Loving Monday: Popcorn and Perspective
Our important issues always feel big. That’s as it should be.
Sometimes they feel bigger than everything and everyone else. That might become a problem.
Yes, it is awful when someone burns the popcorn, and the entire office smells horrible, and you can barely keep from gagging much less get your work done.
No, uncovering the mystery of who is the negligent and insensitive popcorn burner is is not something to interrupt a manager’s meeting with.
I begin with a smaller and possibly silly example to point at that issues get their importance relative to the issues around them.
Perspective derives from proximity.
This photo of the person holding the sun is an exaggerated example in the other direction.
From where we stand, the person is obviously bigger than the ball of light in his hands.
Our problems, challenges and opportunities are always big because they are ours. (Let’s give ourselves that much.)
But can we also walk over to another vantage point and look at the issue from that perspective?
The perspective of a busy co-worker, the perspective of our supervisor, the perspective of a tight budget, the perspective of the worried client, the perspective of a competing project, etc., etc.
The ability to walk over to a variety of vantage points and look at an issue from different angles is key to keeping our issue in perspective.
We don’t have to make our issue smaller in order to make room for the others, but we may need adjust how, when and with whom we approach it.
On your side,
- Karl Edwards
