Inside out or outside in?

Reality is what others perceive as reality.

Every one of us lives in a coordination system (a “cultural environment”) from which it is difficult to escape. You are inside a box. This applies as well to all teams and organizations.

Do you think it is easy to change your perspective? Then look at these examples:

• The recent irregularities at the International Football Association (FIFA), including possible bribery, are to a large extent only perceived from the outside as negative. If you listened to the speakers at the last summit, you would see a completely different picture. They complain that the “outsiders” generate buzz to damage the organization. Which perspective is the correct one?
• We are constantly influenced by opinions and trends that very often become “common sense” by frequent repetition. Certain facts are underlined, and others are neglected. See this blog post for an extreme example. Knowing that there are multiple “realities” leads to a fair judgment. Always try to understand the big picture, not just the pieces.
• The Chief Executive of a company communicates his striking vision and a consistent strategy. He gets only positive feedback from his employees. However, the implementation progresses slower than planned, and after a while, the entire project stops. What happened? The employees committed to the vision and strategy, but each of them had a different perspective when it came to changing the daily work processes accordingly. Buy-in yes, but no change, please!

What is your answer to this challenge?

Don’t surround yourself with yes-sayers but with people with different perspectives who challenge your “reality.” Most importantly, look for input from outside your own organization.

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This post is from our Friday noon memo #84. Interested in regular updates? Sign up here.
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