Is Your Perspective Fresh Enough?

We all have different points of view. That's what makes life interesting, teams dynamic, and solutions creative.

Recognising that diversity is an essential ingredient of success, we often look outside of our immediate group to get a "fresh perspective" when we feel we need some inspiration, reassurance, or simply an alternate view. How often though, do we check our own perspective? Indeed, is it possible to check and, if necessary, freshen up our own perspective from time to time? Who would we go to for a perspective "health check"?

These questions came to mind when I overheard two managers discussing a meeting they had both been invited to. One of them as asking the other why he hadn't attended the meeting, the response to which was "why should I attend a meeting that doesn't add value?" They both had an interesting perspective, and obviously they both felt that theirs was correct, which meant that they didn't necessarily agree with each other.

Interestingly, it could be argued that both were right - but to secure the best outcome, an alignment of perspective was needed. Everyone involved in the meeting should have attended it with the aim of adding value, and if they had achieved that goal then the conversation I overheard would never have happened. In reality though one thought he was right for attending as requested despite the fact that the meeting may have been low on value, and the other thought he was right to stay away because of the lack of value. Nothing had been resolved - but dangerously two opposing mindsets had been forged that will influence their perspectives in future, and hinder productivity.

How can a fresh perspective be achieved in such situations?

Firstly, whenever something feels like it hasn't gone as well as it might have done, we need to reflect on how a better outcome might have been achieved. We should challenge ourselves by assessing our own perspective to see if it needs freshening up. If necessary we can ask others to help by providing feedback, or discussing the situation to identify ways we could handle it differently by gauging their perspective.

It is easy to walk away in the belief that we are right, and justify our actions accordingly. But if we truly want to achieve high performance we will pause and ask ourselves whether our own perspective is fresh enough to make a difference, or create an impact that adds real value.