Filters in Critical Thinking

 from

 https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/filters-perceptions-influence-thinking-behavior-success-8462

Filters

Personal filters can be compared with physical filters. Like a very small hole in a plate only allows light with a certain wavelength to pass, so will a personal filter only allow certain messages that suit the filter to pass. The suitability of the message is depending on the references the receptor has. The interpretation of a message is based on a receptors experience. The receptor will first hold the content of the message against frameworks in the same area. If no match is found, he will hold it against experiences in other possible personal areas. When a match is found, the message is translated within that person's framework and he will acknowledge the reception of the message. Filters and perceptions are formed out of many different aspects of a person's life, such as biological growth, genetic information, culture, religion etc. (as shown in Exhibit 1 below)

Exhibit 1

Relative Interpretation

It is not consciously known, that the acknowledgement, in fact, is a personal interpretation of the message. When one says: “I know what you mean”, he in fact says: “I know what I should have meant if I had given that message”. For example: if a person from Siberia and a person from Spain talk about the weather and would both say: “the temperature is quite comfortable”, they would probably mean –10°C and +25°C. Their interpretation is formed by their experience in their environmental circumstances. Because this example can be complemented with hard values, the interpretational differences can be clarified easily by mentioning the real temperatures. But, even in this case, temperature interpretation needs to be filled in with measurement units, because they could use Celsius or Fahrenheit. Thus the more descriptions are used, and the more feelings are involved, the bigger the interpretational difference can be.

Translation by filters

Filters can also lead to a translation of a message in, for example, the sense of receiving a positive message as something negative or vice versa. If a salesperson having a sales target of 1 mln Euro tells his sales manager he has closed deals for 100.000 Euro, it is translated as being bad news. If a sales person having a target of 10.000 Euro told the same, it would be translated as great news. If you have a good association with sales people and someone told you that you looked like a salesperson, you would see that as a compliment. If you, for whatever reason, hate sales people, you would probably see that same message as an insult.

Blocking by filters

If a long message is delivered, filters can cause only parts of the message to be received. The importance of several parts of the message are referenced within the personal framework and can cause these parts to be thrown away or neglected as being not relevant. A very businesslike person is likely to throw away emotional messages, as soon as it hinders the business objectives. Personal filters would block the emotional message, especially if the receptor is not very strong in handling emotions, so he can hide behind business content. An emotionally developed person would care less about the business content, but more on the person behind the emotions. A confronting emotional (negative) message could cause filters to close down for business content. A combination of both business and emotional intelligence would help to overcome blocking and receive the right proportions of the message in the most suitable way.

Case Example

An example of a project manager's filter at a project with one of the largest insurance companies in Europe is described in a case below:

A project manager was appointed to a project that had a very problematic background. The project was already overtime and the budget was half spent (over 12 mln. Euro spent), while there was less than 10% of the work done. Nobody believed the project would still finish successfully. And the project manager tried his best to hide the actual cost spent.

The project manager started to replace team members in the project and made new plans and budgets. After a few weeks the Internal Audit Department wanted an appointment with him. The new project manager got scared and told his secretary to cancel the appointment. But as good auditors do, they did not let go! After a few weeks of cancellation attempts, he could not reject the appointment any longer. During the appointment they told the project manager that they had already done an audit on the project. When they informed him of their conclusions, the project manager started to recognize the same issues he already concluded himself! But since auditors are there to report on bad news, in this case to the board of directors of the company, (The former project manager was fired, following the conclusions of the audit report!) he decided “to push them aside” and tried to gain time before they started their next audit. From his project director, he heard that it was indeed well known that the Audit Department was “used” for these kind of exercises all the time.

At this time the project manager began to realise how his mindset was influenced during his past experiences. He was troubled by filters caused by experiences he had in a very hierarchical organisation where every “fault had to be punished”. He thought of a positive way of how to use his filtered view and thought of some projects, where he “survived” the audits. His thinking had actually been well in line with the way of thinking of the organisation!

The next day he called the auditors and told them about his worries. Together they defined an audit. He told the auditors he wanted to learn and wanted to incorporate the conclusions in redefining the project. That same message is what he told everybody who wanted to hear it, including his project director. He tried to make everyone clear that there was another way of looking at project audits. People, including the auditors themselves, began to make clear statements that this audit would be an audit to learn, to gain quality in this very complex project. In their conclusions of the audit report, the auditors even supported the new ideas of the project manager and told the board of directors that this approach was the only way to go. They even advised to raise the budget of the project.

One of the learning points was that hiding costs (for reasons of politics) does not fool everybody and could not rescue the project nor his project manager's job. The project manager did recognize his “pitfall” in time. During his career he had built up a filter when it came to “formal reporting to higher levels”. By recognising his filter and the similar culture in the organisation, he was able to develop an approach in “mind dancing” with individuals from the internal audit department and the rest of the organisation.

Types of filters and business behaviour

Filters are formed by all kinds of origins. Recognisable filters are filters caused by knowledge or information. If a person is not educated or trained in the right (technical) jargon, it is likely to interpret a message differently. Especially with acronyms or 3 letter abbreviations this is often the case. For example ATM is for a person in telecoms a method of data transfer over a network, while, for a person in banking, it is a machine in the wall to get money from. Learning about the jargon can be sufficient to overcome interpretational filters.

However, a personal filter or a person's personality is formed out of personal aspects like culture, religion, family circumstances and experiences of life. It is common knowledge that different interpretations of religion can lead to war. So why can't it be that religion forms a ground for a business filter. It can, but it is rarely discussed. Cultural differences are commonly known and often ground for jokes and laughter. More in depth cultural differences like hierarchical behaviour however, is often a far less discussed topic in difficult international business relations. Family or environmental circumstances will often influence professional behaviour, wanted or not. It unconsciously also determines many personal filters. If a person has had a bad weekend at home, he or she can react aggressively towards any confrontation, as a visible influence. A critical healthcare situation with a child at home can, and will, change the attitude towards the importance of work decisions, as an invisible influence. Experiences of life per definition form filters and perceptions. Any experienced situation will form your behaviour and reaction towards a similar situation. A traumatic experience can form or even deform filters towards life in general.

As it is probably known, that, for instance, personal circumstances influence business behaviour of people on the other side of the table, it is time to reflect on the reader, on how they really influence the reader's behaviour. It is easy to judge someone else. It is hard to accept that your view is filtered and therefore limited and that your behaviour is influenced, too. Have you ever asked yourself why you drive a particular (company-) car? Is it because of your own preference only or is your choice influenced by what others think of your car too?

Project manager's behaviour

Who decides how project managers should behave? Is it an unwritten etiquette, a formal code or just a monkey-copies-monkey conduct? Is it, that if you use an untypical approach that your project will fail? Is it, that if you do everything by the book that your project will succeed?

The answer can be found in knowledge of filters and perceptions of yourself and of the party on the other side of the table. It is not the method, approach or result that satisfies you the best that will grant you success. It is the expected method, approach or result by the other side of the table that eases the way to success. To be able to understand what is expected, an understanding of the other side's filters is essential.

Forced and natural behaviour

As it is hard, on a first level of project manager's maturity, to work with the known hard skills and competences, it is even harder to use a next levels presentation and problem solving skills, because a situation sensing capability is needed. Usage of new knowledge, tips and tricks often seems to be forced and will not always work. The more a manager grows and the more a manager accepts criticisms and reflection, the more the sensing capability will develop, even though it is sometimes purely experience based. The first and second maturity level behaviour will nevertheless look more and more natural. A manager can learn or adapt this behaviour by experience.

To reach the next level of maturity, a manager needs to already have some empathic capacity. First, the person needs to accept the fact that his or her own views of reality are filtered. Secondly, the person needs to empathically sense the possible filters and perceptions of the person on the other side of the table. The evolving manager needs to have passed all previous levels of managerial growth and have the necessary personal maturity to place previous level experiences in the right perspective. The next level manager must reflect on his own career and business cases with a personal touch. He must no longer ask what was done by whom, but why he himself or someone else has done something and why in that particular way.

Filters model

When reflecting on past experience and behaviours, the reader will find a combination of filters and perceptions that led to a certain behaviour or outcome. That is a right conclusion. People's behaviour is formed by a combination of filters, after all, as an example a person cannot exclude his educational experience or his family life, or his cultural background etc. They all form a person's filters and perceptions. The stronger filters are, the more conflicting they can be. (as shown in Exhibit 2 below)

Exhibit 2

He will also encounter two different categories of filters more easily described as positive and negative filters. A positive filter or positive drive can be a natural enthusiasm for, for example a software solution. This positive filter can become so strong it becomes a market vision so that the person decides to start his own company. A positive filter can often been found with visionairs. A negative filter, on the contrary, can be caused by bad experiences with, for example, a software solution, which a person has to implement anyway. This negative filter can become so strong, that it can frustrate or fail an entire project. Different people apparently can see the same subject through a positive or negative filter. A person will likewise always have positive and negative filters, however, with different intensities, forming one's personality.