The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle & Leaders Everywhere
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle throws a large spanner in our quest to know, understand and decipher the future. It states, “If we know the present, we can calculate the future – it is not the conclusion that is wrong but the premise”. Seeing beyond the filters we have, filters that help us interpret and make sense of the world / information around us, is problematic at best and impossible at worse. If we are aware of these filters – let me give you just 4 that I have about which, without some creative interventions I can do nothing about – white, male, South African, Baby Boomer – we can understand how they skew or warp our prevailing worldview.
On the other hand, not being aware of our filters means we may make some serious errors of judgment or interpretation. So it would seem that assuming we have a grip on the present might just get in the way of how we are seeing the future. This certainly is something for those in leadership to think about. Very often their interpretation of the present is far removed from those roundabout them and how often have you come across a severe dislocation between how the ‘Exco’ see things as opposed to those ‘on the ground’?
Just a thought for leaders everywhere!
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Hi Keith,
Thanks for a thought provoking post! Indeed, determinism and positivism can be dangerous (there are many things that are not predictable or consequential – most notably because of the human element in business!)
However, I would venture that even the EPR principle you refer to above (which was in some ways the catalyst for quantum theory and the notion of uncertainty in science) does not deny the value of Newtonian physics.
Let me give you a simple example – while we have discovered that measurement and repeatability are not always accurate and fail-safe at 10 to the power -17 and below, we still feel fairly safe to build bridges using traditional physics as a basis. In other words, it is not entirely repeatable at all levels (for example the micro level), but at some levels it is quite failsafe!
My own research interests moved from quantum physics and quantum theory to neuroscience – my doctoral research investigated (in part) the effects of quantum theory on traditional deterministic notions of identity.
So, I concur with what you say above to some extent. In the current environment we need to exercise great care in how we plan for the future! But, there are some things of which we can be fairly certain, and those are the general principles according to which the human brain shapes our identity and our choices in the world of work.
You can read a post I wrote about the simple principles that govern action and reaction on my blog here. I hope it offers some basic insights to help leaders manage themselves as a first step to leading others.
Thanks for the post!
Regards,
Dion