Day #623 - Understanding Context

And what it costs us

Yesterday on the Blog I wrote “When presented with something new, the first thing we seek is context. Which box do I put this thing in?”

Understanding context is an efficient and necessary way for us to make new ideas safe, and to do something with them. But context can become a trap.

Use your sixty seconds today to consider how you understand context.

Typically we learn this through experience, and the behaviour of others. Our physical, or virtual, environments give us clues and cues, and we act in response to them. This is how we learn not to shout in libraries, and to ‘look busy’ when the big boss turns up.

But yesterdays context does not always serve us well. Considering how context is formed is a good foundation for considering how we change it, for ourselves and others.