Perspective:
Perception is different from reality
Perception is reality
Who drives the better car? The other day I saw some reading an article comparing the 4×4 performance of Landrover and Landcruiser. He finished the article, nodded knowingly and handed it to his mate. When he had finished he said “Well that is conclusive then, Landcruiser is a better 4×4 than Landrover”. The first guy’s eyebrows shot up. “No way” he says, “the article proves that Landrover is the best”.
Just another example of how we see what we want to see.
We see the world through filters. From the start of our lives we have been developing constructs, or templates into which we try fit reality. Our reticular activating system filters out any out-of-paradigm the information brought in by our senses to make sure we only become aware of what we already believe is true. We then use these filters, to predict how situations will unfold. We have literally learned how to see the world.
To manage our lives and to live effectively we need to understand these filters and how they affect what we perceive.
We are accountable for our lives. We are therefore accountable for the filters we allow to operate. If you can acknowledge your history, put aside your excuses and identify the filters through which you view the world, you can empower yourself to step beyond your current reality.
So what are these filters? How can we go about recognising them? Because these filters are so over-learnt we are usually no longer are aware of them. This requires a reflective journey, keeping a log of the ebb and flow of thoughts and emotions in our day. Set yourself up as researcher into your own life; your personal scientist. Instead of allowing life to wash over you and under the bridge, capture your thoughts. Write them down.
Our filters are most distorted when we view ourselves. We are our own worst critics, easily glossing over our real faults, elevating our imagined ones to monster status and failing to see our special gifts. So what faulty assumptions are you making that you have not tested? What are your fixed beliefs? What labels have you taken on for yourself?
You can read the full article here.
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Technique – Resilience
I love the innovation and persistence illustrated in the story of Soichiro Honda. As a young mechanic he had a dream of developing piston rings for Toyota. He worked long hours, sometimes sleeping in his workshop. But his designs were repeatedly turned down by Toyota and ridiculed by other engineers. He pawned his wife’s jewellery for collateral to go back to school. Finally after two years he won a contract with Toyota. With materials in short supply he developed his own concrete making process and built a factory to construct pistons. The factory was bombed. Twice! Each time Honda picked up and continued. When steel became unavailable he collected the fuel tanks jettisoned by US fighter planes. The factory was finally destroyed in an earthquake.
Setbacks sometimes come as a surprise. But they shouldn’t. Anything worth doing will raise challenges. In his ‘Last Lecture’, Randy Pausch said that obstacles are not there to keep you out, they are there to test how badly you want something. How will we deal with those disheartening obstacles, pitfalls and setbacks? How can we keep going? Well, we need resilience. A dogged inclination to persist under adversity. Every time, in that moment between a stimulus and response, the resilient person says “one more time…”, gets up and tries again. Resilience includes flexibility, strength, confidence and our capacity to create. Resilience is the key differentiator between those who flounder and give up, and those who flourish under adversity. Here are four approaches you can consciously use to develop your resilience:
- Control your response
- Manage the scope and reach of the adversity
- Own your situation
- Endure
“Success is 99% failure” – Soichiro Honda
You can read the article here.
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A small adventure – Betty’s Bay asleep
The small adventure comes this month has to do with a stretch in technique and medium. Many watercolourists seem to work quite comfortably with darks. However I have found my paintings tend to mudiness when I try. This is a situation that has to be addressed. Therefore I painted this early morning view of Bass Lake.
This painted in watercolour on 300gm Arches Rough and is approximately 500x760mm.
You can read the blog posting here.
BY STEPHEN QUIRKE, ON DECEMBER 29, 2011
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At StrategyWorks we assist leaders and their teams, with those crucial conversations for clarity, decisions, action and outcomes. These conversations can be frustrating when people are not heard, the team cannot make decisions or the way forward remains vague. Leaders contact us at StrategyWorks when they are ready to do something different. In the process those involved in the conversations feel understood and challenged. At the end of the intervention, the leaders and their teams feel focused and released around a clear plan of action.
Find out more from our website at:www.strategyworks.co.za or better still contact us at the email address: stephen@strategyworks.co.za to arrange a meeting with Stephen.
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© 2011 Stephen Quirke, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from this Conversaction newsletter in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read: ”By Stephen Quirke of StrategyWorks. Please visit Stephen’s web site at https://www.strategyworks.co.za/ for more resources on how to hold effective conversations in your organisation.” (Please make sure the link is live if placed in an eZine or in a web site.)
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