It’s not every day that you come downstairs to find a grown man in a striped bathing suit and bowler hat chained up in your front room. But in my house growing up, this was a relatively normal occurrence … I realise this probably needs some further context…
Dad was a magician and a pretty good one at that. My childhood was filled with fun and fascination as my siblings and I got a front-row seat to the new and wonderful tricks being rehearsed in our front room.
On the occasion described above, the great Archini & Smith were rehearsing for their mock vaudeville act, a pastiche blend of Houdini-inspired escapology crossed with the very British comedy of Morecambe and Wise. It was quite a show to behold (yes, it’s on YouTube).
These kinds of things filled my childhood, so while other kids played with toys, I found myself on the road with Dad, backstage at magic shows, closely observing as he fooled audiences with his well-rehearsed routines and quick wit.
Unlike most children, I wasn't merely amazed by the illusions; I was fascinated by the secrets that made them possible, the mechanisms behind the magic. How did this work? Why are people so easily hoodwinked? Why are our perceptions so easily manipulated?
Magic can teach us a lot about perceptions. Most usefully, it teaches us that we can’t rely on them to give us a full picture of the reality we see before us (much as we’d like them to). We only see a small part of a much more complex whole.
Have you ever seen a magician perform on a circular stage with audience members on all sides? Ever wondered why not? You see, position and perspective are everything to a magician. If you control the audience’s position, you can control their perspective and hide the things you don’t want them to see outside of that perspective.
Human perceptions are the same; limited in their perspective and restricted by the positions we hold. Information is hidden from our view, crying out to show us more of how things are and how the magic trick works.
But there are ways to see behind our perceptions, to look at the deeper mechanics of how we see the world, and it’s not too dissimilar to the magic trick.
All magic tricks work within the same three-part structural framework:
The Pledge: The start of the trick. The magician shows the audience something ordinary, like a dove or pack of cards, to set the stage and establish the initial conditions.
The Turn: The magician then does something extraordinary with the ordinary object, like making the dove disappear. This is the pivotal moment that challenges the audience's perception.
The Prestige: The magician provides a resolution or conclusion to the trick, often by making the dove reappear in a surprising way. This satisfies the audience and brings the routine back to equilibrium.
Inside this framework lie two further elements that complete the illusion:
The Secret: The underlying technique or method that allows the magician to perform the extraordinary feat, which is kept hidden from the audience.
The Story: The narrative, dialogue, or presentation that the magician uses to engage the audience and make the trick more meaningful and impactful.
Like magic tricks, our perceptions work within a similar structural framework:
The three main stages of our perception processes are:
Selection: This is the first stage where we attend to and select certain stimuli from the environment while ignoring others, much like the magician, who directs our attention to a specific object on the stage, or perhaps a card that has been selected while misdirecting us from the card they are hiding in their opposite hand. We focus our attention on specific sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or touches that stand out to us or that we are most interested in.
Organisation: In this stage, we mentally sort and arrange the selected stimuli into meaningful patterns and groups. We use principles like proximity (the closer things are together, the more connected we assume they are), similarity (if things look the same, they may be construed as belonging together), and simplicity (the human brain tends to perceive objects in their simplest, most straightforward form). We prefer to see simple, regular shapes rather than complex, irregular ones to organise the information.
Interpretation: The final stage is where we attach meaning to the organised stimuli based on our past experiences, beliefs, and expectations. We know that if we see a piece of wood with four wooden legs on the bottom, we are not looking at a bicycle, we are looking at a stool because we have been taught through experience that stools have four legs and a place to sit. Our interpretation of the stimuli is also influenced by personal factors like values, needs, political leanings, religious and theological positions, and our concepts of who we are as a person.
These three stages - selection, organisation, and interpretation - work together to shape our overall perception and understanding of the world around us.
But just as with the magic trick, our perceptions are influenced by the two further elements that make up the structure - The "secrets" and "stories" that shape them.
The "secrets" are the underlying cognitive biases, heuristics, unconscious desires, and mental shortcuts that influence how we select, organize, and interpret information. (Like the secrets of the magician, these are mostly hidden from our view, away from our conscious awareness.) And the "story" is the narrative we construct to make sense of our perceptions and experiences.
Some of the key "secrets" that shape our perceptions include:
Selective Attention: We have a limited capacity to focus on and process all the sensory information around us, so we selectively attend to certain details while ignoring others. Like speaking with a friend in a noisy room, we do not take in the conversations and details of all others but can focus on the conversation with our friend.
Perceptual Grouping: We tend to organize stimuli into meaningful patterns and groups based on the principles of proximity, similarity, and simplicity.
Confirmation Bias: We have a tendency to seek out and interpret information in a way that confirms our existing beliefs and expectations. This makes us feel good, and allows us a sense of being ‘right’ and in possession of a true view of reality.
The Halo Effect: Our overall impression of a person or thing can positively or negatively influence our evaluation of their specific traits and qualities. In essence, this occurs when our general positive/negative impression of a person (e.g., finding them attractive or annoying) leads us to make favourable or unfavourable judgments about their other qualities, such as assuming they are also intelligent, kind, and successful or that they are simple, rude, and uncooperative.
Anchoring Bias: We rely heavily on the first piece of information we receive when making decisions or judgments, even if that information turns out to be wrong. This initial information called an :anchor," then becomes a reference point that influences all subsequent judgments and decisions of a person or situation.
The "stories" we construct to make sense of our perceptions are shaped by factors like:
Past Experiences: Our prior knowledge, memories, and life experiences provide the context and framework for interpreting new information.
Beliefs and Expectations: Our preexisting beliefs, assumptions, and expectations about the world and how it works influence how we perceive and make sense of new stimuli. If we believe that the world is a cruel and cold place, filled with danger, we will spend much of our time expecting things to fall apart, and finding that the world lives up to that expectation. We tend to find the things that we go looking for.
Emotions and Motivations: Our feelings, desires, and personal goals can colour the way we perceive and interpret information.
Social and Cultural Influences: The norms, values, and perspectives of our social and cultural contexts shape the stories we tell about our perceptions.
As leaders, it's crucial to become aware of the secrets and stories that shape our perceptions. By understanding ‘The Magic Trick’, the cognitive biases, mental shortcuts, and narratives that influence how we see the world, we can make better decisions, forge stronger relationships, and have a greater impact on those we lead. When we recognise the limitations of our perceptions and the hidden factors that shape them, we can strive to counteract our unconscious drivers, seek out diverse perspectives, and construct more nuanced, accurate stories about the challenges and opportunities we face, building a more accurate map of the reality around us. This self-awareness and willingness to challenge our assumptions can help us lead with greater clarity, empathy, and effectiveness.
Just as the magician must understand and skillfully apply the secrets and stories behind their illusions to captivate their audience, leaders must learn and master the secrets and stories that shape their perceptions to lead their organisations and communities forward. By becoming aware of these hidden influences, we can make better decisions, build stronger relationships, and forge a more positive and impactful future for our teams.
So be curious about your perceptions and own the fact that you don’t see the world in its full reality. Start conversations with others and hold your positions lightly.
Truth will only be found in relationships with others, only then will you begin to take a 360 view of the reality of things, only then will you be able to see behind the sleight of the magician’s hand to the secret of the magic trick.
