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t o o l Exploring each other’s thinking: The Ladder of Inference

purpose

This tool provides a systematic way to look at how your assumptions infl uence your conclusions and helps you see another’s points of view. It can help you develop an awareness of your thought processes; select different data to reach new conclusions; and have more effective discussions with people who disagree with you or each other. The Ladder of Inference is most useful when you are faced with a view with which you disagree and you seem to be at a standoff.

process

A. When someone disagrees with you . . .

Step 1. Ask yourself if you are open to learning from the other person

■ Am I willing to be persuaded by a reasonable argument?

■ Am I open to new information?

Step 2. Refl ect on and disclose your data and interpretations

■ Explain, “This is what I am thinking, and this is how I reached this conclusion,” slowly move up the Ladder of Inference.

Step 3. Explore your understanding and that of others

■ Ask the other person, “Does this make sense to you?” or “Do you see any gaps in what I just said?”

■ Encourage the other person to explore your data and interpretations.

Step 4. Ask, “What do you see?”

■ Solicit the views of others.

resources needed

❏ copies of Handout: Ladder of Inference

From Managers Who Lead: A Handbook for Improving Health ServicesCambridge, MA: Management Sciences for Health, 2005

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t o o l Exploring each other’s thinking

B. When faced with a view with which you disagree . . .

Step 1. Ask, “What happened?”

■ What were the actual events that took place or the words you heard?

Step 2. What is your interpretation of those events?

Step 3. Listen, explore, and offer your own interpretation

Step 4. Listen for a larger meaning

■ Do you see a different meaning emerging from sharing different interpretations?

C. When at a standoff . . .

Step 1. Explore what data and information are known and not known

Step 2. Listen to ideas with a fresh perspective

Step 3. Look for information that will help move people toward consensus

■ Ask from time to time, “What do we need to do to move forward?”

t o o l Exploring each other’s thinking

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h a n d o u t The Ladder of Inference

Conclusionthe final opinion

or decision you reached

Interpretationthe meanings and

assumptions you added

Selected datawhat you observedor chose to focus on

Observable datawhat people actually

said and did

Source: Adapted from Argyris 1982 in THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK by Peter M. Senge, Charlotte Roberts, et al., copyright © 1994 by Peter M. Senge, Charlotte Roberts, Richard copyright © 1994 by Peter M. Senge, Charlotte Roberts, Richard B. Ross, Bryan J. Smith, and Art Kleiner. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.