What We See Depends on Where We Stand

The following article is reprinted from the October 2011 Staff Senate Newsletter.

The message is such a good one; we wanted to share the thinking as a great way to begin the New Year. Wishing you the very best that 2012 will bring!

Staff Ombudsman
Tom Ward

Two people standing together usually see the same things, right? Maybe. Maybe not. After sitting on our back porch nearly every night for years with my son he recently exclaimed that he saw a light out in the woods. I’d never seen any light where he described. He said, “it’s right there daddy, just beyond that tree.” After moving only a foot to the left, I finally saw the light he was referring to. How had I not seen that light after sitting on that deck gazing out into the wood on so many evenings?My position allowed a tree to block my view. With a small change in my position, my view changed and I saw something that I had not seen before.

Employees can find themselves in the same position. What we see depends on the perspective we have. If we make judgments about others based on limited information and experience (especially negative ones), we run the risk of getting stuck in a rut that usually predetermines our thinking about that other person. What would happen if we changed positions – not just physically, but attitudinally? A manager who takes time to field phone calls and interact directly with the public usually develops a greater apprecia­tion for the challenges of a receptionist’s job.

An employee who shadows a manager usually gains a deeper appreciation for the complexity of managing people, programs and budgets. Our vantage point influences what we see.

What happens if a manager distrusts an employee and thinks they are out to take advantage of the system because of a bad interaction they had with that employee? They are more likely to see or find things that support their negative perception and run the risk of a self-fulfilling prophecy. But what if that same manager made a conscious decision to withhold judgment of that employee based on that one bad experience? What if they addressed their concern head on and worked closely with that employee to see if they could restore trust in their working relationship? Would it always work? No, but the benefits of that kind of approach have positive effects well beyond that one relationship.

There is wisdom in the old adage of “don’t judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in that person’s shoes”. We don’t really know what another person’s experience has been, and how their experiences have shaped their lives. Maybe looking at situations from different perspectives and withhold­ing judgment can help us gain a better understanding of that person or situation.