Post the Wrong Answer
Mental Models for Masons — Cunningham’s Law
Every Wednesday, a new framework for seeing what's already happening in your lodge, your workplace, and your life.
Ward Cunningham, the man who invented the wiki, noticed that the fastest way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question. It is to post the wrong one. People who would never volunteer a thing will trip over themselves to correct you.
The same thing happens in lodge rooms, and a brother who sees it can use it on purpose.
A Worshipful Master who asks “does anyone have ideas for our education program?” gets silence. The question is too open. Nobody wants to go first, and nobody wants to look like he is campaigning for something. The room stays quiet, and the Master walks away believing nobody cares about education.
That same Master, saying “I’m thinking we just skip education this year, since nobody seems interested,” will have three brothers on their feet before he finishes the sentence. The wrong answer pulls the right response, because correcting somebody feels a lot safer than volunteering in front of everybody.
This is not manipulation. It is paying attention to how a group actually behaves. Most brothers have opinions about their lodge. They know what they wish would change, what they want left alone, what has gone missing. They sit on those opinions because the cost of speaking first into a silent room feels higher than the cost of staying quiet.
A wrong assumption laid out loud can open a conversation a straight question never will. Say “it seems like most brothers would rather have a social hour than a formal meeting” and watch how fast someone pushes back. Say “I don’t think anyone wants degree work this quarter” and three brothers are suddenly volunteering for parts.
The real skill is telling the difference between using this on purpose and just being wrong in a room that won’t correct you. Cunningham’s Law only works where correction feels safe. In a lodge where it doesn’t, the wrong answer stops being bait. It becomes policy.
-Brother Rob
Rob Linn is the author of several Masonic books. Find his work at amazon.com/author/robertwlinn.
Rob Linn is the author of several Masonic books. Find his work at amazon.com/author/robertwlinn.
Great post
I really like the picture you paint here Brother, as usual, you have a way with words.
It does seem unfortunate that we sometimes have to talk around things rather than letting our plain speech and the points of our entrance do the talking.
Kind of reminds me of the Machinist and the Engineer.
https://travelersachord.substack.com/p/grand-designs?r=6qj68o
Have a Blessed one and safe Travels!