Believed-Believable-Conceivable-Inconceivable

Your brain sorts ideas into four buckets based on evidence and experience—understanding your thresholds unlocks better strategy work

Evan LaPointe
Improve strategy, influence, and decision-making by understanding your brain

Believed-Believable-Conceivable-Inconceivable

"Most of the things that are totally believed by these leaders are unbelievable to most other leaders. 'We don't need managers?' I don't believe it. Now we've shifted the mind from inbuilt tailwind to inbuilt headwind." - Evan LaPointe

What It Is

Your brain automatically sorts every idea into one of four categories based on your experience and personality. Where an idea lands determines whether your brain gives it tailwind (acceptance) or headwind (resistance).

The problem: different people have radically different thresholds. What's "believed" by a visionary founder is "inconceivable" to an operator. This mismatch explains most strategic debates and why vision work feels so hard in organizations.

How It Works

The Four Categories

Believed: Things you've personally experienced or seen work

  • OKRs? "We used them at my last company, they worked."
  • Brain is fully on board—inbuilt tailwind
  • Feels obviously true

Believable: Things with strong evidence you haven't personally experienced

  • Reading about Google's success with a practice
  • Makes sense mechanically
  • Brain leans toward yes, still tailwind

Conceivable but Unbelievable: Far-fetched ideas that you can imagine but don't believe will work

  • This is where most strategic debates happen
  • Brain creates active headwind
  • "That sounds nice, but..."

Inconceivable: Ideas so foreign your brain can't engage productively

  • "Get out of my office" level rejection
  • Brain treats this as noise, not signal
  • Automatic dismissal without real consideration

The Threshold Problem

Your personal demarcation line between these categories depends on:

  1. Experience: More lived experience = larger "believed" bucket
  2. Personality (Openness): Low openness = abstract ideas wire to pain systems; High openness = abstract ideas wire to reward systems
  3. Role: Operators have narrower ranges than visionaries

Critical insight: Ideas that are totally believed by innovative leaders like the founders of Canva or Figma are literally inconceivable to most conventional leaders. The idea isn't wrong—it's just landing in a different bucket.

The Openness Factor

In personality assessments (Big Five), Openness specifically determines where your demarcation lines fall.

Low Openness:

  • Abstract, creative, complex thinking wires to pain systems
  • Feels viscerally negative when things get conceptual
  • Narrow believable range, wide inconceivable range

High Openness:

  • Abstract, exploratory thinking wires to reward systems
  • Energized by big ideas and possibilities
  • Wide believable range, narrow inconceivable range

How to Apply It

  1. Know your own thresholds - Take a Big Five assessment. If you're low in openness and high in conscientiousness, your brain will resist vision work. This is personal, not objective.

  2. Be vulnerable about limitations - In meetings, say: "Everything you're saying is inconceivable to me. I'm being honest—I need help bridging this gap."

  3. Ask for translation - "Can you give me something concrete? My brain needs an anchor before I can trust the abstract."

  4. Use trust as substitute for belief - When you can't move an idea to "believed," you can move it to "trusted." Trust is your alternative to agreement.

  5. Don't argue tactics when principles differ - If someone finds your vision inconceivable, no amount of tactical detail will help. First move the idea from inconceivable to conceivable.

  6. Leverage science - Many "inconceivable" ideas are actually proven. Frame the debate as "Can you disprove this?" rather than "Let me prove this." The burden shifts.

The Translation Burden

Teams spend enormous time translating visionary ideas into language that pragmatic minds can accept. This creates massive competitive disadvantage.

"The team that spends less time translating satisfactory language before they move has a huge advantage in the market."

Companies like Figma and Canva bake into their habitat: "We will not spend time in the translation phase." This is a speed multiplier.

When to Use It

  • Before strategic planning sessions, assess participants' openness
  • When vision discussions stall in endless debate
  • When feeling unreasonably resistant to a new idea
  • When trying to influence someone who won't budge
  • When building team composition for innovation work

Source

  • Guest: Evan LaPointe
  • Episode: "Improve strategy, influence, and decision-making by understanding your brain"
  • Key Discussion: (00:29:50) - Explanation of the four belief categories
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

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