Updating Our Frames
Frames shape how we interpret events, but experience can leave them out of date. Updating a frame means reconsidering the interpretation when new evidence no longer fits.
THE IDEA
Updating a Frame
A frame helps you decide what to notice and how to interpret it. It develops through experience, education, and cultural influences. Once established, it can also make contradictory evidence seem less credible than it deserves.
To examine a frame, state what it leads you to expect. Look for evidence that could challenge that expectation, and consider whether another interpretation explains the observations better. Changing your public position may be uncomfortable, especially if you have defended it for a long time.
The Cronkite Case
The account describes Walter Cronkite as initially interpreting the Vietnam War through his World War II experience, with considerable trust in the U.S. military and official statements. His visits to Vietnam in 1965 and 1968 exposed discrepancies between those statements and what he observed. In a 1968 broadcast, he described the war as a stalemate and advocated negotiation.
The example illustrates a change in interpretation by someone who had previously supported the war. His observations prompted him to reconsider an established view and explain that revision publicly.
When to use it
A manager revises a long-held business strategy after customer data contradicts initial assumptions.
A scientist re-evaluates a hypothesis when new experimental results challenge the prevailing consensus.
A voter changes a political stance after listening to credible, on-the-ground accounts that clash with official narratives.
An educator updates teaching methods based on student performance metrics instead of relying solely on tradition.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Walter Cronkite's Frame Shift
Cronkite initially supported the U.S. military in Vietnam. After observing discrepancies between official reports and conditions on the ground, he publicly described the war as a stalemate and advocated negotiation.
Business Pivot
A startup founder frames a product opportunity based on past successes, but after customer feedback shows low demand, she updates her frame and pivots to a new solution, saving the company from failure.
Scientific Theory Revision
A researcher's career is built on a particular theory, but when new experiments repeatedly contradict it, she updates her frame, publishes the revised understanding, and advances the field.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
What beliefs do you hold that might be based on outdated frames? What specific evidence would cause you to change them?
Recall a time you resisted updating your perspective. What emotions or cognitive barriers were at play?
How can you design a personal system to regularly seek out and seriously consider disconfirming evidence?
References
- Cronkite — Douglas Brinkley (2012)
- Hué 1968 — Mark Bowden (2017)
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- The Great Mental Models Volume 4 Economics and Art