Navigating shared spaces whether in school halls, crowded city sidewalks and endless traffic is a skill. Finding spaces to inhabit while sensing our way through the physical world is filled with rules and negotiations, many of which take place on a pre verbal level.
I really see this at the barn. When my daughter rides, she and the horse are connected, listening to and sensing each other and communicating mostly through touch. As a rider she needs to be sensitive enough to listen to the horse, yet assertive enough to control a fourteen hundred pound beast while also knowing that this fourteen hundred pound beast can be unpredictable.
The people at the barn move with purpose and respect for the power of these animals.
They:
Know what could go wrong.
Know that mammals are irrational.
And
Have a way out.
When you’re dealing with something bigger than you, which could be irrational, how do you support yourself so you don’t freeze?
What are your different ways out?
When do you freeze more, when the stakes are low, or when you’re stuck in a pen with a fourteen hundred pound problem?
How do you re engage to find a way out?
Interesting probing: when do you _____ more? That's a great way to encourage self-awareness and reflection. Tucking that away for later use. Pattern recognition is (well at least was) the trait most associated with executive function and is part of the testing when candidates are assessed ...i.e. highly successful CEOs have high levels of pattern recognition. It's the secret sauce that head hunters look for when hiring. I think pattern recognition isnt the secret sauce, it is the FIRST, prime the pump, stage of executive function. Yes, you need to see the pattern, but then, you need to interprete the pattern, create options and assess and act... and that is where critical thinking lies. I don't believe we have direct, multiple choice testing developed for critical thinking...THAT is the real special sauce. When we assess a person's decision making qualities, we need to assess their willingness to engage with data (all experience is data), their ability to recognize pattern, and most importantly, their ability to think critically about the patterns. In teaching, I like to bring up the concepts of causation and correlation whenever possible. This is a first step beyond pattern recognition: are these things just moving together or is one thing taking the other for a walk. If you can't determine cause and effect, good luck predicting, let alone controlling much of anything.
Your question: big stakes or low stakes? I have engaged with my data. It isn't about the stakes for me. It's about not liking limiting my options with a decision made and the feelings the situation invokes. I have frozen in the form of procrastination and avoidance. I want to reexamine the options before...committing. The only times I have been in a beast-like situation, I exuded calm to manage and guide the beast. I grew up in chaos, I don't like it there, but I know the terrain very well.