Half-Full/Half-Empty Perspective
The same situation can be viewed two contrasting ways depending on the reference point (starting full vs. starting empty), illustrating how history and framing shape perception.
THE IDEA
A bottle containing equal amounts of milk and empty space can be described as half full or half empty. It also shows that when one way has been chosen the alternative way is usually ignored. It is of interest that when the bottle is half filled with milk it is more often described as half empty, but when it is half filled with water it tends to be described as half full. This probably happens because in the case of the milk one is working downward from a full bottle but in the case of the water one is working upward from an empty milk bottle. The history of a situation has much effect on the way it is looked at.
Pictures
Photographs from newspapers or magazines are the most easily available source of pictures. The difficulty is to make them available to a large group. This could be done by getting individual copies of a newspaper and keeping them until the material is out of date. If sufficiently skilled the teacher could actually draw pictures on the board but this is much less satisfactory.
Pictures can be used in two ways:
Describe what you think is happening in that picture.
Describe three different things that could be happening in that picture.
In method 1 the teacher uses an ambiguous picture and asks each person to make his own interpretation. At the end he collects the interpretations. Variability between individual interpretations shows the alternative ways of looking at the picture. The teacher is careful not to judge which way is best or why one way is unreasonable. Nor does he reveal what the picture was actually about (he can conveniently have forgotten this).
In method 2 the students are asked to generate a quota of different interpretations. If the students tend to be blocked by the most obvious interpretation and are unwilling to guess at any others then they may be allowed to list the interpretations in order of likelihood. In addition the teacher throws in some outlandish suggestions about the particular picture being used in order to suggest what is required.
When to use it
In business negotiations, understanding the other party's starting point (full vs. empty) can reveal why they see an offer as a loss or a gain.
When giving feedback, be aware of the recipient's history—praise or criticism might be perceived differently based on their reference point.
In personal decision-making, reframe a 'half-empty' situation by considering its starting point to uncover new solutions.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Milk Bottle vs. Water Bottle
De Bono observes that a bottle half-filled with milk may be called 'half empty', while the same bottle half-filled with water may be called 'half full'. He suggests that milk is imagined as being consumed from a full bottle, whereas water is imagined as being added to an empty one.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a current situation you view negatively. How would it look if you adopted the opposite reference point?
Recall a time when you and someone else disagreed on the same fact. Could the difference be due to each starting from a different 'full' or 'empty' state?
How might the history of a project (whether it started from success or failure) influence your team's perception of its current progress?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Lateral Thinking A Textbook of Creativity (Edward de Bono)