You can always put on a different shade when looking at a situation, effectively viewing something through a new frame. When doing so you become more open minded about a situation and realize that there is much more than your own self-interests. There are a number of ways to combat framing traps and the three methods that I’ll discuss are by understanding the frames of others, aligning frames, and speaking to others frames.
The first framing tip is to try and understand the frames of others to get a better understanding of the situation. The idea here is that this is “the process of examining the frames of different stakeholders [which] should make you more aware of frame overlap and conflict.” (Hoch & Kunreuther, 2005, p. 142) At work we are in the process of trying to move our small team to fall administratively under the Group level as opposed to a Squadron level. Simply trying to say we belong under the Group level won’t be enough to convince the yes/no decision maker, but rather we need to understand what it is making them currently say no. Right now their concern is that they may never get the manning slots back should they give it away. If we can somehow resolve this concern, we will have a better chance at accomplishing our objective.
The second framing tip is to try and align frames. I don’t have a direct personal example however through my readings I’ve discovered this incredible idea of going for the win/win situation. “Winning is deeply embedded in our national psyche. The word win is synonymous with success. Unfortunately, it also implies the corresponding lose. Even though the term win/win is used in many places, most of us think ‘for me to win, you must lose.’ Though win/win is pervasive in organizations, the idea of everyone winning is not yet an operational principle people full embrace.” (Levine, 2009, p. 78) In other words, there’s no reason we should go for the win/lose mentality. Try to align our mentalities so that everyone gets something they can be happy with. Assume an overabundance is the best way to think of it.
The last framing tip is to speak to other frames. A friend of mine came to me asking the best way for her to tell someone she cares about that this person is making a bad decision in his or her life. I recommended her not to tell this person up front their opinion because right away it will come off as adversarial and the person will likely put up a wall. I recommended instead to ask about their choice and to ask questions about it, to try and really understand their perspective. Only then, can she try to explore other options and ease them into seeing her viewpoint as well. In the end however, they have to make their own decision. This is the approach that Samaritans takes when people call in for help, they say, “sometimes it’s easy to want to try and fix a person’s problems, or give them advice. It’s usually better for people to make their own decisions. Help them think of all the options, but leave the choice to them.” (Samaritans, 2015) I used to be a volunteer and sometimes not giving advice is the hardest thing to do, but we have no right to dictate what people do with their own lives.
The three frame tips that I discussed were understanding the frames of others, aligning frames, and speaking to other frames. By only looking at things through our own frames we become incredibly bias with how we see the world and how we decide, which could have negative consequences and result in outcomes we don’t want. By being mindful of our frames, we are better able to get to an outcome that is in everyone’s best interest.
References
Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Levine, S. (2009). Getting to resolution: Turning conflict into resolution. Williston: Berrett-Koehler Publishers .
Samaritans. (2015). HOW TO START A DIFFICULT CONVERSATION. Retrieved 2015, from Samaritans: http://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you/what-speak-us-about/if-you%E2%80%99re-worried-about-someone/how-start-difficult
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