Seeing Through The Eyes Of Others

"We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are. " - Anais Nin

In business, I often find that my clients are so close to what they do every day that they fail to see what they could be doing differently - or be doing better. They rarely see things as they really are or recognize the looming threats to their company. Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of the same problem (people in glass houses syndrome). Cough.

So what causes this very real phenomenon? It's human nature to want to protect things - your life, your family, your decisions, your business model, your sales and marketing efforts...etc. So, when faced with reality or the threat of change, it's also human nature to push back - to minimize the threat. Often, this results in rejecting good advice. Or worse, the advice you did not want to hear makes you now retreat and build walls around your business position. You dig in and stick to what you know - "how dare a consultant tell me anything about the business I have been in for 25 years!"

I know first-hand that it's hard to hear things about your company or your work product that threaten you. But when you hear those things, next time think before you react. See what you do through the eyes of the other person - and come to at least understand the perspective that they have shared with you. It's OK to disagree with it - but it's not OK to not learn from it.


Says me.