Sensing Differences

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات · 2 دقائق وقت القراءة · ~10 ·

التدوين

مدونة Ali

Sensing Differences

I am proposing the importance of a non-conventional sense and that is of sensing minute differences. I am explaining the vitality of this sense and highlighting its importance in our lives. I mean the minute differences that play significant roles in our lives. Or, those differences that appear innocent, but in reality they could influence our lives for ages.

Let me start with few examples. There are optical isomers that have similar chemical structures. The only way to differentiate them is that one isomer turns polarized right to the right and one to the left. A famous example is the ill-reputed thalidomide that crippled babied such has having no limbs. As similar as these isomers were; still one of them was safe for pregnant women to take, In contrast, the other isomer was terribly harmful and led to thousand of crippled babies. Small differences were deceptive because they seemed unimportant to pay attention to them only to ruin the lives of thousands of babies.

Small traces of water in walls may dampen them and allow for the growth of mold. Tenants tend to wash off molds or repainting the walls only for the mold to surface out again. The infrared camera utilizes a simple idea. The damp part of a wall shall be cooler than other parts. The infrared camera magnifies this small difference and by having an image of the wall in which red colors refer to zones where there is no water because they are hotter than the zones with water. This way we may locate the source of water and remove it “from its roots”. This reminds me of the skin of an alligator. It is extremely sensitive to very small in vibrations which help the alligator locate its prey.

Managers who build walls between them and employees make sure that these walls shall dampen and molds shall grow bringing the whole organizational structure down.
Ali Anani, PhD

The power to magnify small differences is a true source of power that we tend to overlook.
Ali Anani, PhD

Cultural differences at work might look insignificant or even trivial. Many managers tend to ignore them because they look small. In some cultures a manager is always right and subordinate shouldn’t differ with him. How many small opinions were kept in the chests and if they were allowed to come to the open they would have changed the fate of many organizations. Small opinions, but ignoring them proved to be the thalidomide-like to cripple organizations and have their limbs cut off.

Few days back @Liesbeth Leysen wrote a beautiful buzz titled “The Power of a Simple Thank You”. She wrote “It all started with their email that I received a few days ago. Their creative marketing team had made a joyful story in which they celebrated my one year customer membership. It made me smile. It touched my heart. Certainly because I am a writer myself and I adore storytelling. Fact is that I was so happy with that celebration email of bol.com, that I decided to mention it on Twitter”. This example shows how small acts might be of very powerful in making loyal customers.

Small acts that may sound trivial, but they have the power of a storm.
Ali Anani, PhD

In the womb of small actions lies a bomb to explode in the future. We need to grow the sense that in small differences there are the greatest opportunities and threats.
Ali Anani, PhD

In small changes of employees' behaviors we may find our greatest opportunity to magnify those differences and make timely corrections.
Ali Anani, PhD

#Sensing Differences #Simple Thank #Ali Anani #Power #Liesbeth Leysen

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #46

#58
This is a hugely thoughtful comment my dear friend Vincenzo De Florio. It is deep and this part alone of your comment makes huge impact "we may see it with our senses though we don’t “see” it with our brains". I assure you that all my senses and brain "see" the wisdom in your words. I wish your time would allow you to write a buzz based on this superb comment. We need your brains my friend.

Lisa Vanderburg

منذ 6 سنوات #45

#52
Seconded, along with Sara Jacobovici (too many know too little and rarely more than meets their eyes), I tell them 'there's nothing wrong with his MIND, it's his BRAIN!' It's not exactly correct, but helps in interpreting - not as well as you have here!

Lisa Vanderburg

منذ 6 سنوات #44

#50
me too, my friend Tausif Mundrawala - please tag!

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 6 سنوات #43

#52
And what a valuable contribution it is Ian Weinberg! Thank you for being able to describe a complex system in such a clear and user friendly way.

Ian Weinberg

منذ 6 سنوات #42

#37
#38 #47 Indeed we have not reached that level of understanding where we're able to discern precisely how and wherein the brain (the one between our ears and the only one which has cognitive function) the functions of perception, memory and cognition occur. We have projected observations and logical reasoning upon researched segments of neuroscience and thereby synthesized a model of neuropsychology. Flowing from this, we have identified the primary sensory areas which in the earliest time of of our development, receive the closest to pure sensory information. This then influences the secondary sensory areas where integration takes place with other sensory areas and thus primordial perception commences. This integrated information projects to higher areas where it receives an emotional tag (integration) and thereby establishes primordial cognition through the process of working memory (reflecting a reasoning function of the pre-frontal cortex). The unique subjective world view resulting from this expanding cognitive process in turn, projects to the sensory and sensory association areas influencing raw sensation as well as perception. We are effectively therefore influenced by the subjectivity inherent in our cognitive integration. It is only when significant incongruencies develop between our perception and cognition on the one hand and the external reality on the other, that we are forced to self-appraise and upgrade the integration at cognitive and perceptional levels, leading to greater awareness and thereby more objective and comprehensive integrations. Just my subjective contribution to the dialogue!

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

منذ 6 سنوات #41

#26
awe!

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #40

#48
I am glad that you accepted my suggestion and please tag me when you publish dear Tausif Mundrawala

Phil Friedman

منذ 6 سنوات #39

#37
Sara> "... yet there is still a huge area to fill between seeing and understanding what we see..." Precisely, Sara, because seeing is at the level of perception, while understanding is at the level of cognition. We perceive through the senses, and we may train parts of our nervous system to react to things we perceive, without the intercession of cognitive function(s). But understanding is an emergent state that exists at the higher level of cognition. And to conflate the two is to commit what some philosophers call a "category error". Consider that a 5-step ladder is composed of two "runners" and five steps. But the ladder is more than these seven pieces because unless arranged and connected together in the correct configuration, the pieces are just a pile of wood (or metal) and useless for climbing up anything. However, when the pieces ARE properly arranged and connected together, a LADDER emerges which CAN be used to climb up. Yet the important point is that the ladder, as an entity, is emergent and exists at a higher "plane" than its component pieces. For even when the ladder is assembled, you do NOT find eight items (2 runners, 5 steps, and 1 ladder) but only seven. The ladder does not exist at the same level of reality as its component pieces. Just as cognition and understanding do not exist at the same level of reality as the information of one's sense and perception. Cheers!

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #38

#44
If all these headaches bring the best out of you then I have a paradox dear Tricia Mitchell. To wish you continuing headache tsp that your mind oozes the best, but then I am not a friend to wish you headaches. I have a paradox to solve.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #37

#41
Dear Tausif Mundrawala- you surprise me again, but my planned next buzz centers partly around your comment here. I say cheers to you while raising my and holding a cup filled with nimbu paani with very little amount of rock salt added. Yes, some people the work place too salty. You offer a great analogy of balance in your example and I strongly suggest that you expand it to a buzz (poem if you wish).

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #36

#39
Dear Tricia Mitchell- just prior to reading your comment here I commented, liked and shared your buzz on three platforms. It falls under the category of a must read. I am glad that the womb of my buzz resulted in the delivery of such a great baby buzz that is lively and energetic.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #35

#37
I am always conservative when discussing issues related to brain for as you said Sara Jacobovici. There are recent studies that show we have many mini brains in our bodies. So, I understand your comment fully.

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 6 سنوات #34

#35
Thank you for the mention Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee and I have had very interesting exchanges on this very topic and have respectfully agreed to disagree. I would just like to remind us all that when it comes to the human brain, we are only able to discuss a very small aspect of how our brain works. It is amazing to "see" activity with the advancement in technological devises, yet there is still a huge area to fill between seeing and understanding what we see. Thank you, gentlemen, for a dynamic discussion.

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 6 سنوات #33

#25
Thanks for the mention CityVP \ud83d\udc1d Manjit. I think you bring up two important points.One referring to the need for different members of a team being able to contribute how they see, their perspective. Second , that we cannot afford to overlook the positive differences.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #32

#34
I understand your point Phil Friedman and it is subtle too. I am honest with you in not being so informed about the different levels of sensual activity. I just wonder if the senses-brain talk to each other then if we sense something no matter at what level it shall affect our cognition and vice versa. I also say that creativity in extending an idea from one field to another foreign field is cognition or more related to perception. You have good points and I have more questions. @Sara Jacobovici wrote a buzz on knowledge as a sense. She might be more qualified than I in responding adequately to your comment.

Phil Friedman

منذ 6 سنوات #31

#29
Ali, one does not "justify" the Butterfly Effect. One either recognizes it as a phenomenon or fails to do so. My point is epistemological in nature and is that being (or becoming) aware of the Butterfly Effect is a matter of sharpening cognition (second-level awareness) to a point where we pick out and understand the cumulative effects of a great many minuscule events (actions and reactions) in the world. But that it is not a matter of having a separate "special" sense at the perceptual level. Rather it is a matter of learning to recognize what is. already ever-present in our perceptual field. Learning, like the Inuit, to discern more more than a dozen different types of snow is not a matter of developing a "snow sense", but of learning to process better and more discrininately the perceptual information already incoming. Moreover, much of the time, the heightened "discernment" of which you speak is the result of more acute pattern recognition. And again, that is a matter of cognition (second level intellectual activity), and not a matter of perception (first-level sensual activity). IMO. Cheers!

Phil Friedman

منذ 6 سنوات #30

#29
Ali, one does not "justify" the Butterfly Effect. One either recognizes it as a phenomenon or fails to do so. My point is epistemological in nature and is that being (or becoming) aware of the Butterfly Effect is a matter of sharpening cognition (second-level awareness) to a point where we pick out and understand the cumulative effects of a great many minuscule events (actions and reactions) in the world. But that it is not a matter of having a separate "special" sense at the perceptual level. Rather it is a matter of learning to recognize what is. already ever-present in our perceptual field. Learning, like the Inuit, to discern more more than a dozen different types of snow is not a matter of developing a "snow sense", but of learning to process better and more discrininately the perceptual information already incoming. Moreover, much of the time, the heightened "discernment" of which you speak is the result of more accrue pattern recognition. And again, that is a matter of cognition (second level intellectual activity), and not a matter of perception (first-level sensual activity). IMO. Cheers!

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #29

Thank you my dear Lisa Vanderburg for making feel the sense of your comment- the things you said and those that are still unsaid.

Lisa Vanderburg

منذ 6 سنوات #28

Wonderful observations above and below, my dear Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee! I fear I missed the tag as I've only just seen this....my apologies! Being mindful of my choice of words (#42 Phil), I would dare to say your buzz embraces the sensing as tactile - feel your senses, feel the atmospheres around you and feel your response before acting upon it. So much more to say I didn't sense my freezer dying....... :)

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #27

#25
Thank you my friend CityVP \ud83d\udc1d Manjit because it shows the impact of small considerations that may result in turning a customer an advocate for a company at almost zero cost to the company.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #26

#24
Thank you Phil Friedman and I understand your point. May be then you would elaborate on the butterfly effect and the justification you have for it based on your comment.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #25

#23
You are spot on Joanne Gardocki. Your arc example is a good one in complex systems wherein many factors interfere in determining the trajectory of a system. In such systems small effects may have a butterfly effect

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #24

#22
Thank you Liesbeth for sharing the buzz

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #23

#21
Exactly, and your comment had the same effect on me dear

CityVP Manjit

منذ 6 سنوات #22

As a corollary to leadership this thinking about small differences comes down to teamwork. Some on the team will be very good at picking up microscopic but relevant details, they may be great pattern recognizers or excel at detail, while others may pick up telescopic details and are good at seeing the big picture but maybe not grounding their thoughts, to transform this into value creating action. I take heed of what Sara Jacobovici says about magnifying on the irrelevant while missing something larger that sits right in front of our nose. Moreover if we become good at noticing small differences, we need to be able to discern between cracks and a more focused observation of the whole. Sara rightly says that magnification can lead us astray and if a crack magnifies it can become a canyon but if we can learn from what we see in the context of the whole, we may avert that crack from becoming a canyon or even see something entirely new that now can be brought into the life of the emerging organization. Not that small differences is about looking for flaws because we can build up an annoying ability to see fault in things, and it is easier to sell people on what is wrong with something, rather than draw out value creation. Even where there is value creation, the person who may have spotted the opportunity may not be the person who can translate it into greater value - and so it is a part of leadership is shaping this ability to know who contributes most to zooming out and who contributes to zooming in. If as a leader we are unable to navigate this evaluation of capabilities, then talented people may leave the team. Likewise a good leader who can see these small differences may just save the organization by serving a place where people want great leadership.

Phil Friedman

منذ 6 سنوات #21

#14
#17 Ali, I don't necessarily disagree with your pointing out the importance of being able to make very fine distinctions or having a very well developed ability to discern the finest of differences in the world. But with all due respect, it seems to my admittedly often obtuse mind that you are here conflating "perception" with "cognition" -- perception being the pathway by which information reaches the Mind, and cognition being basically what the mind does with the incoming information. As I and many philosophers of mind, not to mention many epistemologists, see it, "discernment" is a function of cognition, not of perception. As to the eighteenth century "Subjective Idealism" of George Berkeley, I don't believe it is fruitful to attempt to layer his distinction between "ideas of the senses" and "ideas of the imagination/memory" onto your discussion of minute discernment, without understanding or making it clear that Berkeley denied the existent of "material substance". Moreover, Berkeley was not privy to the large body of knowledge that has evolved about the brain and its functions which has accumulated post-18th century. And it seems to me to be a retrograde step intellectually to attempt to turn the clock back in philosophy of mind to his interesting, but necessarily physiologically "naive" theories. IMO. Cheers! (cc: Ian Weinberg)

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

منذ 6 سنوات #20

Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee is a bee that makes a difference, read his post and you will see everything with new eyes.

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

منذ 6 سنوات #19

thank you Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee for integrating my message into your beautiful post. Highly appreciated. I so agree that even a small step can create huge effect!

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #18

#18
8 If my thoughts are good, yours dear Harvey Lloyd are excellent and outstanding. Yes, we see the journey, but not the effort to get that journey moving. Your photon metaphor is simply excellent, powerful and deep. This is very well explained in your comment "Good leaders realize the life of a behaviour is deep, fermented and can develop a life of its own. Even though they are only looking at a nuance of circumstances". You remind me of the olive tree as it takes years to develop, but once it produces olives we enjoy them and we forget about the background efforts in making them grow and reach maturity. yes, we need to understand deeper than just seeing the reflections. Great thinker you are Harvey.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #17

#18
If my thoughts are good, yours dear Harvey Lloyd are excellent and outstanding. Yes, we see the journey, but not the effort to get that journey moving. Your photon metaphor is simply excellent, powerful and deep. This is very well explained in your comment "Good leaders realize the life of a behaviour is deep, fermented and can develop a life of its own. Even though they are only looking at a nuance of circumstances". You remind me of the olive tree as it takes years to develop, but once it produces olives we enjoy them and we forget about the background efforts in making them grow and reach maturity. yes, we need to understand deeper than just seeing the reflections. Great thinker you are harvey.

Harvey Lloyd

منذ 6 سنوات #16

A photon begins life deep in our sun under tremendous conditions, gravity, heat and other conditions where light is greatly impacted. After this birth it takes years for this single proton to make it to the surface and then only a few moments to reach earth. The nuances of human behaviour are not much different than the photons journey. What you and i witness is the reflection of that behaviour off of our goals and own personal needs. This doesnt tell us the journey of that behaviour formation. A photon, like behaviour, always starts small but ends with big results when we do/dont manage the energy it produces. Good leaders realize the life of a behaviour is deep, fermented and can develop a life of its own. Even though they are only looking at a nuance of circumstances. Your post points out that these nuances can be missed or otherwise mistreated by leaders, rightfully so. These nuances are usually missed because the leader is to busy seeking their own reflection within the photons they have emitted. When we look at something, reflection, we must also realize that the photon that allows the reflection had a previous life that has developed into the current moment we witness. The behaviour is merely the immediate reflection. Leaders have a choice. Manage the reflection or understand the journey of the photon that grew into what we witnessed. Good thoughts.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #15

#16
I already have found another blog and I am responding soon in a buzz Geoff Hudson-Searle

Geoff Hudson-Searle

منذ 6 سنوات #14

#15
Pleasure Ali, I have written about this subject, its fascinating, experiences good and bad can effect you forever, imagination will always take you to another human dimension subconsciously without any return to where you came from, I am sure you will find another blog from the paper.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #13

#14
Thank you so much Geoff Hudson-Searle for sharing the great link; I started reading and already impressed

Geoff Hudson-Searle

منذ 6 سنوات #12

Great thought provoking subject Ali, I only spoke with Charlene Norman this morning about senses, human experiences and we were discussing imagination. Here is a great paper from Berkeley on the subject, certainly worth a read. http://www.academia.edu/2069092/Berkeley_s_Two_Mental_Events_Ideas_of_Senses_and_Ideas_of_Imagination_and_Memory

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #11

#11
Yes, spot on dear Sara Jacobovici and I would also add having a "tunneling effect".

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #10

Because of your background and experiences I invite Vincenzo De Florio for their comments and hoping their times would allow them to do so.

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 6 سنوات #9

#9
I appreciate your response Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee. I also appreciate your diplomatic way of saying we are often "short-sighted". This is an important point as it pertains to our visual sense and of our need to utilize all aspects of that, and all of our senses. Finally, if we remain short-sighted and are senseless to differences, we also forget to compensate for blind spots.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #8

#8
First, I want to thank you for alerting me to a typo and so I changed the word changes to changed in the part you quoted from the buzz. Again, you surprise me with your comment. It is amazing how you expand on ideas when you ask about the source of water. In fact, many people think that where the mold grow there is the source of water. This is a wrong practice for water might generate mold in a wall, but its source might be somewhere else. We tend to correct thor the result of a problem and not its root causes. There is a huge lesson for managers in your comment.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #7

#5
Dear Sara Jacobovici- you hit a great target with your superb comment. I find a jewel in this part of your comment "My only contribution would be to remind ourselves to be able to distinguish when a small aspect is being neglected versus, unnecessarily magnified". Absolutely correct and this is a delicate balance, but unfortunately we tend to be swayed towards one end of it. The time factor is crucial here in balancing our position. We tend to think of the current time and neglect the future in which small differences today might pile up and create huge differences in the future. This is one reason in my humble opinion that we tend to neglect small differences till they become the stroke that broke the back of the camel. Even when we magnify differences we do so because of our current position and not visualizing the effect on the long run. Honestly, you bring a hugely important point in your comment and it deserves your "magnified" attention Sara because it is worthy now and in the future.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #6

#4
WOW! You draw such a beautiful picture dear Tricia Mitchell will have a word because she referred to wombs in many of her comments. You really go the full circle in drelating home, public and membranes together in a such wonderful image. Your comment deserves a buzz on its own. I know you shall. The profound thinking in your comment is worthy of more than just a quick response.

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 6 سنوات #5

Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee writes: "I am proposing the importance of a non-conventional sense and that is of sensing minute differences."

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 6 سنوات #4

Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee, your great sense to see the big picture, and exceptional ability to communicate the components of this big picture, is priceless. This buzz is no exception. From my perspective, you have connected how important it is to attend (and you have inspired me here to "see" attend in a new and expansive light) to the sensory information we receive in order to appropriately engage in the right intellectual and behavioral activity; the right way to "think" about it and the right "action" to take. You are also showing us the sensory side to the butterfly effect; how a small intervention can produce a larger outcome. My only contribution would be to remind ourselves to be able to distinguish when a small aspect is being neglected versus, unnecessarily magnified. Because there is a risk when we attend inappropriately to a small detail that then is enlarged to the determent of all the surrounding information. Thanks again Dr. Ali for a thought provoking and enlightening piece.

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #3

I have to tag Deb\ud83d\udc1d Lange, Brand Ambassador @beBee for I "trust her Senses".

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #2

Lisa Vanderburg

Ali Anani

منذ 6 سنوات #1

- you are quoted in the buzz

مقالات من Ali Anani

عرض المدونة

منذ 3 سنوات · 5 دقائق وقت القراءة

المتخصصون ذوو الصلة

Geoff Hudson-Searle

NXD, C-Suite Executive, and Best Selling Author

التكنولوجيا والإنترنت

London - London

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

Published Author

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Mol - Flanders

Lisa Vanderburg

Caregiver/Killer

الخدمات المنزلية/الرعاية الاجتماعية

London - London

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