managing Beliefs

🖋 Integral to forming and managing my Beliefs was sailing together with The College Kids. Dad’s engineering background, of course, brought him to sailing – one of the most technically challenging sports around, and yet, also the most simple. Can you as a Team organize yourselves and the boat to take advantage of the wind and events to be first across the line. Simple – not easy, as with most discussions of Beliefs. The model we use to talk about it is also from sailing – an Iceberg…

… if I was really clever with graphics I could draw this, but let me try and manage with words. Your Values are the deepest part of the Iceberg, hidden from all, including often … you. Above that are Beliefs, formed as your Values interact with the events around you… which is the top part of the massive ice structure. Sadly, that is all the rest of the world sees – your Actions – or more often Reactions. Like an Iceberg – what is seen is about 10% – all of the rest is not seen or accessible to others. Now, sadly, many/most headlines that include the INTENT of the person – something that is speculation at best, and one of my favorite biases to point out – Attribution Error…

…with its enabler, Confirmation Bias. Put the 2 together, and you “know” what people “mean” by their Actions, and your brain takes over with the rest, actually selecting OUT data that disagrees with both biases. Polarization emerges from this, and Beliefs become grouped by class, race, etc, and partners become co-conspirators. If you are in my “tribe” then I agree with you, and if not, I vilify you. And this happens in half a second… and becomes your “Belief pattern” if not evaluated. The Ladder of Inference is something every human needs to understand, and this video is worth your time…

🎵 From their early Gospel albums, it was only a matter of time before other labels would be interested in adding the Staples to their Tribe. But who would partner with them to continue their strong Faith statements in their recordings? “Gospel goes deeper than entertainment,” Pops Staples said in 1968, shortly after the Staple Singers signed with Stax Records. “It is the word of God. But you can’t push that down anybody’s throat. All we can do is get as many people to hear us as we can.” The home of Booker T & The MG’s, Otis Redding, and eventually Issac Hayes, it was the perfect set of partners for their Beliefs…

🖋 Have you actually ever thought about your core beliefs? Either professionally or personally, a real accounting for what you Value, and then Believe, that guides your Actions? Remembering only the latter is what others can actually see, and what others may use to decide whether to partner with you to confirm or question the same actions. My father had a “flow chart of his faith” that he used in Sunday School with the College Kids to “help” them manage their Beliefs logically. If you Believe this, and then this, then you Believe this… wait no? Then what do you really Believe?

Yesterday’s article established multi-culturalism as the first radical concept of the early church. The second radical concept for the early church was Multi-Class. Within the inner circle, and eventually, the within the leaders of Jesus’ Tribe were people from all classes, like slaves and wealthy, illiterate and Sanhedrin – nearly Kings of Judaism. The stance was radical – that all were welcome and needed partners sharing the Belief that we truly are all created both equal and in the image of God. And to sharpen each other’s understanding, we need to manage different voices from different perspectives to make progress. I saw these radical concepts sailing with The College Kids…

… as we would tack, we would have to move from one side of the boat to the other – port to starboard if you are a sailor, and always the “opposite” of the wind. To counteract the wind, you had to balance with your weight or the boat would tip – not over, but enough to think you would. It was also a way to observe Teamwork, something that Dad immediately seized on. Everyone, EVERYONE, had to go out in the boat to be in the Tribe. Those who brought their differences together made the most “progress” and would sail faster… and those who didn’t, well, eventually learned we were all in this boat together. Grad student, freshman, Pre-Med, Ag…

Sailors will know that one of the most important, and least-desired roles on a boat is called the “Sewer”. Yes – that reference is correct – below decks and out of sight, this person is the lowest member of the crew – literally in the bottom of the boat.  They are responsible for ensuring that all of the sails are ready for the next leg — stowing those that are not needed, and keeping things tidy and orderly…or not.  Like your Values, deep and out of sight, but always ready to manifest themselves in Beliefs and ultimately Actions. And without strong partners, your Beliefs and Actions often will be misaligned. Who do you need to add to your Tribe – from another class or persuasion to help you BOTH make progress as you sail through your day? If you don’t have anyone… well … I’ll Take you There