Overcoming the limitations of others' perceptions

taken from activeadventures.com

Our view of the world in which we live is not just built on results and specific facts, it is built upon our perceptions or the ways in which the glasses we wear color our viewpoint. We make judgments based on those perceptions that sometimes emanate from flawed assumptions and prejudices. If WE can't envision it, if it is not within our frame of reference then we tend to downplay it or worse, find ways to destroy its validity. 

From personal experience both being on the receiving end and placing my perceptions or projections onto others I recognize they are a powerful force. Let's look at an example. New Zealand evokes an image of thousands of sheep, beautiful pristine countryside and the settings for the Lord of the Rings in most eyes. Kiwi means a fuzzy fruit or a flightless bird, not so much the internet savvy, highly educated population. So when a Kiwi comes to New York or to Paris there is some incredulity about their credentials and experience. “Yes, but tell me again how many people live in your country?” as if skill was synonymous with a large population.

The words business and New Zealand are not usually mouthed in the same phrase. There is a mistaken belief that because the country has only 4 million people in it that it must be some kind of backwater, waiting to catch up with the most advanced countries such as the United States or Great Britain. What I have noticed in working in Europe and arriving now in the United States is that the New Zealand business environment is very vibrant and full of innovative thinkers. Some of the technological advances that I had taken for granted while living in New Zealand surprisingly just did not exist in France. 

taken from www.nbr.co.nz

So let's see where perceptions and reality co-exist. Let us step back a minute from our perceptions of this small "backwater", island nation. There are a number of interesting facts to debunk the idea of a third world country struggling to keep up with its large friends and neighbors. For example, did you know that New Zealand has the highest use of electronic banking transactions in the world, 86% of the population report using the internet which is a higher figure than the UK or Germany? New Zealand has enjoyed paying taxes via the internet for many years and the education system is world ranked. It has been in the top 10 nations for a number of years (with a slight fall in this past year but still in the top 15). In a recent study, New Zealand was ranked 17th for Maths and Sciences while the UK came in 20th position and the United States in 28th. (http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32608772.) Forbes has put New Zealand consistently in the top 3 countries in the world to do business.

So how is it that perceptions of New Zealand business are so very different from some of the facts illustrated above? And what impact can these erroneous perceptions have?  While I have used this personal example, the principles apply to so much more. Why do we hold on so firmly to our particular perceptions and what affect can it have on our ability to progress in our businesses or organizations? Obviously, for those on the receiving end of erroneous perceptions this can be very limiting and can present additional obstacles or hoops through which we have to jump. We have to be even more innovative to find ways to impress or to get into an open door. We need to constantly remind ourselves that these are their perceptions and not necessarily reality.

Those imposing their perceptions on others are also impacted. People in positions of authority or power such as managers, company owners, bankers or law makers can miss out on great talent or innovative ideas because their mind is fixed on a pretty rigid set of criteria. To mitigate the prejudices our personal perceptions might have we need to step back and ask ourselves, "What evidence do I have that my perceptions are valid?" "Is there a different way that this might be viewed?" "How might I find out whether this person/organization/idea/method has something to offer me?"

Check your perceptions in at the door, just long enough to open your mind to the possibilities. There is a whole world out there that just may open up to us.

Emotions vs Evidence, Assumptions vs Questions

image taken from experiencelife.com

In recent months I have been confronted with many emotion-filled situations from either my work situation or the work environment of others. And in the media there have been stories that have divided the public around emotional polar opposites and opposing principles such as the Planned Parenthood videos or the Same Sex Marriage debate. While it is impossible and even inadvisable to remove emotion and principles from our attitudes and approaches, when we work only with emotional input then the greatest losers are creativity and the truth.

At one point in time in my earlier years, I had started down the road to becoming a journalist. The feeling didn't last very long and looking back I am grateful for that. I would have been greatly frustrated by the need to range myself on either side of a great political divide. Am I liberal and progressive? Or am I conservative? It is not acceptable anymore to say, "I take each subject individually and judge it on its merits and not on its politics." Currently, I can read the same piece of news in the media that labels itself as liberal and again in conservative media outlets and I wonder if they are even the same story.

The Washington Post published a chart that places media outlets along this conservative/liberal continuum. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/10/21/lets-rank-the-media-from-liberal-to-conservative-based-on-their-audiences/. It contained few surprises.

Social media posts (Blogs, Twitter and Facebook particularly) have a similar divide where there are conservative audiences following conservative posts and vice versa for the liberals. It is becoming an increasingly emotional environment where expletives, insults, personal slinging matches greet any kind of information that feeds either the conservative or liberal viewpoints.

I have been reading a wonderfully insightful book called, "change your questions, change your life" by Marilee Adams, PhD (Berrett-Koehler, 2004). In this she describes a "judger" mentality that we can have as opposed to a "learner" mentality and that this can apply not just to individuals but to teams and groups. I want to be so bold to suggest that our society as a whole has taken on a "judger" mentality. With all our freedoms we have become so much more judgemental. We are losing the ability to listen with the real intent to learn from each other. We are more concerned with proving that we are correct and we will twist any fact just to arrive at that end.

Strangely enough, as a result of this, we are losing our true freedoms. We are seeking to do away with oppression but if our processes in doing so are oppressive then have we really gained any ground? People are frightened to ask questions and to look for real evidence. Science has become pseudo science depending on which side of the divide you are on. It is a finger pointing and self-validating exercise and not one of true intellectual gain. The Emperor is not wearing any clothes but there is no-one listening to the little boy who is crying out the truth.

Why is this happening to this degree? In one word: Emotion. It is about fear, insecurities, pride, anger, disdain, shame and guilt within ourselves or imposed on others. It is time to step back from the emotion of each situation and look for the facts, ask questions and examine the evidence. It is the quality of our questions that will move us forward, not the selection of our solutions. We may be surprised.