Coaching practices for Competing Hypotheses
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Competing Hypotheses, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I lock onto the first explanation that fits and then just look for confirmation of it
- Every time I throw myself into one thing I care about, another one I also care about just goes dim and I stop wanting it
- The first explanation that fits locks in for me and then I stop looking, reading everything afterward as proof I was right
- I keep trying things and then telling myself afterward that they "kind of worked"
- There’s a real call that has to be made right now with no time to build consensus, and I keep softening it and hedging to keep everyone happy
Practices that may help
- Hold multiple maps simultaneously
For complex situations, develop two or three competing models and check which fits better.
The Map Is Not the Territory - Surface goal conflicts before they undermine each other
Goals that compete for the same time or emotional bandwidth will suppress each other — make the conflict explicit.
Goal Systems Theory: How Goals Work Together (and Against Each Other) - Goal Systems Theory: How Goals Work Together (and Against Each Other)
Arie Kruglanski’s goal systems theory proposes that goals and the means to achieve them form an associative network in the mind, with each element linked to others. When a single means can serve multiple goals (multifinality), motivation is amplified; when goals compete for the same means or time (goal conflict), pursuing one can suppress or extinguish motivation for another. The theory is well-developed conceptually with a body of supporting experimental research. - Systematic alternatives: generate three more explanations before deciding
Force yourself to generate at least three alternative explanations or interpretations before committing to the first plausible one.
Lateral Thinking, Made Practical - Write the hypothesis before you act
State what you expect the experiment to reveal before it begins.
Tiny Experiments: Testing Change Without Committing to It - Use Competing when speed or safety matters more than buy-in
Competing — high assertive, low cooperative — is appropriate when the decision is urgent, high-stakes, and not open for debate.
The Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) - Write contingent contracts when forecasts disagree
If you and the other side have different predictions, let the outcome decide who was right.
Expanding the Pie: Negotiation Beyond Splitting the Difference - Check for false analogies: does the structural mapping actually hold?
Test whether a compelling analogy survives scrutiny of its relational structure.
Analogical Reasoning - Define what success looks like together, before proposing solutions
Agree on the criteria a good solution must meet before either side proposes anything.
The Third Alternative, Made Practical - Invite an adversarial collaborator
Find someone whose genuine prior is the opposite of yours, and work together on the same evidence.
Confirmation Bias: Seeing What You Expect to See
Related concerns
- Goal Conflict
Goals that compete for the same time or emotional bandwidth will suppress each other — make the conflict explicit.
Surface goal conflicts before they undermine each other
- Goal Conflict Research
Arie Kruglanski’s goal systems theory proposes that goals and the means to achieve them form an associative network in the mind, with each element linked to others. When a single means can serve multiple goals (multifinality), motivation is amplified; when goals compete for the same means or time (goal conflict), pursuing one can suppress or extinguish motivation for another. The theory is well-developed conceptually with a body of supporting experimental research.
- Goal Setting Theory During Conflict
Arie Kruglanski’s goal systems theory proposes that goals and the means to achieve them form an associative network in the mind, with each element linked to others. When a single means can serve multiple goals (multifinality), motivation is amplified; when goals compete for the same means or time (goal conflict), pursuing one can suppress or extinguish motivation for another. The theory is well-developed conceptually with a body of supporting experimental research.
- Seeking Guidance On Collaborative Targets With A Colleague Unaccustomed To Teamwork
Collaborating — high assertive, high cooperative — finds a solution that genuinely works for both parties, but it takes time.
Use Collaborating when the relationship and the solution both matter
- Activities Serving Multiple Goals
Activities that advance multiple goals feel more energising and are more likely to be started.
Design multifinal means — activities that serve several goals at once
- Adversarial Collaboration
Find someone whose genuine prior is the opposite of yours, and work together on the same evidence.
Invite an adversarial collaborator
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