to go around all the time with contracted muscles. Likewise, you want to be able
to move freely between flowing, fresh thinking and memory-based thinking. In this regard,
the insight state of mind is similar to the “mindfulness” of many religions – a state of bearing
witness to the quality and content of thought.
Second, when those unfamiliar spaces of nothingness between thoughts show up, many ofus get uncomfortable or even anxious. It’s like not having the answer when we think weshould. To resolve the discomfort, we immediately – and often unconsciously – fill the gap
with a memory-based thought and thus destroy the possibility of seeking out the mentalsilences, dwelling in the unknown, and uncovering an insight.
Most of the time, however, we’re not in an insight state because we’re distracted out of it
by insecurity, frustration, disappointment, anger, worry, or physical fatigue. (Note that all ofreflections.solonline.org

Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer O Insight and Wisdom 5

these states, perhaps save the last, are ultimately also thoughts – and all of us can change ourminds even when it doesn’t seem like we can.) We enter into these unproductive states in a
virtually infinite number of ways (a bad weekly report, a lost sale, an angry colleague, longhours, and the like) and generally without recognizing that we have. Once in, we press
through primarily by exclusive use of analytic thought. Unknowingly, the more we press on,
the more we lower our state of mind. We are then far less creative and tend to make more
mistakes. And since the strategies we formulate to escape the situation are the products of alow-quality thinking process, they are not very likely to be successful.

Returning to an Insight State of Mind
Many people are so habituated to these psychological experiences that they don’t even realize they are caught in them. Others have devised clever methods for changing their thinking,such as replacing negative thoughts with positive ones or initiating a distraction. But it’s
hard and never-ending work to use the mind to outfox the mind. The good news is that itturns out to be unnecessary. Fortunately, we come equipped at birth with a barometer for
high-quality thought – the presence or absence of what we’ll term simply a “good feeling.”
By good feeling, we mean that inner satisfaction you experience when, all of a sudden, you
solve the problem you’ve been stewing on or something becomes obvious. Your head is clear,
your thinking feels sharp, and you are present and appreciative. All feels right with the world.
There are many other good feelings (triumph over an adversary, completion of a task, etc.),
all of which are valid and most of which are good to have, but they are not what we meanby good feeling as it pertains to an insight state of mind. When this “naturally right” innerfeeling is present, you are probably connected with your inner wisdom; when you are feelingcloudy, confused, pressured or angry, you’re probably not.

Insight Thinking Methods
People do all sorts of things to get into an insight state of mind. Some go for a walk or run.
Others go on vacation. Or garden. Or pray. Or take a long bath. Or play the saxophone. In
the office, when stuck in a bad frame of mind, one might stand and stretch, or go to the window and watch the clouds, the traffic, or the skyline. Any and all of these can work, but none
works for everyone or all the time. If something did, it probably would have been discovered
by now. In Western society, we are predisposed to want to learn techniques we can apply as
needed. However, there are many things, and Insight Thinking is one, that do not work as apredefined or structured process (for example, listening to music, looking at a picture, goingfor a walk, or romancing a partner). You might use certain methods from time to time, butthey will be specific to you and you will use them when it feels right or makes sense rather
than routinely or by prescription.

“It’s About the Principles”
Insight Thinking is more an understanding of and sensitivity to a set of principles (or working premises) than a set of techniques. From these principles the method or technique arises
naturally and spontaneously, as often happens in sports or the arts. Great basketball players
clearly have an intrinsic understanding of the principles, rules, strategies, and mechanics of

6 Insight and Wisdom O Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer

Reflections O Volume 5, Number 9their game. But their play is dictated by what is required in the moment, and often without much conscious thought. It is similar with Insight Thinking. From the principles comes
behavior (already learned or newly invented) appropriate to the moment and much morepotent than script.
Our two major premises are:
1. When the mind is calm, at rest, and unpressured, it is most open to fresh thought
and insight.
2. As we come to insights into how thought forms our personal experience, we are less andless distracted from that calm state, and return to itwith relative ease when we get off track.

When the mind is calm,at rest, and unpressured,
it is most open to fresh
thought and insight.

The essence of Insight Thinking, then, is to maintainan insight state of mind as you work on and seek
insights into problems or issues. You keep your eye on
the quality of your thought and at various points you
have insights – into the problem itself and into how
thought personally works for you. You may havenoticed that when you’re thinking of buying a new car, it is common suddenly to start noticing more cars on the road like the one you’re considering. Analogously, when you know thatan insight and a state of mind are what you seek, you will notice insights more readily andthe state of mind will tend to show up more often. In a similar manner, just noticing the lossof the good feeling will set you back on the path to a clear mind in the same way you naturally make the correction of moving back when you have drifted out of your lane on the
highway. “Noticing and shifting back” is as simple as that, and with a little bit of awarenessand experience it becomes easy and second nature.
Your mind settles down and naturally seeks a quiet state without your conscious attention
to the task. Thereafter, everything seems to handle itself; the natural or innate intelligence ofthe mind is allowed to operate and you become immunized against disturbance and distraction. (People seem instinctively programmed to know what to do to access an insight state ofmind and to occupy that state of mind with increasing frequency.) Moment by moment there
is greater awareness of thought. The good-feeling state becomes more habitual – the newnormal – and its absence then becomes quickly noted and a natural correction spontaneously occurs.
Sometimes this shift of habit occurs in a flash; at other times it takes a while. For mostpeople, it requires attention, patience, and practice. Fortunately, practice is not onerous. It
feels good physically and psychologically and is accompanied by creativity, better ideas, fewer
mistakes, and natural good judgment. You just live life and do your best to find your way to
the good feeling.
The Insight Thinking principles can be learned and practiced individually, during teammeetings, or both. It is generally sufficient to have individuals engage in a couple of 75-minute conversations in which they look for insight on current business problems. In a group,
the principles can be taught in a few half-hour sessions interspersed throughout a day andalternated with “supervised” practice on a real problem or issue. In both cases the idea is tohelp people surface and reconnect with their personal insight states of mind, perhaps byreflecting on and sharing a past experience or two that involved insight.

reflections.solonline.org

Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer O Insight and Wisdom 7

Once people see for themselves that this state isdesirable because their quality of thought is higher, it
is a matter of practice until the “feel” of the insightstate takes root. There can be benefits to creating
structures that work like memory aids to help maintain awareness of the state of mind. These structures
are things that surface and break prevailing thought
patterns or cause a moment of reflection, like looking for insight when things seem to get sticky, establishing new team norms, or taking a break whenthings get thick.

Insight Thinking in Teams
When people quite naturally get engrossed to thepoint of distraction in the subject of their discussion,
thought quality can deteriorate without their noticing. For this and a host of other reasons, it can beparticularly challenging for a team to see its thinking. When others in a group are familiar with InsightThinking there are multiple sentinels, increasing the
likelihood that someone will notice when a meetinghas gotten heavy, labored, or otherwise off the rails.
Only one person in a good state of mind is needed
to pull the emergency brake. Often, the mere remarkthat “the good feeling is gone” is sufficient for people to recover their bearings and take the conversation in a new or better direction.
While not a requirement, it can be quite useful to have a person who is experienced with
Insight Thinking focus on the quality of the conversation. This person avoids involvementwith the content of the discussion and is, ideally, someone who does not think about the
problem or issue in the way team members do. Though it is certainly possible for team members to perform this function, it is generally more difficult in early stages of learning InsightThinking, or when the subject becomes heated. If you’re in this role, remember: helping toactivate Insight Thinking doesn’t require that you have the answers. Others will.

The Promise for Leaders
It is generally held that the world is speeding up and that the way to deal with that is tothink faster and harder. Our experience during the past 18 months is that this is at best only
partially true. It can be a great advantage for leaders to slow down thought and to mitigate
the tendency to think fast and furiously.
So far, we have not found a problem whose solution required resources that people did
not already have. Being stumped by a big problem is a function of mental stress rather thanof the “size” of the problem; and the size of a problem is solely a function of thought.
Inherent creative capacity and wisdom seem essentially unlimited, and will rise to every occasion if they are allowed to. They do so in the worst of times – and particularly at the very

8 Insight and Wisdom O Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer

Reflections O Volume 5, Number 9

time they are needed. Psychologists have long known that people always can find their way.
We have found this to be true for organizations as well.
In a world in which all organizations must encourage innovative thinking from all quarters, we believe Insight Thinking holds great promise for leaders. Consider the potential
returns: What is the value of increased frequency of fresh new ideas by your staff? Imagine
that one special idea that creates a new horizon for your team or enterprise or that causes
your worst, most persistent problem to vanish. What would you pay for your organization
not to have made the two biggest mistakes of the past five years? And finally, what is thevalue of better business judgment and acumen, particularly when multiplied by your entire
team and any or all of your colleagues?
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to many thought leaders in the fields of psychology and human development,
especially Dr. Annika Hurwitt Schahn (www.optimaliving.net) and Dr. George Pransky(www.pranskyandassociates.com).

Resources
For further information on the bases of Insight Thinking Methods, see:Pransky, George S., The Renaissance of Psychology (New York: Sulzburger & Graham
Publishing, Ltd., 1998). More accessible is Dr. Pransky’s CD set, The Foundationof Mental Well-Being.
Carlson, Richard and Bailey, Joseph, Slowing Down to the Speed of Life (New York:
HarperCollins, 1997). This is an earlier, popular book.
Mills, Roger and Spittle, Elsie. The Wisdom Within (Edmonton, AB: Lone Pine
Publishing, 2001). Mills’s and Spittle’s Health Realization Institute has focusedwith great success in using these methods in community empowerment,
drug rehabilitation, and in prisons (www.healthrealization.com).

ABOUT THE AUTHORSCharles Kiefer founded Innovation Associates (IA) in 1976 to develop and apply new
ways to improve organizational thinking, learning, alignment, and change. The firm’s work
provided a basis, in part, for IA cofounder Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, publishedin 1990.
CFK@InsightManagementPartners.com
Robin Charbit is a chemical engineer, seasoned business manager, and consultant.
He has worked for Exxon and for Arthur D. Little, where he led the North America Chemicals
Practice. In 2002 he cofounded Insight Management Partners, with Charles Kiefer, to focus
on executive insight and decision making.
RC@InsightManagementPartners.com

reflections.solonline.org

Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer O Insight and Wisdom 9

FCCROOOM
H TE
M
MMM
M EET NN
T AA RR YYA N A G I N G D I R E C T O R

Commentary
By Charlie Fischer

Charlie Fischer

To many executives, the authors’ discussion of

As we assimilated the principles of Insight

Insight Thinking might seem overly simplistic orThinking, I learned to become much more

“soft.” After all, to get great business results you

open, and we all spent more meeting time inneed talented people with good analytic abilities

a better frame of mind. That directly helped us

and good data. But people often forget that how

work more effectively, both as individuals andyou make decisions – how you think – is also

as a group. I was amazed by people’s increas-

important. In that regard, the article addresses a

ing comfort and confidence in questioning me

significant business dilemma. As managers, weand each other. We generated better ideas inare under such pressure that we often don’t use

which everyone felt greater ownership. That

quality thinking. We rush through the mechanics

confidence and sense of ownership contributedof decision-making and don’t give our minds thesignificantly to improved business performance.

chance to reflect as well as we might. At Dow
AgroSciences we generated hard results by paying
attention to better thinking. A psychologist looking
at the process would say that there was nothing
soft about it.

At the time, our firm was facing a declining
market and heavy overseas competition. We
had developed a new strategy and set aggressive financial goals that many on the executive
team, and in most of the rest of the organiza-

For me, the impacts of Insight Thinking weretion, believed were unachievable in our two-both personal (what I was able to learn and doyear timeframe. In just a few months of ouras a leader) and organizational (the results thetraining, this disbelief faded and a vision took

company was able to achieve). At a personalroot in its place. Ultimately, our organizationlevel, Insight Thinking allowed me and others tofound implementation surprisingly straightfor-change our perspectives and improve our rela-ward and unencumbered. Like most other com-

tionships easily. For some time, our executive

panies, ours traditionally had been all aboutteam had been friendly but not very effective.

the data – and of course, data are important.

When I was honest with myself – which Insight

But our biggest challenge was engaging andThinking helped me to be – I saw that I was the

motivating everyone to do what we knew

one who most needed to change. My strong-

we had to do. Data alone would not do it;willed style – which, in part, got me the CEO job –attitude and understanding were key.

hindered my ability in meetings to get the best
thinking from myself and from my staff. I’d invite
discussion of tough issues, but then would challenge those who disagreed with me and vigorously defend my position. This quickly stifled
critical thinking and the free exchange of ideas.

O Charlie
O Robin10
10 Commentary
Insight and Wisdom
FischerCharbit and Charles Kiefer

Before our use of Insight Thinking, internalsurveys showed that employees didn’t knowwhat our strategy was, though we felt we were
telling them all the time. Nearly one year later,
we had our highest survey marks ever, withnear-universal understanding and acceptance

Reflections O Volume 5, Number 9

of our strategy, despite the tough medicine of

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

layoffs and restructuring that it entailed. I believe

Charlie Fischer is the former president andthat this was a reflection of clearer thinking andchief executive officer of Dow AgroSciences, amore open exchange of ideas – both within the

global organization with $3 billion in sales andexecutive team and between the executives andmore than 6,000 employees located in more thantheir direct reports. Many other things also went

50 countries. He retired in 2004, after 37 years

right for us, but if we had not changed our way

of international service. Charlie has a BA in animalof thinking, we never would have met our goals.

science from Texas A&M University and has held

The firm ultimately achieved a $300 million

numerous leadership appointments in the US andearnings increase (on $3 billion of sales) –three times what was deemed “reasonable”

global agriculture and biotechnology industries.
ACFischer@aol.com

two years earlier, and the best performance inthe company’s history. Learning how to accessour best collective thinking and change ourown behavior made those results possible.

reflections.solonline.org

O Insight Commentary
Robin Charbit and CharlesCharlie
Kiefer Fischer
and Wisdom 11

COMMENTARY

Commentary
By Miguel Oliveira

Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer have addressed anrefer to one-handed knots as a short hand foressential but under-appreciated role of leaders –unexpectedly high performance, even if they’ve

advancing the quality of their organization’s

forgotten the particular challenges I spoke

thinking. If we are responsible for getting things

about that day. As the authors suggest, it’sdone in effective and efficient ways, we have topossible to take a similar approach to thinking

be aware of, take into account, and try to improve

processes.

our individual and collective thought processes.
Thoughts lead to decisions, which in turn lead toMiguel Oliveira

results. Without clear, critical thinking, high quality
results are very hard to achieve.

Once we become aware of our own and others’
thinking and states of minds, we have a common language for discussing them and theresultant behaviors. That helps to overcome the

In doing their jobs, I believe leaders can draw

thoughts that often impede shared understand-on three fundamental resources: intelligence,

ing and action. Without such understanding,creativity, and wisdom. I don’t claim special gifts

people often discount the influence that theirin any of these realms, but hopefully I haveown attitudes and beliefs have on outcomes,

become wiser in life and in work, and especiallyand put more emphasis on outside factors.

in my dealings with people. That wisdom hascome largely from trying to better understandeach individual’s feelings, motivations, andstates of mind, and I’ve seen this work for
my colleagues, as well.

Another challenge as a leader is to create ashared vision and understanding of our purpose
as an organization. This is a challenge in part
because “vision” and “purpose” exist in thedomain of thought. Through Insight Thinking,Simple tools like Insight Thinking – those that help

leaders can more easily help people connect

us engage with people, frame an issue, advancewith and believe in a shared vision. Onceboth our own and their thinking, and, ultimately,

people see something for themselves they

get things done – are powerful. Before Insight

can accomplish almost anything.

Thinking, I could only use metaphors, stories, andexercises to help people across a wide spectrumof backgrounds to address complex issues. For

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

example, I have used an exercise in which people

Miguel Oliveira is a vice president withdo a seemingly insurmountable task – tying a knot

The Solae Company (a soy protein ingredi-using just their left hand (if they’re right handed) –ents joint-venture of Bunge and DuPont) withto give them the experience of accomplishing

responsibility for Asia Pacific. He has a BS

more than they thought they could. Such experi-

in chemical engineering and a PhD in foodences provided a simple but common language

engineering and is a native of Brazil.

for problem solving. People in my company still

MOliveir@protein.com

O Miguel
O Robin
12
12 InsightCommentary
and Wisdom
Oliveira
Charbit and Charles Kiefer

Reflections O Volume 5, Number 9

COMMENTARY

Commentary
By C. Sherry Immediato

Having followed Charlie Kiefer’s work in thement, anger, worry, and fatigue should bearea of Insight Thinking during the past sevensought out as ingredients in our work pro-years, I’ve become persuaded that the methods

cesses? Of course not. My most usefulhe and Robin Charbit are developing are an

thought from working with the insight princi-

important foundation for generative thinking

ples may be the recognition of the “natural”

and action, and complement the tools that westate which I have unconsciously accepted.

generally associate with dialogue, productive
conversation, and systems thinking. In addition,
C. Sherry Immediato

I think their approach to filling gaps in the practice of collective intelligence and wisdom offersa good developmental template. My comments
on both the content and process of theirresearch follow.

Becoming aware of our thinking often requires“slowing down.” On a sunny summer day
several weeks ago, traffic on one of Boston’s
perimeter highways came to a standstill when
100 or so cars suffered flat tires after encountering an enormous pothole. The cars eventually accumulated to create a physical barri-

Do the Insight Thinking Methods (ITM) work?

cade that forced oncoming drivers to slow

And are they really as easy to use as the authors

down and notice the pothole before driving

say? Those who challenge their work often argue

through it. As I listened to this unfold (on theeither that something is missing or that theradio traffic reports), I found myself drawing

results are a fluke and not reproducible. At theparallels between our driving habits and ouroutset, I was in the camp of the critics. But mythinking habits. As an observer of people

own experience and observation of others havein conversations and meetings, and of thecaused me to re-examine two fundamental

unsatisfactory decisions and actions thatassumptions I had been making: (1) that goodresult, I find myself frequently asking “Whatthings consistently come only to those who work

could they have been thinking?” And I notice

hard and (2) that people won’t work hard enoughthat I am much more likely to ask the ques-to achieve good results (including good thinking)tion about their thinking than about my own.

if the barometer for continuing to work is a

Perhaps this is because disabled thinkers,

good feeling. The clarity of the Insight Thinking

unlike disabled drivers, are not physicallyprinciples has made it easier for me to identify

compelled to “pull over to the side of thethose assumptions “at work” in my own thinking.

road” or “slow down to notice the potholes”

As a consequence, I have noticed that my own

before driving through them.

principles, taken to the extreme, suggest thatthe impediments to Insight Thinking are natural,and maybe even desirable. But do I really want
to argue that insecurity, frustration, disappoint-reflections.solonline.org

It may be useful to note that the consequenceof continually driving a car through fields ofsmall potholes (a.k.a. the streets of Boston)

O Insight Commentary
Robin Charbit and Charles
C. Sherry
KieferImmediato
and Wisdom 13

is a set of wheels out of alignment. In the best

are stated, and experiments are conducted.

case, this misalignment causes uneven, prema-

The other commentaries provide evidence ofture tire wear and lowered mileage performance.

experiments that range from the relatively local

In the worst case, the car is also much more(a single team) to those that affect large num-difficult to handle and can be an accident wait-bers of people within an organization. Givening to happen. If you had only the experience ofthe retrospective design, the authors have done

driving an out-of-alignment car, you would assume

what data collection they could by interviewing

the car’s behavior was normal, even on a per-their clients some months after the interven-

fectly smooth road. As a Boston driver, I do forgettion (which provides important data regarding

what it’s like to have wheels in perfect alignment.

duration of effects), have synthesized the data,

And though I’m a little embarrassed by it, I’m

and are now sharing them with their peers.

greatly relieved that I can recognize that I some-

Their straightforward discussion about thetimes mindlessly accept low-level frustration,

barriers to adoption of their methods provides

worry, disappointment, etc. as the “normal” con-a particularly interesting agenda for inquiry

text for my own thinking and action. This simple

going forward. The methods and issues theyawareness has made it possible for me to remind

posit are practically relevant to the work ofmyself of what I truly know to be a natural state

Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski, and Flowers (onfor accessing generative thought. At a recent

moving through the “U” process underlying

executive gather-ing, someone referred to thisdeep learning and generative action) previously“remembering” as the desire and need “to takereported in Reflections.

a breath to think.” And then act. Perhaps ITM
is just that simple to use.

I think Robin and Charlie are on to something.
Their work may be the organizational equivalent

While I am personally very enthusiastic aboutof Herb Benson’s seminal work on the “relax-

the content of the Insight Thinking work, I am

ation response.”1 Benson and others at theeven more excited by the authors’ approach andHarvard Medical School have nearly 30 years

how it could inspire other members of the SoLof data about the value for physical health ofcommunity. This article began as a report on thethe link between mental and physical relaxation.

Insight Thinking “experiment” the authors have

Their early work was treated with skepticism

been conducting for the past two years. Though

and faced a similar refrain: “It can’t be thistoo much of their data is anecdotal and recorded

easy.” With the focus now shifted beyond the

too long after the fact to meet traditional stan-health of the mere individual to our collective

dards of research, their overall approach is still

intellectual, emotional, and psychological health,very consistent with an action research (or applied

let’s turn the question around – what if it islearning) process that provides a good founda-that easy? What if a larger reservoir of intelli-tion for further study. A clear need is identified

gence is easily available and accessible through(decision-making disasters and a tendency toa relatively low level of discipline? As an advo-

favor reactive thought processes), hypotheses

cate for economy of means, I’m encouraged by

O Robin
O C. Sherry
Insight and WisdomCharbit and Charles Kiefer
14 Commentary
Immediato

Reflections O Volume 5, Number 9the simplicity of the deep level of structure thatthe authors are directing us to consider. I lookforward to future community contributions toReflections that continue to connect the heartof organizational learning with the practicesof daily life. Drive reflectively!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C. Sherry Immediato is managing director of
the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL).
She is an experienced consultant and manager
who has worked for over 20 years in supporting
individuals, teams, organizations, and communities in realizing their aspirations as simply as

Endnotepossible. Prior to turning her attention to the1

Herbert Benson and Miriam Z. Klipper, The

development of cross-organizational learning

Relaxation Response (New York: Harper,

communities through her association with SoL,

1976).

she founded Heaven & Earth Incorporated afterworking for Innovation Associates for 13 years.
immediato@solonline.org

reflections.solonline.org

O Insight Commentary
C. Sherry
Immediato
Robin Charbit and Charles
Kieferand Wisdom 15

Reflections
The SoL Journal
on Knowledge, Learning, and Change
Volume 5, Number 9

Editorial Team
Editors-in-Chief
Karen Ayas and Peter M. Senge
Senior Editor
Paul M. Cohen
Managing Editor
Nina Kruschwitz
Publisher
C. Sherry Immediato

Individual Subscription Options
Receive Reflections as a SoL Connections member:• USD$125 U.S.
• USD$135 International
One year Reflections subscription:• USD$75 U.S.
• USD$85 International
To order online and for a full description of subscription options, see http://reflections.solonline.org
For institutional subscriptions,contact David Mahaffey (see below).

ISSN 1524-1734
EISSN 1536-0148© 2004 by the Society for Organizational Learning.
SoL is a registered trademark of the Society for Organizational Learning.
Design & Production: DG Communications (NonprofitDesign.com)
Design Concept: OHO (OHOCreative.com)

16 Insight and Wisdom O Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer

Reflections: The SoL Journal is published 10 times
per year in electronic format and once per year as a
hard copy compilation by the Society for Organizational Learning, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139,
USA. Inquiries regarding subscriptions and addresschanges, back issues, reprints, and permission
requests should be directed to:David Mahaffey
Publications AssistantReflections: The SoL Journal
955 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 201
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA(1)617.300.9515 (phone)(1)617.354.2093 (fax)E-mail: reflections@solonline.org
http://reflections.solonline.org
Reflections O Volume 5, Number 9