Argyris Scale Of Inference: Don’t Make Movies!

It happens to everyone: we make real mental films worthy of an Oscar. Thinking about future catastrophic scenarios, imagining dramas, rambling on strange stories that could happen… All these baseless and sometimes meaningless deductions are explained by an interesting theory: Chris Argyris’ scale of inference.

For those who have never heard of this name, we could say that it was an exponent of the theory of human behavior within companies. Psychologist, economist and Harvard professor, he was a real point of reference for understanding the mechanisms that connect people to each other, how we make decisions and how they affect the different social contexts that affect us.

One of Dr. Argyris’ most interesting contributions was his theory of inference . It explains how we attach meaning to things in our mind and how they affect our actions. And this is because, let’s face it, sometimes we make completely erroneous interpretations that feed our malaise and lead us to make bad decisions.

Mental movies, like imagining that our partner lies to us, that our co-workers hate us or that we will fail that exam because we dislike the professor, etc.

All this has two effects on us: it limits the quality of our life due to the inference generated and which is not always based on well-founded data; it makes us fall into cycles of real suffering, because we give credit to ideas that do not start from objective facts. 

Chris Argyris’ scale of inference, what is it?

People suffer from a widespread trend: believing that two plus two equals five. We do this when we see the neighbor leaving in tears and we think the boyfriend has left her, when our boss argues with someone in the office and we repeat to ourselves that things are not going well and that we should look for another job.

Inferring, drawing our own conclusions and making real mental films is an aspect deeply inherent in the human being. There are those who work so hard and have so much imagination that they create real cinematic masterpieces. And this is due to several reasons:

• Our brain does not like uncertainty, it does not like “not knowing something”. To come to a conclusion, he resorts to a flurry of objective observations, a good deal of imagination, and inferences that are not entirely logical.

• At the same time it must be said that the world is moving faster and faster. We get a lot of stimulus, information, we are under pressure and we need to draw quick conclusions to be able to act. And this is precisely the starting point of our biggest problems.

• As a result, the mind is faster and less and less reflective.

This causes misunderstandings, wrong deductions about people and situations. In order to be more aware and have control over how we come to certain conclusions it is useful to know the theoretical approaches to this, such as Chris Argyris’ scale of inference.

Thanks to this point of view, we will be able to better understand how our brain works when we have to make certain decisions.

What does the scale of inference tell us?

This theory was presented in the research study by psychologists Chris Argyris and Peter Senge, entitled The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization . The approach was aimed at the business context; the aim was to try to understand why sometimes bad or even crazy decisions are made in the workplace.

To this end, the authors used the scale metaphor to describe the mechanism by which we come to certain conclusions. The steps are as follows:

• We observe what surrounds us.
• We select certain data or information about what we see.

• We attribute meaning to them.
• We elaborate assumptions.
• We draw conclusions based on our assumptions.
• We act on the basis of the basic idea.

Our beliefs act as a mediator in this succession of steps. They push us to select one piece of information rather than another, or to filter our reality. Sometimes, among other things, they push us to go from observation to conclusions in a thousandth of a second.

How to elaborate better inferences in order not to “make films” that deviate from reality?

We know that the human brain does not tolerate uncertainty and for this reason it tends to come to wrong conclusions and do it quickly. This hurts us, because it leads us to make decisions that in the long run hurt us and that could lead to conflicts.

Chris Argys’ scale of inference helps us to put in place some strategies to act by feeling more confident, objective and reflective.

The 6 steps to make wiser decisions

The scale of inference theory requires a certain amount of responsibility and mental commitment on our part. Pulling the brake before consolidating certain ideas and broadening our horizons a little to dig beyond the surface is certainly a tip to keep in mind. Here are the steps to take to infer more wisely.

• First step: observe all the facts with an objective gaze without adding your own beliefs. It is forbidden to make assumptions.

• Second step: do not discard any data. Sometimes we tend to delete certain information because it does not reflect our specific point of view on things. We must remain objective.

• Third step. At the sight of certain things we want to give them meaning. When you do, ask yourself why you attribute this meaning and not others. Be critical of yourself.

• Fourth step. Once we have given a meaning to something, here comes our guesswork. Ask yourself: is this assumption based on facts that I have seen and believe in?

• Fifth step. If you have come to a certain conclusion, filter it. Eliminate your beliefs, your emotions from it, and analyze it under the lens of objectivity. Do you still think it’s right?

• Sixth step: behavior. Do you act out of your emotions or do you take into account the objective information available to you? Always act by adapting to the reality you perceive. Sometimes, by letting ourselves be carried away by emotions, we end up saying something that we later regret. Be thoughtful.

It is clear that all of us have happened to make a mental film that had little to do with reality, leading us to feel bad (and even to feel embarrassed).

We can avoid this by making use of a more reflective, objective mental approach, devoid of nonsense assumptions, prejudices or inferences.