The Map Is Not The Territory
For many of us, the way we see the world today is the way that the world should be. We came in this world as neutral as a white paper but our mind map is feed by our perception, our vision, our hearing, our smell, our taste, our believes about the outside world. The situation the world is in right now is a cruel but down to earth reminder that we are all equal and that the map is not the territory.
The Quote
“The map is not the territory” Alfred Korzybski
This is a quote from the Polish American mathematician and philosopher Alfred Korzybski. He is considered by many as one of the fathers of the general semantics, a therapeutic program focus around self-improvement. The first time I heard that quote, I was in the final year of my master’s degree. The topic of the lecture was the management of conflict. This simple quote blew my mind and change forever the way that I’m approaching and dealing with changes and conflicts in my personal and professional life. This quote also opened myself to the principles of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming). The NLP is an approach to communication drafted by Richard Bandler and John Grinder and as the source of all knowledge says (Wikipedia) “NLP’s creators claim there is a connection between neurological processes (neuro-), language (linguistic) and behavioral patterns learned through experience (programming), and that these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life.” So if this quote is linked to Self-development what’s a map and what a territory then.
The Meaning
If you following the idea here, the map and the territory are two different things but what is the basic difference between a regular map and a territory.
What a map then? A map is by definition a representation, usually on a flat surface, as of the features of an area of the earth or a portion of the heavens, showing them in their respective forms, sizes, and relationships according to some convention of representation( definition of dictionary.com). What about the territory ? A territory is the land and waters belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a state, sovereign, etc.
The major difference between the definition of the map and the definition of the territory resides on the word representation. Everyone builds their own world view, therefore their own representation of the world. Most of the relational conflicts erupt after one of the parties confuse their representation of the world with the reality or with the representation of the other party. Every step we take, every color we see, every shape we touch, every emotion we feel, every experience we face, every memory we create helps us build our mind map. That mind map is our map of the world but not the map of everybody else.
The Fix
It would be premature or even presumptuous to say that there is a fix for it. You cannot change your mind map because this very map makes you who you are. Your map can evolve, grow and take parts here and there of other people map. There is a quick trick and as a Business Analyst, I use it every single time for my elicitation. Try to draw or understand the context of the other parties. I can assure you, most of the time the outcome will be better, it’s the emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the best trick you can use to understand people and therefore understand their map and have a broader view of the territory.
