The "Something" Effect (Part One)

Finding Common Ground With Little to No Data

The “Something” Effect: you assume everyone has a similar understanding of what you deem as “common sense,” but in actuality your own common sense was uncovered through much work and in-depth exploration. The challenge here is to calibrate your own insights and understandings to your conversation partner’s insights and understandings -- to get on the same page, as it were.

It exposes the need and importance of calibrating the idea that ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’, while understanding that some of us do not realize what we know is something the average person may not know.

This then provides an opportunity to give more quality feedback.

You Lack Awareness of What Others Are, At Large, Unaware Of

For example, you have a great deal of knowledge in the area of education, from knowing the word ‘pedagogy’ to understanding what instructional strategies are and how they work. The struggle lies in how to front load conversations with others who are not at your level of understanding so you can get a point across. To NOT know how to front load conversations, or even REALIZE you must front load conversations, is the “Something Effect”.

Does this mean a person lacks self-awareness? This is then another layer to the “Something Effect” taking place within one’s own self, as they may be unable to calibrate their own understanding of themselves, how they interact with others, information they take in and process, how they interact with the world, etc. This necessitates the NEED for self-awareness, actualization, and metacognition.

Quick, Incomplete Notes & Assumptions

• The Something Effect can create a feeling of misunderstanding. It can mirror a neurodiverse individual’s inability to know what others know. 

• The Something Effect can push people to believe that others already know what they know and are doing what they are doing, and therefore they do not speak out about their insights and miss out on opportunities. 

• The Something Effect could have something to do with imposter syndrome or lack of confidence when figuring out how to calibrate the starting position of what information, work, and perspective others need to have in order to be on the same page as you. 

• The Something Effect could have something to do with emotional intelligence, or the ability to “read the room”. Without this level of awareness, one may be unable to calibrate necessary information, work, or perspective others need/don’t need.

This is the first draft of a potential framework for The Something Effect with potential outcomes based on few objectives

Chollett, 2021