April26
Einstellung! Wasn’t he that smart guy with that crazy hair???
Nope.
The Einstellung Effect is the state of mind where your previous knowledge gets in the way of your ability to adapt, learn and think in the moment. It’s a great thing to keep in mind because it affects us all and it always affects us.
SO… Einstellung is a German word. In English it translates simply as ‘attitude’. The Einstellung Effect means a little more. It explains our tendancy to hold onto ideas we’ve learned and lose the ability to see things outside of the original context.
See the picture below? In Italy they have these crazy Christmas Cakes in a box. Mmmm tasty. We learn that the box is for the cake. We see the box and know how to use it. We put a cake in it.
Imagine one day while it’s raining, you are looking around the house for an umbrella and can’t find one. A child might see the box and put it on his head for protection whereas the adult with the knowledge of “Umbrellas” and “Cake Boxes” would not see the applicability of the box to have any use.
The good side of it this effect is that it makes us fairly speedy in our ability to solve problems. You learn a game, you get some tactics, you beat the pants off your friends every time you play. YA-HOOO! You are brilliant.
The down side of learning this great new technique and branding it in your mind as a rule is that it gets in the way of better things. The idea of brain plasticity and the flexibility of the mind is defeated by hard rules. As you apply the lesson in that game over and over again and start to lose, you get stuck with your once succesful information that no longer works.
EVGENY MOROZOV, author of The Net Delusion writes
We constantly experience it (Einstellung Effect) when trying to solve a problem by pursuing solutions that have worked for us in the past – instead of evaluating and addressing it on its own terms. Thus, while we may eventually solve the problem, we may also be wasting an opportunity to so in a more rapid, effective, and resourceful manner.
This past couple of months I hit a few walls with the 6 or 7 German improvisation groups I ran across In many situations the question, “How do I play this?” Or “What are the rules?” popped into conversations.
Let’s be clear about something; this is a human condition and not just the behaviour of those smiling faced, efficiency minded, rule abiding Germans. We humans create safety by knowing what to do in given circumstances. We are taught this to a fault in school. If we can follow the rules and apply the lessons, we excel in the institutions of society. BUT reflect on how often we hear about the rule breakers, those who behave contrary to practiced behaviour and succeed beyond expectation.
I think it frustrates many participants in workshops to hear that they are not being given something that works all the time. The ideas they are learning don’t apply in all circumstances but might apply at the right time. And when is the right time? Well the right time is when the tool will work. The wrong time is when it will damage the story or inhibit the particular success you are looking for. Practice playing with your tool (giggle giggle… immature laughter) and you will find when it’s best to use.
Example: In an Improvisation course, you are told not to start with negative comments at the beginning of scenes. So you learn to be Mr. Positive. Everything is daisies and daffodils. The first few times you use this new tool you experience something you haven’t before. It feels good. Your partner seems happy and the audiences like the outcomes of the scene. You have the secret of great improvisation!!! YA-HOOOOO! You use it all the time. You teach these ideas as gospel! You write a book and gain followers and the cult of smiles grows…
Then… your shows start feeling predictable. Other improvisers rebel, they say “there must be a better way”. They start begin a few scenes being cruel or mean and to everyone’s surprise, they create a memorable piece of improvisation.
You say THEY are wrong but you can’t deny that something in their work sparkles where yours is now a little grey.
What’s changed? Nothing. The rule was only meant as a “rule for now”.
You would have been well advised to look at your show as a big picture. Maybe recognize that there have been too many Unicorns and Butterflies and happy monkeys to start your scenes and you needed a wart faced little troll swearing and kicking the innocent children to start a scene. That would be fun once and a while.
The Einstellung Effect means that your brain will harden with rules. Your flexibility will vanish and life will be a big bore. The lessons you learn might still work but they will seem over used and you will become predictable.
Understand what you learn might hold you back. Be willing to see that all rules have a weakness along with the benefits. Be willing to break a rule occasionally in aid of better work. BUT… be aware of why that rule worked in the first place. If you go around saying I am breaking rules because that is GOOD improvisation… then you have made a rule of working against the Einstellung Effect and your brain will explode just trying to think about that paradoxical little mind f***.
Think for yourself. (but don’t listen to me…. )
