What lenses are you wearing today?

Recently, I conducted an online session on developing a growth mindset for a group of experienced design thinkers from diverse backgrounds and regions. The particular topic and other related ones like paradigms, transforming attitudes, and fostering collaboration are my favorite ones, and as a learner myself, I geek out over them. While most days, I would consider myself to be well aware on the subject, in this case, well, life handed me a crash course on perspective!

To prepare for the session, I did what I always do: I researched, packaged the content, and then tested with fellow panelists to filter out any bias that would have crept in. However, at no point, I consider why this session was an important one for me as well.

The session timing was odd hours for me as we needed to accommodate the participants from various time zones.?But after three (ok, four!) cups of coffee, I was all set to go. The complete session was over two days, and I had two to three interventions between other sessions covered by my fellow panelists.

After the first day session, although I received positive feedback from all the learners and observers, I was surprised when one of the participants, in a casual conversation during a break, said that my session was a waste of time and could have been skipped. One of my panelists told me to ignore the comment. Winning them all is never possible, and we cannot please everyone. Though I agreed with her, that one negative comment lingered in my head. How can it be great to everyone but one!

On the second day of the session, though I was a bit conscious, I carried on. While explaining an activity, I elaborated on the concept of how we view things, observe, internalize, and express and communicate. We wear different lenses and, through these lenses, we view the world. The color of the world is just the reflection of these lenses. If we change the lenses, we change our perspectives, and it changes how we see, observe and communicate with the world. So, perspective is everything!

As I explained more, I started to listen to myself more. What I was saying was now making more sense to me. It is not our personality that impacts our perspective. It is the other way round.

All of us look at the world through our own lens. A lens that causes us to instinctively recognize threats, opportunities, and patterns, each according to our biases and preferences. And, we observe and communicate with the world according to the perception we form.

For some people that’s optimism, always looking at the bright side. For others it’s a design lens, 'how could this work better?' A skater sees the world as a series of railings and pathways and an entrepreneur as a cascade of opportunities and niches.

Some lenses are mutually-exclusive, such as optimism and pessimism, while others layer on top of each other, like a skateboarding entrepreneur. But they’re always there, affecting what we see and what we don’t see, and what it all means to us.

Even after the session, I couldn't stop thinking about what I felt while describing and leading the activity. I remembered many instances where "perspective" was instrumental in shaping my paradigms.

I thought about my first trip to London. The city is considered by most to be one of the most vibrant, romantic, and beautiful cities in the world. My experience, however, was not pleasant. It rained for the entire three days I was there, my hotel was terrible, I got pushed in a crowded tube, and to top it all, I paid through my nose to witness my favorite team Chelsea play at Stamford, and it lost! I immediately acquired an aversion to the city, and subsequent visits did not change my mind.

I also thought of Bangkok when I went there on a family vacation. I was on a vegetarian diet and could not find a decent place that served vegetarian dishes. While my wife and son enjoyed various delicacies, I survived on just bread and mango slices. For me, it was a forgettable visit. It is one of the most popular vacation spots for millions of people, but I have no desire to return.

The more I considered similar situations in my own life, the more clarity it brought. So much of what we do, how we live, and the decisions we make are driven by our perspectives, and not by our personalities or communication styles. Also, our experiences (both good and bad), our knowledge, our value systems, and our culture influence our perspectives.

The participants who experienced the session on the first day were wearing different lenses and assimilating differently, despite the existence of a common purpose. It was perspectives at play when one did not consider it worthy and others loved it.

This leads to an important question. Is it possible for the viewpoints to shift? Yes, it is possible. One needs to consider that changing perspective is a change, and change is hard. It necessitates concentration, openness to new ideas, and readiness and desire to change. If we wish to change our perspective, we must break free from our circumstances and conditions, allow ourselves to be unsettled and uncomfortable, and give space to others who hold an opposing point of view. Most of the time we believe that our point of view is correct. Instead, what if we thought there were several paths to the same answer? What if we took the time to look at different possibilities? We could solve our interpersonal problems if we remembered that not every problem has a single answer. Our teams would be more cohesive, and there would be less workplace stress. What is best for the collective is preferable to what each person desires.

Everyone in the group must be on the same page if the group needs to move forward as a unit. It doesn't have to be a massive, life-altering event. Opening our ears to hear what others are saying is the first step. Paying attention is the first step. We must be willing to change ourselves if we wish to change our outlook.