History tends to repeat itself again and again. People don’t seem to learn the lessons of the past. What’s at work here? Is it inevitable?Â
It’s often said that history repeats itself because people forget. It would be more accurate to say that history repeats itself because those who are capable of analyzing it and drawing useful conclusions are not aware of their talent or of interpersonal differences, and that this leads to their insights not being shared effectively. Â
I learned this the hard way at the beginning of my career, when I failed to take into account the sociology of the organization I had joined. My energy was entirely focused on creating the future, so I omitted key elements of the past from my thinking… and I ended up with the rug pulled out from under me.
A different relationship with time
We all have a different relationship with time and a unique combination of cognitive abilities (1) .
Some people are gifted at analyzing the past and drawing interesting conclusions, whether to avoid repeating past mistakes or to capitalize on key elements of success, while others will be anchored and highly responsive in the present, or on the contrary capable of projecting themselves into the future and anticipating trends.
Different thinking skills
There is no one single, monolithic way of thinking. Thinking can be based on useful elements stored in memory, examining facts and figures, analyzing the past, mapping complexity, associating ideas, anticipating risks or trends and many other approaches.
The ability to learn from the past
Among all these talents (2) there is one that is particularly useful for analyzing the past, and which seems to be lacking in today’s world.
Those who possess it have a natural facility for systematically studying the past in order to draw useful conclusions for the present. It’s a bit like driving your car, systematically looking in the rear-view mirror of history to get all the information you need to make decisions in the here and now, as you go about your day-to-day activities.
Not everyone who has it will be aware of it. For them, the past is important and a source of learning. And they like to say the phrase « those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it » or one of its variants (3).
This talent is particularly useful for capitalizing on the past, while avoiding making the same mistakes over and over again.
A leader who possesses it will, for example, take the time to study what his or her predecessor has put in place, as well as the history of the company and its sector of activity, before taking any decisions. This will enable him/her to capitalize on best practices and focus on areas for improvement or new developments.
In business, this is at the heart of best practices in continuous improvement.
And yet, in business as in society, the same mistakes are made over and over again.
A talent possessed by only part of the population
As with all talents, only part of the population possesses this talent. It is therefore vital that the lessons learned from the analysis of the past can be shared and understood by all. And therein lies the rub.
Misunderstandings that hinder cooperation
All too often, we take these history buffs for old-timers, people unnecessarily attached to the past, and representing a barrier to action or innovation.
We don’t listen to them, or even put them on the sidelines.
We are simply unaware of our interpersonal differences and the usefulness of such talent. And this seriously hinders performance.
This is often seen in buy-outs, mergers or the creation of new structures. Old-timers » who are « attached to the past » are often removed from management on the grounds that the company needs to « move forward », « focus on innovation and the future », and « bring in new blood ».
It’s true that sometimes the odds are stacked against certain managers. I remember my first meeting with Patrick (4), an IT executive in his fifties (5). His boss said to me, « Anne, he’ll be the first to go, and as soon as we can, we’ll push him out. It’s true that with his tasseled loafers, his little sweater tied over his shoulders, and his quoting Napoleon during meetings, he stuck out like a sore thumb. It seemed his fate was sealed without even giving him a chance to show what he could do.
After he had identified his talents, it turned out that he hadn’t mastered his talent for analyzing the past, and that his colleagues avoided him in order to avoid having to hear him talk about his beginnings in IT 30 years earlier.
After discussion and reflection, he has kept the best of this talent and worked on it to sharpen his analyses while erasing the elements that could hinder his communication.
He has abandoned his tasselled moccasins and « Preppy Look », but he has above all been careful to focus his analysis on the present situation and the elements that are useful for decision-making, and to avoid unnecessary references to the past.
He no longer dwells on the past in his introductory remarks, but goes straight to the key elements useful for decision-making, and erases any historical references that seem out of place (6).
And this is a game-changer. For him, who has not only stayed with the team, but become one of its pillars, but also for the quality of decision-making and the team’s performance.
It’s astonishing to realize, when we first start working with clients, how many members of their teams know the list of mistakes to avoid, and have been helplessly watching them being reproduced year after year, without being able to make themselves heard.
Taking this talent into account is particularly interesting in the context of continuous improvement policies. It makes it possible to significantly boost action and capitalize on progress, rather than maintaining an illusion of optimization, in which one measure follows another, more akin to juggling than to sustainable construction.
They are speaking to us. But we don’t listen.
This sentence applies perfectly to all talents. As we are all different from one another, when someone speaks from a particular angle, using a talent we don’t possess, we tend not to listen to them, and rather judge them, push them aside.
For those of us who, like me, don’t possess the talent for analyzing the past, if we don’t make the effort, when a conversation drifts into analyzing the past, at best we tune out, at worst we criticize.
Try a test with your friends and family: ask them who enjoys taking part in Heritage Days, taking the time to discover and analyze the past. You’ll find that most do it out of obligation, feeling obliged as a parent, for example, to give children knowledge of their cultural heritage, to follow another member of the family, or just to fill a rainy weekend’s agenda.
The key point
It’s crucial, for those who possess this talent, to communicate only what’s helpful: useful conclusions for the present and the future. And to reserve heated discussions about the past for those who can appreciate them.
For those who don’t possess it, it’s essential to make the effort to acquire a basic competence in historical thinking (7), and to remain open and attentive when conversations drift into the past. Sometimes, all that’s needed is to refocus the conversation by inviting the other person to share the lessons he or she has learned for the present or the future.
Complementary talents
The ways in which we gather information, sort it, and make decisions, vary greatly from one individual to another.
By becoming more aware of the uniqueness of our reasoning, the result of a unique combination of natural talents, and by welcoming the reasoning of others with open-mindedness and curiosity, we will be better able to build more intelligent and enlightened decisions together.
- We are all absolutely unique, both in our physical traits and in our character traits. This uniqueness lies at the heart of our daily interpersonal misunderstandings. The notion of human uniqueness and the sources of interpersonal misunderstanding have been discussed in previous articles in Atlantico’s Human Factor section, for example:Â https://atlantico.fr/article/rdv/tuer-la-perfection-avant-qu-elle-ne-nous-tue-summer-body-facteur-humain-anne-weber
- A talent is a natural human ability to perceive, act, think, influence and interact, which, when applied productively, brings pleasure and performance. Each individual possesses a unique combination of talents. Anne WEBER 2013 (Evolution of Markus Buckingham & Vosburgh’s 2001 definition as cited in Pierre-Michel Menger’s Le talent en dĂ©bat)
- This phrase is by Georges Santayana (La vie de la raison Vol. 1 : La raison dans le bon sens. London,1905), but many variants of this phrase exist and multiple authors have been cited, sometimes even erroneously, as in the case of Winston Churchill. An interesting hypothesis on the « Le guichet du savoir » website indicates that the phrase belongs to the oral tradition and has been taken up by several personalities: https://www.guichetdusavoir.org/question/voir/45729
- The first name has been changed and the elements have been edited to guarantee our client’s anonymity.Â
- It’s worth pointing out that this talent doesn’t come with age; it’s found in men and women of all ages. And it often leads to the same kind of interpersonal misunderstandings. A young high-school girl in my circle who possessed it was nicknamed « Old Lady » by her classmates, who felt that she « had the tastes and positions of an old woman ».
- For example, he’s stopped saying « Napoleon already said that » and replaced it with « All the great thinkers agree with that ». And when using dates, he is careful to ensure that none predate the team members’ entry into the job market. All these elements help in communication so that his interlocutors can concentrate on the substance of what he brings to the team, and not stop at a key-word that offends them or a preconceived idea.
- It’s important to cultivate the qualities of historical reflection, beyond the teaching of history at school. Often limited to the memorization of historical facts, dates and processes; history lessons can miss the point of teaching historical reflection and living together in plural democratic societies. Even if the majority of teachers are in favor of high-quality instruction, its implementation seems to remain insufficient on a French and European scale, if we are to believe the Observatoire de l’enseignement de l’histoire en Europe (Observatory for History Teaching in Europe) and its early work. Its first report, published in December 2023, on the state of history teaching in Europe, is highly detailed, providing a comparative analysis of history teaching policies, as well as country-by-country fact sheets. It is available at: https://www.coe.int/fr/web/observatory-history-teaching/general-reportÂ
