In a book called Supersense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable by Bruce M. Hood, I came across some intriguing research about rigid thinking. The research entailed asking three groups of kids—four-year-olds, six-year-olds, and eight-year-olds—to balance rods of different lengths on a pencil. All three age groups were able to quickly figure out that to balance a rod, they had to place it at the midpoint.

Then the researchers weighted the rods at one end and again asked the kids to balance the rods on the pencil. Any predictions about what happened?

When the eight-year-olds discovered that that the rod wouldn't balance at the midpoint, they were initially confused, but they quickly adjusted and shifted the rod till they found a point at which it would balance. According to the researchers, the eight-year-olds had created a theory that the midpoint would normally be the place to balance the rod. But they were able to allow for exceptions, and when the theory didn't work, they tried alternatives, and ultimately succeeded.

The four-year-olds took the exercise in stride and simply moved the rod back and forth till they found the point at which it balanced.

No such luck for the six-year-olds. They kept trying to balance the rod at the midpoint, and when it kept tipping over, they became frustrated and angry, claiming that the task was impossible.

According to Hood, the six-year-olds "were so convinced by the theory that things balance in the middle that they were unable to see that there might be exceptions." (p. 93) He points out that these kids were like adults who are inflexible in their behavior and too stubborn to abandon ideas that have proven wrong.

Do you ever encounter behavior like this in your organization?