Would you eat an alligator pear? (you already have & why it’s important)

‘Doesn’t that make your head hurt?,’ asked my hubbie.

I looked up in surprise. I was doing what I love to do. What brings me ease. What makes me feel on top of things. What gives me peace & lets me get stuff done.

I was making lists.

Lists have a special place in my heart. They’re my dumping ground for the flotsam & jetsam in my brain. They cut through my fears of forgetting stuff. I use my workflowy list app endless times a day. I’m besotted.

And lists can feel constrictive, way too detailed & unhelpful to my hubby. I found this out, much to my surprise, after many discussions. I was seeing the world through my eyes & had gained a fascinating viewpoint through his.

Almost 30 years later, that situation still informs my work. It lit up a lifelong curiousity about perspective, a fascination with worldview.

How can two people come away from the exact situation & yet see it so entirely differently?

Culture

Culture is “the collective programming of our minds that divide us into groups,” (Hofstede) & it dramatically affects how you see things.

Often before teaching a workshop I’ll survey my participants about the 7 C’s (7 key things to working better together).

1. communication
2. conflict resolution
3. collaboration
4. change management
5. creativity
6. celebration
7. culture

Culture is one that often gets rated lowest but in my experience it’s one of the most important.

Culture frames how you see things. It affects what comes onto your radar easily, naturally & comfortably. And it influences what you miss because it’s awkward, unknown, unfamiliar, foreign or not important.

Here’s a case in point.

Would you eat an alligator pear?

Sounds kinda weird, maybe even gross right?

Which is precisely why marketers changed the names. Alligator pears became avocados.

It’s all a matter of perspective, of culture, which frames your worldview.

So what’s the best way to get a new perspective, to shake up your worldview?

Hang out with someone who sees the world wildly differently than you do. That can include someone who knows nothing about your field, someone a lot older or younger than you etc.

Hit refresh & seek out whole new worlds … that are right in front of your nose if you take a new look.

Learn well

• Check out the Under the influence podcast; it’s technically about marketing but I think of it as a way to gain new perspective (it’s where I got the alligator pear example)

Laugh well

• Watch how this little girl looks at something from an entirely different perspective.

Lead well

• Check out this puzzle I created that tours you around my brand new website with new ways to serve you, fill it in online or print it off. Then take a picture & email it to me & be entered to win one of my online courses for you AND a friend or colleague.

Annnnnnnd take action

• Fill in the crossword puzzle online or print it off. Then take a picture & email it to me & be entered to win one of my online courses for you AND a friend or colleague. (Or just email me 4 of your answers if you’re hung up on how to attach a picture to an email.)
• Check out my new fortune teller (bottom of the home page) & find your fortune
• Have a hair raising experience (hover your mouse over my face for a surprise)
• Check out my upcoming online courses
• Share my website with a friend or colleague (& even better have them sign up for free weekly coaching by email on how to use humanity & humour to problem solve)