Productive Detours

I read somewhere recently that expert Tetris players rotate the falling pieces more than beginners do. Which is interesting for two reasons;

1. Who knew there were ‘expert’ Tetris players?
2. The reason that they rotate the falling pieces more is not to place them - but to see what the piece is.

They’re taking actions to learn something new, even though it has nothing to show for it at the end.

In fact, often it can leave the piece further from where it needs to go - and obviously runs down the clock for that piece to be moved correctly.

The reason they turn it is to identify it, as doing this in the world is cheaper and more reliable than trying to do it in their heads.

So what looks like a detour from the thinking, is actually the thinking itself with their hands.

Andy Clark names this ‘epistemic action’ - an action taken to change what you know, not to get you closer to a goal.

What’s difficult in business is that an epistemic action like this, is hard to distinguish from a pragmatic one that failed.

The draft you binned off, or the discovery call you never tried to sell on.

Maybe the week you decided to test something, but then you backed out.

What interests me is not just that we cut these decisions first, because we buckle under the current societal norm of ‘everything I try needs to be measurable and have an impact’

But it’s the coaches who are under stress or pressure who are less likely to perform actions to learn, rather than to ‘have an outcome’

Despite the fact that these coaches are often the ones who would benefit most from the learning. §