Confusion to Clarity

Have you ever been scrolling your feed, listening to a friend or what to shout out "EXACTLY!" during a presentation?

That happened to me earlier as I saw a post on Twitter, and some how I found the quote that I had save quite some time ago (synchronicity, who knew).

There is a lot of confusion in the world. In almost every area we interact, there is a gap in perspective, understanding or breadth. We have expectations that the other party should be the one explaining, and breaking it down, surely it is their reason why we don't understand.

This can be the answer. Sometimes it is for the other person or party to explain. They need to build out their idea, their solution, their value proposition.

Here's the challenge however.

What is on you?

If you are not looking to see things completely with other eyes, if you are not willing to let go of what you hold onto, it is often extremely difficult for someone to explain an opposing thought or position to you because they will constantly be running into your mental models.

The exercise is this.

Be the other side. Completely.

What does it seem like they want. What would you need in a particular context. How do you think like them.

Oddly enough, this is the whole premise of method acting. Working to get yourself into another character by being that character. You give up on everything that is you, to build the perceptions of someone else.

I am by no means great at this, and I have no doubt the most novice actor can leverage a better spectrum. I can say however, that I am constantly working to develop this skill. The more effort I put into it, the more I understand those around me.

Take in everything. The words. The repetition. The questions. The looks. The body language. Everything gives you something to help you understand.

Comments

This 1 Thing Increases Your Career Capital More Than Anything Else

The Art of Better Decision Making Have you felt scared to make a decision? Maybe you get preoccupied with making the 'wrong' decision? Did you know that 68% of people have admitted to not doing because they thought it would be harder than it actually is. Getting comfortable with making decisions is one of the biggest challenges new leaders face. You will be placed in situations where there isn't enough time to get all of the information. Or even harder, you will be placed in situations where you'll never get more information than what you have. The good news? Making better decisions is something that you can improve by being deliberate with your learning and how you choose to approach it. This is the approach I take to decision making. These have been test and is what I have used over my 15 year career to teach and develop teams. - Accept that you will make mistakes. There is rarely a perfect answer. Getting comfortable with ambiguity is a leadership muscle you need to

Your Next Five Moves

There are two streams of thought when you start reading a book and you don't feel like you are connecting with it. Some people will say to stop reading it and move onto something else, the theory is that there are so many things in the world that you will enjoy reading, that you shouldn't be wasting your time on things that you don't. Camp B will tell you to stick with it, get through it and see what happens. If I had to "pick a side" I probably fall more into team B than team A, even though I do feel that there will always be some books / material that you should just put down. What has me more B than A? Some of the books that have had the most impact on me were a STRUGGLE to get through. I challenge that this may because they are pushing your boundaries and putting something up against your current worldview / paradigms. True growth and learning comes from when you can challenge and dismantle your own ideas, and rebuilt them anew. My first real experience with

Decisions, Positions and Frames

Making decisions and getting consensus is the most common activity that every person goes through. Whether in your personal or professional life, we are all selling, all the time. Selling? I'm not selling anything! Actually, that's not really true. At the most fundamental level, selling is about the transfer of belief. You are trying to get a person or a group to see things the way you do. If they accept that, you make the "sale" (i.e. you have transferred your idea/belief) as another has chosen to accept it. Where things get hard is when people hold onto certain ideas, frames or positions around a circumstance. It's interesting how little people realize what they share related to their position without even knowing it. The information is there, as long as you are listening. Always be listening. When someone repeats a variable or constraint that is a difference, that has major impact. They themselves they may not realize that they are essentially confirming what

Search This Blog