Corporate Zombie Survival Guide

Corporate Zombies suffer from binary thinking; they view life as black and white. But despite the greatness of Romero’s black-and-white classic, “Night of the Living Dead,” life is full of so much more color and possibility when you consider all of its options. Why is it that many of us limit ourselves when making big decisions or looking for solutions?

Sometimes, we narrow our options to make a quick decision. Modern life, often driven by technology, presents an overwhelmingly vast amount of choices, more than ever before. Our self-imposed limitations are most times unconscious—the result of being overwhelmed by too much rapid change and too many decisions. It’s often easier to pay attention only to the extremes. However, focusing solely on the poles neglects the multitude of options that present themselves along the way as we strive to accomplish goals, make decisions, and pass judgments. Think of platforms that offer only a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” way of expressing one’s opinion about a movie or show. This is reminiscent of the ancient Romans deciding who lived and died after a gladiator fight with a simple gesture. Such barbaric limitations can profoundly impact our frame of mind, training us to think in restrictive terms.

SURVIVAL FACT: The human brain is prone to cognitive biases that simplify complex decisions. One such bias, called the dichotomous thinking trap, forces us to see situations as either good or bad, right or wrong, without acknowledging the gray areas in between. This shortcut, while useful for snap judgments, can prevent us from seeing creative and effective solutions.

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The Evolution of All-or-Nothing Thinking

Binary thinking is an all-or-nothing view of the world that often evolved from a survivalist mindset, in which thinking fast could mean the difference between life or death. Must it always be fight or flight? In some cases, we can remain still for a while to plan and think about what to do next. Taking a little time to plan can prevent us from a worse situation in the future because we are considering all possibilities. To better understand it, let’s consider the Wild West. If you were in a shootout at a bar, the ability to act fast could have meant the difference between life or death. However, it could have also resulted in unnecessary danger and injury if you shot yourself in the foot.

Today, the fear of rapid change in technology and society, and our desire to keep up, has many folks thinking in binary terms. This is a logical result of our computer-driven culture. After all, binary represents the 1s and 0s from which all computer language stems. However, not every decision has to be one or the other, since we’re not computers, and most decisions aren’t truly life or death.

One of the big reasons businesses fail is poor planning, often exacerbated by this limited thinking. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, a significant percentage of new businesses fail, and among the top reasons cited are poor planning and inadequate research, which can stem from an inability to consider a wide array of options beyond just two. By hyper-focusing on only two possibilities, we limit our options to only two potential results, when the best solution may be elsewhere. If we don’t allow ourselves more time to think of other alternatives, we may end up acting poorly and regretting it later.

Binary thinking today has adversely affected us all. Take recent politics in the United States as an example. The government shutdown for a record-breaking 35 days in early 2019, as two parties debated and failed to come up with a solution about one single issue: whether or not to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. The debate so far has been about whether we should have a wall or whether we should not have a wall, but is there really no other possible solution? Perhaps by focusing on the underlying purposes behind the wall idea—to stop illegal immigration, prevent drug trafficking, and make it harder for terrorists to enter illegally—politicians could envision other reasonable solutions. Despite where you stand on politics, it should be clear that being able to envision other possible solutions will more likely result in a quicker compromise.

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Beyond the Binary: Embracing Complexity

Binary thinking also has deep roots in religion and philosophy. The dualistic notion common in some belief systems, which focuses on good versus bad, is a form of binary thinking. The Eastern philosophy of Yin and Yang is another example, representing complementary, not opposing, forces, though it is often simplified to a binary in popular understanding. However, most moral decisions, when thought about deeply, are far more complicated. Even scientists will tell us that it is a struggle to isolate a subject from outside influences. Our environment, life, and everything in it, right down to a molecular level, is beautifully complex. If it were truly simple, we’d have more solutions than problems, and everyone would be winning in Las Vegas.

Every conscious individual should be aware of whether they are falling victim to binary thinking.

“Do I go to college or not?” What about taking some classes while working a job to see if college is right for you? “Do I quit my job or find another one?” What about looking for another job while working the one you have? “Do I start my own business or keep working to rise up the corporate ladder?” What about starting a business while working up the corporate ladder?

Very rarely in life must we be limited to only a few choices. Before making a decision, try to list every possible alternative. Taking time to list the many options you have can be fun, liberating, and inspirational. It can help you to get out of a rut and it can be very empowering. One solution to binary thinking is to think outside the box. Life doesn’t always have to be all or nothing.

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