The Shocking Truth

Today was a big day for my daughter at age 5. Today, she learned French toast sticks are made of slices of bread. This may not seem so dramatic, but trust me, with the telling you will understand.

My five year old wanted something special this morning, not just cereal or toast or oatmeal. I didn't have a lot of time, so finally we settled on French Toast. "Do you want me to leave the slices whole or cut them up into sticks?" She stated she wanted sticks, but informed me that you couldn't make them by slicing up bread. However, being a good action scientist, she withheld further judgment and watched and participated in the making of the French Toast. She mixed the eggs and milk and I dipped the pieces of bread in and fried them up.

"How many French Toast sticks do you want?" "Five!" came the reply. I proceeded to slice the French Toast into five parts. "That's not how you make French Toast sticks!" came the accusation. I assured her that French Toast sticks could, in fact, be made from slices of French Toast. "You're just KIDDING!" she exclaimed. "French Toast sticks are not made from slices of bread and I'm NOT eating them!" came the ultimatum. I served the French Toast sticks to her and her sister. "Hmmm!" she said. Her sister started eating them, so she tried to spread discontent by explaining that those where not, in fact, French Toast sticks and she could prove it because they had CRUST on them. I told her sister not to worry and enjoy her breakfast and the little one went on eating. The five year old decided to wait to see if they would turn into proper French Toast sticks. It didn't happen. A little later, she came and asked for a little powdered sugar to put on her French Toast sticks and she ate her five plus one her sister didn't want.

Are executives, attorneys and educators really that different when faced with a challenge to our mental models of reality? Will we have the courage to investigate when there is an inkling something is not as we thought, or will we avoid the experience?

(c) 2005 Shaun Jamison All Rights Reserved