“Why can’t we do that?” was the question I posed when I last wrote. For the longest time, I have noticed more and more of us saying “No” or “We can’t do that” or “We have a policy so we can’t do that” (ugh, this one annoys me more than most). The events of 2020 did not help this pattern of thinking in a lot of ways. For some though, 2020 brought magical, fun, and innovative thinking. I want us to do more of that. I want us to ask more often, “Why can’t we do that?”
How we view the world, through the lens of our lived experience, is known as perception (cognitive processing). Our lens is not always clear, so our view or perception of the world is not always accurate. The truth? This is the number one issue I see with clients of all types when it comes to taking that trip down the unknown road. I mean, come on, it is so much easier to say “No” than it is to venture into uncertainty and fear, right? I want us to clean our lens and be more confident and prepared to journey down the unknown road.
Our brains are hit with millions of pieces of stimuli every single day. Colors, tastes, sensations, noises, touch, pictures…our lived experience of the day to day. A bit funny is that these hits are pretty chaotic. It makes sense, there is a lot that happens in our lives every day. Just think about the last 5 minutes. What did you eat or drink? What did you see? What did you feel or touch? How were your emotions? Are you not feeling well today? What are you watching or listening to? In just five minutes alone, if you answer those questions thoughtfully, you’ll be surprised at how stimulated your being was.
The process of perception is that it takes all those stimuli and helps create your lens of the world. It is helping us as beings make sense of the world around us. Because there is so much coming at our brain though, the stimuli hits create a chaotic mess. So, our brain sets out to take the chaotic mess and bring a little balance and understanding through the perception process.
Multiple factors affect our perception of the world. For instance, our biological and neurological processes play a huge role with our lens. Our age, senses, fatigue, health, and even hunger. Do you get hangry? Are you able to function when you are tired? Or sick? Sociological processes affect how our perception process works. Cultural differences, social roles, and self-confidence play a huge part in how we make sense of the world. Very important as well is what we choose to read, watch, and listen. Media influences like the news, music, movies, TV, and social media affect how we make sense of the world as well. These factors combined can skew our lens of the world if we don’t pay attention the perception process overall.
For leaders, understanding the perception process is vital. How we view the world can affect our decision-making, problem-solving, and interactions with those around us. Our role has leaders involves building relationships. When our lens of the world is skewed, we tend to not be our best self in that leadership role. Come to think of it, when our lens is skewed, we tend to not be our best in any role in our lives.
Before we come together again, I hope you will take some time to reflect on how you see the world. Think about how successful your decision-making is when you are tired or sick. Think about how you problem-solve when you are under pressure. Think about how you react to others who do things differently than you. Think about the media influences in your world. Are they diverse and sometimes push you out of your comfort zone?
We will start looking at the details of the process of making sense of the world, perception, next time. It is an exciting and fascinating phenomenon. Until then, pay attention to all the stimuli around you. Pay attention to the tastes, colors, smells, sights, sounds, and physical interactions…with everything. You would be surprised at how magical, fun, and innovative the simplest stimuli can be, even in the chaos.
Important: as I speak of a skewed lens, I am in no way minimizing your lived experience. Our lived experience is ours and important to understand. However, in the balance process that your brain is trying to create, we can have an inaccurate view of so many things: situations, people, processes, etc. Therefore, I want to explore, with you, the process of perception. I want us to explore how we can open ourselves to new experiences and not be afraid to say, “Why can’t we do that?” I want us to be willing to step back, clear our lenses, and forge into the unknown. For in the unknown is growth, creativity, new, sometimes better, and healing.