Leading with colour

We tend to reduce things to right or wrong, good or bad, black or white, yes or no. The problem is, human experience is rarely binary. It’s a spectrum of colours.

A few years back, many people on the internet debated whether this recording says, Laurel or Yanni. If you haven’t heard it, take a listen. What do you hear?

The recording does say Laurel, and yet, there are two different ways people hear the sound.

It turns out that this generated sound has just enough ambiguity that some people will hear Laurel and others, Yanni.

Who is right? Everyone is; there are simply two different perspectives and experiences.

We tend to reduce things to right or wrong, good or bad, black or white, yes or no. It’s far easier to reason about the world when we can put things and people into boxes. But it’s far less effective.

The problem is, human experience is rarely binary. It’s a spectrum of colours.

The different perspectives we hold come from the diverse experiences and knowledge we’ve acquired.

In the case of Laurel and Yanni, the mechanics of our ears, the frequencies we can hear or whether we already know someone named Laurel can be reasons why our brain might sway one way or the other.

There are no wrong answers. The world we experience is less objective and more subjective than we think.

Some have the awareness to know their way of seeing and experiencing the world isn’t the only way.

And others can’t see past their version of reality.

To have an impact and create change, leadership requires us to see and take on other people’s perspectives and see the world in colours.

If we can’t be bothered to see and appreciate other people’s points of view and experiences and meet them with empathy and understanding, how can we expect them to follow us?

Next time you seek to make a change and think you know the best way forward, ask yourself, what other colours am I not seeing?

Miguel,
Sparknotion – Think Differently.

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