You Can’t Unsee This! By Dr. Mark L. Vincent

Learning to Embrace What You Can’t Unsee

There are simply things you can’t unsee. That is because you have the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon.  I do.  We all do.

How it Works

This cognitive bias, also called the frequency illusion, is how we start noticing something everywhere once we’ve become aware of it. Perhaps it has been a fashion accessory for years, but you’ve just now noticed. Maybe you have experienced the commonly used illustration of the phenomenon, the yellow VW Beetle. Perhaps it is an ancestral or cultural symbol reflecting your family heritage you found in your research, and now you spot it frequently. These things were not consciously in our lives before our notice, and now they are inescapable.

Our brains make things sticky, often rooted in our ability to direct our selective attention to a matter. Hence, we find ourselves unable to unsee, recalling things in inconvenient moments, or, more beneficially, correlating one positive experience with another as a means of innovating.

As with many human dynamics, we can harness a phenomenon like this for our own benefit and that of those who come after us.

Leveraging the Principle

Christian Leadership Alliance’s Maestro-level leader experience is a unique opportunity to learn and engage. It leverages the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, allowing CLA members to be reminded and increasing the visibility of planful succession. In a world full of awful succession stories, we are given the repeated picture of living and strong leaders doing it well because they are doing it together as peers.

This journey is uniquely hazardous, but it’s also a journey into decreasing control, increased uncertainty, and reduced competence to get others into the seat you’ve occupied and slingshot them toward future success. No one has done this before, not in their organization, at this moment, or with the team and board in place!

Watching others do it well helps them (and you) notice other successful stories—learning and engaging rather than delaying, denying, or amping up to power through the process as if it were just like any previous experience in strategic planning.

A Shared Journey

Currently, two CLA member cohorts are in the midst of the four-year Maestro-level leader process. These cohorts are not just groups; they are strong and supportive communities. They help each other navigate hazards, choose the timing, and initiate the next necessary steps. They witness other organizations investing in continuity and succession rather than trying to avoid the increased expenses of a planful succession. This support strengthens resolve, optimism, and readiness to engage in difficult problem-solving and innovative approaches at essential moments.

The journey requires frequent signposts, but it can be done because there are so many wrong turns. These cohorts are erecting signposts for you.

Your Invitation

Would you like to know more about Maestro-level leaders and the next cohort we’d like to gather? I’m happy to talk with you about it. You can also contact Kirk Kriegel, one of our Facilitators who is recruiting and will lead the next cohort we plan to launch in 2025.

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ᐧDr. Mark L. Vincent is the Founder of Design Group International and the Society for Process Consulting. He hosts the Third Turn Podcast and facilitates Maestro-level leaders. Discover the Maestro-level cohort that is waiting for you! Click the banner below to learn more!

Christian Leadership Alliance encourages you to explore what God has for you in the Third Turn!