If you tuned into this blog today hoping for some hard-nosed ideas on time management, well, you may be disappointed. My posts this week have veered into conceptual territory. Why? Because 1. this is the kind of stuff I think about, 2. I get good ideas when I think about this stuff and 3. the same could happen to you (I hope).
In college, a friend of mine would intone “test your reality” whenever someone said something strange or nonsensical. He meant that the comment didn’t jibe with his perceptions. Sometimes it started a mock battle over whose reality was more real, or what reality we could all agree on.
To be effective at work and in life, you need to know how to match your perception of reality to the ones of the people around you. This doesn’t mean giving up your preferred perception; it means being able to put yourself in their shoes and communicate better.
In some work situations, the boss’ perception trumps anyone else’s. You’ll either accept it or get a new job. If you’re the boss, the perceptions of your clients or customers are the ones you need to align with.
Being able to see irritating work situations as arising from differing perceptions can help you handle them more objectively, instead of taking them personally and reacting emotionally. And guess what that means? More effectiveness and productivity on the job.
I'm not disappointed at all, cause I'm already on the step 3 (it happens to me as well) :)
Thanks for sharing the knowledge!
Posted by: Gleb Reys | September 22, 2006 2:03 AM | Permalink to Comment