Funny motivational speaker
“Thanks again for putting the cheese grater up where I can’t reach it!” I snarled, grabbing a chair to stand on. Steve apologized, “Sorry, Amy, I didn’t realize it was too high for you.”
This issue is an ongoing problem. Steve is 6′ 4″, I am 5′ 2″, so when storing kitchen items, our different perspectives can lead to frustration. His “within reach” requires me to “risk life and limb” balancing on a chair. My “within reach,” forces him to “crawl on his belly like a living reptile.”
For a short time, years ago, our hospital allowed us to carry our personal phones in our scrub uniforms while working. When cell phones became mini-computers with cameras, they banned us from using phones while working.
Right away, we hated this new rule. We thought it was an unnecessary and unreasonable restriction ( what if our kids need us?). Weeks of complaints nudged management to reveal national studies showing that the average employee spends about five hours a week using their mobile phone for non-work activities, adding up to $15.5 billion in lost productivity. Besides, management pointed out that phone cameras are a HIPPA violation for our patients. Seeing the iPhone ban from management’s perspective caused us to shift our point of view and reluctantly agree with the new rule
Everyone has a point of view. Your customers, patients, managers, coworkers, spouse, children, parents, everyone. When your viewpoint crashes into a different perspective, it is easy to dig in your heels and insist that your way is the right way.
Next time this happens, instead of digging in, “pull up a chair” to see a situation or event from another’s perspective. Your point of view may never morph into another way of thinking, but at the very least, you will have a better understanding of how and why they see a situation the way they do.
Seeing things from another perspective allows us to learn more about each other, and broadens our approach to creative solutions.
