How to Avoid a Reductive Discussion

Reductive Discussions

Reductive discussions are discussions I define as being about light or dark, right or wrong, creating an overly simple language system that is all about opposites. Contemporary culture makes it easy to either think in those terms or to have discussions in those terms. We either like our toast buttered or dry. We either want our rooms light or dark. The result makes it difficult for us to have discussions that are greater than the sum of their parts. The purpose of this article is not just to encourage greater thought inside adulthood but outside as well.

Before discussing how to remedy the situation, I think it is necessary to map out how reductive thought begins. Childhood math teaches us that 2 + 2 = 4. It cannot be anything except four, and any answer that is not four is incorrect. This kind of sound logic works inside the math classroom but conditions us to come to the table with absolute, reductive thinking. The only way to make the company grow is by increasing its sales. That is the right answer, and nothing else will do.

You can see how reductive thinking can poison the mind and dominate the will. The question, then, is how to overcome reductive thinking. This article will provide a few possible alternative methods for problem-solving:

1. Try to gather as much information as possible.
2. Gathering more information can open the mind and condition it to accept new worldviews, forcing it to repel reductive thinking.
3. Do not assume only one answer is correct.
4. The trap of reductive thinking is that it conditions us to believe there is only one right answer when, in fact, there are several. Imagining several possible scenarios instead of settling on one is not only more effective, businesswise—it can make you a better communicator.
5. Walk away.
6. In a situation where reductive thinking surrounds you, it can feel impossible to be heard. Instead of enabling conflict, try walking into more inclusive discussions and away from discussions that are hurtful.

The above article outlines reductive discussions and their harm. I hope that the workplace not only benefits from its methods in practice but also from the ideas behind them.