Salience (or what we choose to focus our attention on) has a big impact on our perceptions and actions within a group. Understanding this can help us reconsider what we’re ignoring or overlooking, which can lead to more innovative and inclusive team dynamics.

This week, Dan and Pia are joined by Greg Radick and Tom McClelland, a professor and lecturer respectively, who study the history and philosophy of science. They discuss the concept of salience, which points to the ideas that grab our attention, and how salience impacts scientific enquiry and teams.

In their professional work, they examine how different elements become more salient or important within a community of inquirers, such as a scientific community or a team, shaping what problems are considered relevant and which ones are ignored. They also explore how these patterns of salience influence the directions of research and collaboration.

Three reasons to listen

• To learn about the concept of salience and its impact on team performance and problem-solving
• To understand how ignoring and attention shapes our professional and personal identities
• To discover how the history and philosophy of science can influence our understanding of team dynamics

Episode highlights

• [00:05:33] The history and philosophy of science
• [00:07:13] What is salience
• [00:14:16] Choosing what we ignore
• [00:15:42] The importance of pointing in a different direction
• [00:19:35] Identifying mavericks and outliers
• [00:24:53] Greg's experiment to alter salience patterns
• [00:31:09] Creating a more open mindset
• [00:34:55] Social media, misinformation, and salience
• [00:37:31] Media recommendations
• [00:39:54] Takeaways from Dan and Pia

Links

• Connect with Greg via LinkedIn
• Connect with Tom via LinkedIn
• Tom’s website
• Disputed Inheritance: The Battle over Mendel and the Future of Biology – Greg’s book
• Woman First and a Philosopher Second: Relative Attentional Surplus on the Wrong Property, by Ella Whiteley
• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn
• Leave us a voice note