The upward spiral is Stephen R. Covey's simple model of personal growth and change, which repeats the three steps: Learn, Commit, and Do.

Of course, we are all doing all of the time. The difference is taking the time and effort to learn from our doing, and deciding to commit to how we want to grow, and deliberately putting it into action. Getting better is in our control.

Though it didn't seem like it would take any effort, I've found the commit step to be surprisingly important. For me, "Commit" means actively deciding to make a change and following through with it. It's the difference between finding something intriguing versus deciding that you're going to do something about it. Coupling the "Commit" with getting specific using, for example, implementation intentions can increase the chance of getting on that upward spiral. "Commit" is the mental shift of telling yourself you're going to make a change.

Repeating each of the three steps again and again is a simple and guaranteed path to improving at anything we try.

Stephen Covey discusses the upward spiral as part of sharpening the saw—renewing, refreshing and recharging ourselves to be the best we can be:

"Renewal is the principle—and the process—that empowers us to move on an upward spiral of growth and change, of continuous improvement."
— Dr Stephen R. Covey

Also see: sharpen the saw, the express-test cycle

The Upward Spiral

The fundamental attribution error is the attribution of the source of behaviour to the character and personality of a person above the consideration of context. It's sometimes described as over-attributing causes to disposition over situation.

In a classic example, if a driver swerves in front of you suddenly, it's easy to attribute the cause of the behaviour to the driver being a jerk, i.e. to their character. What we may not see is that the driver is late to pick up their kids, was distracted by a challenging conversation they just had at work, and they're worried they've gone the wrong way and are driving an unfamiliar car.

If a colleague is late to meet us, we might infer that the person is lazy or disrespectful when, in fact, they may have been held up by a traffic accident, been on the phone with a sick relative, and have had trouble sleeping lately. If we are late for a meeting, well, then it's probably for all sorts of good reasons outside our control.

Like confirmation bias, the fundamental attribution error is a big one that can easily colour our interactions with others without us being aware of it.

Remember that what we see is just a tiny fraction of any other person's life and that we don't see the complete picture.

Minimise judgment, particularly around character and personality.

Where appropriate, ask if anything is bothering others.

Build empathy for others as you would for yourself.

Reflect on the positive things others do.

Also see: self-serving bias, attribution bias

The Fundamental Attribution Error

The impossible staircase, also known as the Penrose stairs, is an optical illusion of never-ending stairs.

Named after its inventor, the mathematician Roger Penrose, who first introduced this concept in the 1950s, the illusion uses multiple, conflicting lines of perspective to trick your eye into seeing the stairs continually rise.

I imagined this is what would happen if you visited M.C. Escher's house. Escher made the staircase famous in his drawings Ascending Descending, and Waterfall, after being introduced to it by Roger Penrose, who Escher had inspired to create some impossible shapes.

The mindbending Penrose steps also appear in the movie Inception.

It took quite a long time to get the perspective right. Ultimately, I used the handy tutorial on drawing the Penrose staircase from the excellent Circle Line Art School.

Also see: the ring-segment illusion, the frequency illusion, the moon illusion, and the Hermann Grid, necker cube, and blivet

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Impossible staircase