Frames of Reality
Pramoda Vyasarao
Technology leader, coach, and author. Coached 600+ ICs and Managers to become leaders at Oracle and Meta.
- It’s sunny today but it’ll rain tomorrow.
- It’s sunny today and it’ll rain tomorrow.
- It’s sunny today even though it’ll rain tomorrow.
Each of the above statements represent a frame through which a listener can perceive the situation. Perception is influenced by the frame around it. Statement 1 focuses more on the rain tomorrow. Statement 2 keeps the focus balanced. The third statement focuses more on the fact that today is a sunny day by placing less emphasis on rain prediction.
Whether it’s 1:1 with your team member or a group conversation or a presentation, knowing the frame and changing the frame when needed are critical skills for a productive conversation. Defining frames helps us focus on the topics inside a frame and ignore the areas that aren’t useful for the outcome of a discussion.
Few frames below for illustration.
Failure vs Feedback?
Interpreting a situation from the perspective of gathering feedback.
Problem vs Outcome
The discussion can be focused around the outcome we want to arrive at to solve the problem (vs talking about the problem at length).
Victim vs Creator
When talking about interpersonal conflicts, you can as a team member explore how they can resolve the situation by wearing a creator hat and not whining as a victim.
Knowing the frame, making changes in conversations & learning from interactions need conscious effort. It’s all about becoming a Changesmith!