I just finished reading “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. It is a fun and easy read with some useful insights into the nature of markets and networks.
One of the more interesting concepts presented in the book was the idea of the “Power of Context”. Gladwell give evidence that the context of any decision may be more important than the skills of the participants. This might be obvious at first, but often people misjudge the importance of context. Gladwell gives the example of an experiment:

“In one experiment, for instance, a group of people are told to watch two sets of simialry talented basketball players, the first of whom are shooting baskets in a well-lighted gym and the second of whom are shooting baskets ina badly lighted gym (and obiously missing a lot of shots). Then they are asked to judge how good the players were. The players in the well-lighted gym were considered superior.”

So although the players were actually of similar skill level and the observers have a clear reason why the second group might have more trouble making baskets (since they could see the gym was poorly lit), they still attributed the poor shooting to lack of skill.

This plays out in many ways in our daily life. We often characterize individuals in one way or another without regard to the context. To me, this was one of the most interesting ideas, for example, it is stating that in some ways that all ethics are situational. Some people might be brave given the right circumstances, while others that appear to have courage in many situations may falter in a certain environment. Your friend that you always count on for honesty, may lack integrity on the job. The context of each decision must be taken into account before judging the character of the individual.

Now, in my opinion, this is not to say that context excuses poor character, or that character does not exist. It just means that you cannot judge others based solely on your interactions with them, particularly your interactions in a limited setting. It also means that if you change someone’s environment that you can change their decision making process. I believe that Gladwell pursues this idea further in his next book, Blink, which I am planning on purchasing when it is released a week or so. I am also thinking of attending a reading that Gladwell is having for Blink at Powell’s in Portland.

I guess my biggest lesson from Gladwell’s “Power of Context” is that the Buddhist practice of non-judgment has power in business. As Gary Zukav said in “Seat of the Soul“:

“There are personalities that are selfish and hostile and negative, but even in these cases we cannot fully know the reasons why. These are hidden from view. That does not mean that we cannot recognize negativity when we see it, but we cannot judge it. That is not our place. If we intervene in an argument, or break up a fight, it is not appropriate that we judge the participants. Of one thing we can be certain: a person that is engaging in violence is hurting deeply, because a healthy and balanced soul is incapable of harming another. When we judge, we create negative karma.”

My take away is that practicing non-judgment you can often avoid errors of context. And your karma will thank you as well!