We know that physical cues facilitate habit formation. We know that postures can be a physical cue. In my recent post Rules, I describe hand positions I was experimenting with to remind myself to think about standards and run experiments. In the same post I talk about a turn from using PDCA terminology to use the terminology of experimentation. A question for a few months had a minor fruition for me driving from Tulsa to OKC yesterday. The two sets of finger motions (fourth to first, first to fourth) are unnecessary. What is necessary is that we reflect on what standards may apply, given our objective, and experimentation. Experimentation, fundamentally, has three phases: before, during, and after.
- Plan an experiment (think about the future)
- Run the experiment (think about the present, or the immediate future, the very next instant, which for our purposes is defined as the present)
- Reflect on the results (think about the past, and the artifacts it created, including data we collected during the experiment)
Additional phases break those three out: phases of preparation before the experiment, phases during experimentation, aspects of experimentation (including the test itself, and collecting data during the test), and all of the ways we can analyze and evaluate data after the test, propose adjustments, propose new standards based on the results, and so on.
So that leaves us with
- Thumb to index finger: think about standards
- Thumb to second finger: think about the future
- Thumb to third finger: think about the present
- Thumb to the fourth finger: think about the past.
Near the end of this lecture, Rabbi Michael Skobac talks about the use of posture in spiritual practice. “Nothing can’t be raised up into a meaningful spiritual experience.”