The average person acts intuitively or from experience, and his role behavior is conditioned by the theory that was previously embedded in him [1]. We often say that a person acts according to his worldview.
A scientific theory or a grandmother’s prejudice can form the worldview. Scientific theories and disciplines better describe role behavior, but non-scientific world pictures are more straightforward and more in demand. When we talk about a doctor’s world picture, we mean the medical practices he learned at university and further developed in his specialty.
- Role behavior is determined by the picture of the world (theory) of a person.
- Roles can be distinguished not only in work projects but also in personal life.
- The transition to roles means a formal consideration of a person’s behavior (actions).
- Most human actions do not require formalization if we do not want to improve them.
- Behind each role are practice and a working product that results from the role’s implementation of that practice.
- Without role consideration, it is impossible to cope with the complexity of human activity.
Similarly, we can think about all the actions a person performs at work and in his personal life. For example, there are the roles of son, educator, student, motivator, dishwasher, room cleaner, subway passenger, etc. We consider them the same way as professional roles.
Role consideration allows you to pay special or formal attention to your behavior. For example, when learning to swim, we understand that we need to master the practice of freestyle, and then we will be able to play the role of a freestyle swimmer professionally [2]. In critical situations of raising children, one should not follow bad automatisms and be nervous, but remember the role of a mentor, and look for good practice to apply in communicating with a child.
When you begin to study, it would be nice to understand the student’s practices or what is an ability to learn. The concept of “role” allows you to translate an unconscious action into a conscious one, that is, to draw attention to the formal objects of attention (practice, system, other roles, etc.). Usually, people learn unconsciously. They cannot name the formal teaching methods (practices). More specifically, how or with what practices they learn.
Think about what practices you learn with. And, for example, why the first homework was about systematic reading and control of information consumption, about the practice of Pomodoro and investing time, about thinking in both writing and speaking. That is how the main practices of the disciple role are listed.
However, we do not always need to be conscious and formal in consideration of our actions. Automatisms of behavior save attention; therefore, we perform some roles unconsciously. For example, when we brush our teeth or take a shower. If we do not want to change the behavior or the world, we can not bother with role-playing considerations. But, if you want to put or change the process of brushing your teeth, you should consciously highlight the role of the toothbrush and find the best practice for cleaning the oral cavity. Then we understand and master technologies - a toothbrush, paste, rinse aid, irrigator. And then, we bring this role-playing behavior to automatism.
Changing our behavior is literally changing our thinking, and for that, we need to pay attention to our actions. The concept of “role” as a model of thinking makes it possible to do this, and mental skill helps find and quickly put into effect the necessary applied practice.
It is essential to understand that behind every project role is a practice and a working product. By naming a person by a role, we simultaneously define a whole class of relevant practices by which the role creates working products. For example, for the role of a swimmer, we will immediately define a possible class of practices - front crawl, breaststroke, butterfly, and speaking of an entrepreneur, we will mean other practices - Business Model Canvas, Lean Startup, Lean Canvas, and others. You already understand that each role has many practices: a surgeon, an operations manager, a financier, an engineer, an architect, an educator, etc., have their own.
In ancient times, a person did his job, not thinking about formalizing his actions. And we know that unique historical objects were created back then. But the complexity of the modern world is entirely different, and almost anyone can create successful systems.
Without role consideration, it is impossible to cope with the complexity of the current stage of human development. In modern times a person will always be in demand if he constantly learns and relearns in time. Systems thinking is a way to formalize your actions and the behavior of numerous concerned people. “Role” is the central concept for such a formalization.
References:
- A person may unconsciously absorb theory from interaction with other people. Often a person learns unconsciously, absorbing information from the environment or imitating someone he considers an authority.
- Please note: The terms “role”, “practice,” and “role behavior” are specifically used side by side in the text. You need to train your brain to distinguish these concepts. The same way you distinguish between other classes of concepts. For example, you do not confuse furniture and colors. You can discuss chairs, tables, and cabinets separately and separately discuss their colors, sizes, etc. Such a type engine is created in a person during his life, but only by special training can this process be significantly accelerated. Both “flying hours” and quality training (which reduces the required time) are essential. Read more about the type engine in the “Systems Thinking” course.