Date archives "February 2016"

The Week in Review # 48: Different Perspectives

“I can’t get through to him/her.”

All of us have been in situations where we have experienced this frustration. If the issue is not resolved quickly it escalates into conflict. At the core of the issue are two different perspectives clashing. Each person believes that their perspective is correct. This may be due to past experience or having knowledge the other person doesn’t have. However, knowing the right answer and forcing their perspective on another is usually futile.

In a conversation only one perspective can be discussed at any one point in time. When two perspectives are being discussed concurrently is when problems begin to start. At this point each party is consciously/subconsciously rejecting the other person’s perspective. When we reject a perspective without listening and more importantly understanding their point of view, we are disrespecting the other person. 

This is a very difficult situation to diffuse amicably. The only recourse is for each party to allow the other person to clearly share their point of view. This doesn’t mean we have to agree or compromise on our world view. It is a starting point to build mutual respect and understanding on where each of them is coming from.

To do this successfully requires a high level of maturity and self awareness. We have to leave our ego at the door and listen to the other person. Those who are unable to do this have deep seated issues which run far deeper than the argument at hand. It is painful to admit our flaws and mistakes in a world that requires constant perfection. However when we understand that each of us have our flaws and embrace them, is when we can truly live a full life. A life where the people around us accept us for who we are; rather than what we may be pretending to be.

Life is too short for us to keep up appearances and hiding who we really are.

What I am reading and watching this week

The Most Powerful Lesson I’ve Ever Learned In Business  This is one of the best posts I have read in a while. It talks about how to structure your thinking, when making big decisions. The lesson is to base our decisions on first principles. Facts that you know to be true today. The examples used in the post help to understand how to apply this technique properly.

What’s Next in Computing? The future is exciting. As computing power becomes cheaper and faster, we are going to see it embedded into everyday items. This will result in rapid advances in artificial intelligence and enable us as a species to move faster. The post is written by an entrepreneur and vc that I greatly respect. His seat at the forefront of technology enables all of us to see what is next on the horizon.

Make Your Life Better by Saying Thank You in These 7 Situations I don’t say thank you enough. This post has some great examples of how we can re frame everyday situations to start saying it more. With that in mind I want to thank all the readers who have continued to support this blog year after year. Thank you very much.

This Company Retains 95% of Its Employees — Here’s Its Secret This is a well devised headline that is optimized to get you to click through. The truth of the matter is that retaining your employees doesn’t require complicated models or rocket science. It depends on how your companies vision aligns with that of your employees, the culture and the values you uphold and giving each employee the ability to grow and learn. The article uses examples that helps to add context.

Unit of Value: A Framework for Scaling Understanding how a business makes money requires more than just seeing how much money you are making versus how much you are spending. A business owner needs to understand the specific value they are creating and how much each unit of value costs and how much we are selling it for. When this underlying premise is broken, no matter how quickly we grow revenue it will never be enough. This article breaks this concept down and makes it much easier to understand.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!