Picture 5 people watching a Duke-Carolina basketball game. One of them, a Duke fan (boo! – My wife is a Tar Heel), knows all the Duke players, none of the Carolina players, and has emotional reactions depending on how well Duke is performing moment to moment. Another observer, perhaps my wife, has similar reactions related to how well Carolina performs. Euphoria for one will be misery for the other, especially at the final buzzer.
A third observer is an NBA scout. He has a casual interest in the game as a contest, possibly no interest in who ultimately wins. For him the game is a chance to assess the NBA potential of the players.
A fourth observer is a fan of European soccer and has never seen a basketball game; it was a free ticket from a friend. He is confused by what happens on the court. The rules don’t make much sense. In fact, the game doesn’t make much sense. There is a lot more scoring than happens in soccer, that’s for sure.
A fifth observer has scant interest in the game. He’s interested in the crowd, the band, the beer, the hotdogs, the cheerleaders. ‘Nuff said.
For each of these five, the game is perceived differently and the experience of the event is vastly different. Asked after the game for highlights they will give completely different reports.
Apply this thinking to five employees of a company sitting with a management consultant – better yet, a business coach. Asked for their candid appraisal of their mutual boss, you get five different snapshots of reality. Having facilitated many 360 appraisals, I am no longer surprised to find the same person highly rated by some and condemned by others.
In most businesses there is a tendency to believe in an objective reality where one perspective or course of action is “right” and others are “wrong.” I orient differently: every view is VALID when you consider the observer’s perspective. In the basketball example, the scout with 30 years of playing, coaching and scouting basketball has a perspective on the game that is no more or less valid than those of the first-time observer. Likewise, all five employee opinions are VALID. From THEIR point of view, the reality they speak is true.
One major lesson from this insight: Leaders should pay more attention to the views of others, probing to understand their perspectives and the underlying values, beliefs and experiences that drive those perspectives. Further, a good leader understands that he or she has only a small slice of the “total truth.” Honest input from others provides a fuller, more complete interpretation and set of options.
While I hold that all perspectives are equally valid, they are not equally powerful.
In our basketball example, assume you want to determine the game’s MVP. Which of the five is likely to give you the most powerful answer? The scout, of course.
In the case of employee opinions about a boss, we might want to consider the situations of each and speculate as to how it might impact their opinion. A client recently reported that in an annual survey, he was highly rated by all but one direct report. That direct report had recently been demoted, and that likely colored her judgment of her boss. At the same time, though some assessments might be less prejudiced than others, it is valuable for a leader to hear all of those perspectives.
Lesson No. 2: In addition to seeking various viewpoints on an issue, Leaders also need to develop skill in discriminating among viewpoints to determine the most powerful course of action given a set of goals, resources, constraints, etc. Further, Leaders will dig beyond superficial answers in search of deeper insights and truths that are not apparent.
Get out of the game of “right-wrong,” especially if you are prone to assuming that your opinions are usually “right,” and everyone else’s are wrong! Get into the game of being curious about what the range of views might be and discovering ways to evaluate, assess and move forward with the most powerful ones. This is a game worth playing.
I appreciate your insight, Michael.
We look out upon the world through such a small window, to view a tiny wedge of what is there. Yet my mind takes this minuscule amount of information and seemingly without effort on my part, evaluates, extrapolates, judges what is good and bad, names all the elements, and generates an opinion. It is not just me. This is a characteristic of humans. We all do this.
The interesting thing is that the strength of my opinion has little to do with the amount or quality of information used to generate the opinion; unless I put forth some effort, step aside, and watch this process. The watching of the process helps put these perceptions, both the view of the world and my opinion about that view, into perspective. Identification with the watcher brings me home, brings me here, into this very moment, the only place where I can act and effect change. Then my action is less about right and wrong, instead I make the next indicated move, taking action. I see what life is asking of me and I answer; moment-by-moment, my life is my answer, or more holistically, life is at once the question and the answer.
Tad – Well said. This is very deep metaphysical insight. Thanks for sharing. MG