Lesson 2.2 – Seeing Differently
TRANSCRIPT
Einstein said that doing the same thing repeatedly expecting something different to happen is insanity. We've all done it. If we want different results, we must see, think, and do differently. I will discuss each one individually.
The first step is seeing differently. How can we see differently? Well, we can see things from different perspectives.
We can look at our business from a shopper or customer's perspective. What is it like to buy from us? What is that experience like?
We can look at it from an employee's perspective. What is it like to work here? What's the environment like? How does that impact how we work and what we get?
We can look at things from a partner's perspective, like a supplier or a distributor.
Fourth, we can look at things from a community perspective. Are we respected in the community? Are we contributing to society? What's our reputation?
And last, but not least, looking at things from a shareholder perspective? Are we creating shareholder value? These perspectives give us a robust picture of the organization's ecosystem, and even into the future.
The second way we see differently is by zooming out and zooming in. Zooming out, coming from kind of like a drone like view, 25,000 - 50,000-foot view, we get a sense of the big picture and of the landscape. But as we start to zoom in, we can get a sense at the 10,000-to-5,000-foot view. We start to see greater detail and then we can start to see a specific situation. We can even come down lower to see greater detail.
So, when you think about this, what should your altitude be? Should you be zooming in or zooming out. If you're thinking about strategy or the company's vision, you probably want to zoom out. If you're looking at an operational challenge, you want to zoom in. Knowing when to zoom and when to zoom out is foundational to being a leader. Seeing differently helps us to understand the context of the environment we're in. As we've learned over the last several years, context matters!