Flip That Switch!

While at my local copy center this morning, I overheard bits of conversation between two college students at the next machine. One was bemoaning her performance on a recent exam. She complained to her friend that this professor was "out to get her" and wanted all classmembers to fail the class. Her friend nodded sympathetically and launched into her own story of evil professors who want to mess up their students' GPAs. Now, not to come to the defense of truly malicious professors, if they are out there, I wondered about how these two students could have approached the situation from a different perspective.


In Marilee Adams' book, Change Your Questions, Change Your Life, she teaches the reader about Judger v. Learner modes of viewing situations, interactions and opportunities.

Judger mode is when we as questions such as: Who's to blame? How can I prove I'm right? Why is that person doing this to me? Why bother? Such questions increase bodily tension and stress and lead us down the path toward what Adams calls the Judger Pit. Once engulfed by the mucky, sticky pit, we find it difficult to extricate ourselves from negative thinking. We are judgmental of ourselves and others. We are inflexible and rigid. We can only see from our perspective and are protective and defensive of our position. We close off our minds to possibility and the ability to view things from a fresh perspective.

In contrast, Learner questions energize us as they ask: What am I responsible for? What are the facts? What's the big picture? What can I learn? What's possible? What is the other person needing or wanting? When we are in Learner mode, we are accepting of and responsive to ourselves and others. We are flexible and adaptive and inquisitive of the perspectives of others. We don't just accept things, but question our assumptions. In Learner mode the possibilities are abundant and we are curious about the world.

The two students I mentioned earlier were definitely viewing their experience from the Judger mode--so how could they, and you, make the switch from Judger to Learner?

Adams calls this step "Switching Questions". Just as a train operator pulls a lever to switch the train tracks to avoid a collision, switching questions allow us to avoid being immersed into the Judger Pit. When we find ourselves in Judger, the world looks pretty negative and awful. When we make a conscious choice to question our viewpoint in Judger, we are engaging in switching questions that allow the possibilities to open up. Switching questions help get us back on the Learner path.

So how does this work? Adams offers the A-B-C-C Choice Process.

A-Aware--Am I in Judger? The student in the example could ask this question in order to open up the possibilities.

B-Breathe! Do I need to step back, pause and look at this situation more objectively?

C-Curiosity--Do I have all the facts?

C-What's my choice? Do I stay with my original opinion or view or alter it?

Perhaps the students noted above would have come up with a different viewpoint after engaging in the Switching Process. I know when I use the Switching Process, it serves to lighten my thoughts and open up possibilities that I hadn't noticed before. Something that appeared helpless to change in Judger, when viewed from Learner has many, many different possibilities and outcomes.

So, switch the tracks and get on board the Learner train!

Thought for the day: Listen to yourself today and be observant of your thoughts. How often do you find yourself in Judger mode? Try the exercise above and let me know your experience!


The only real voyage of discover consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. ---Marcel Proust