What Do You See?

POINT TO PONDER

If the doors to perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. 

                                - William Blake

STORY LINE by Rajiv Shah

I'm currently reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven J. Covey. The early chapters outline a test that was conducted involving the picture below that I found interesting:

The chosen subjects were asked what they saw. Half argued that they saw an old woman in her last days. Asked if they saw anything else, their response was overwhelming "no."

Much in the same way the other half of the group concluded that they saw a beautiful young lady, possibly a cabaret performer in the prime of her life. Asked again if they could see anything besides the young lady, their response was also a resolute "no." 

Both sides were sure as to what they saw in the picture and believed there was nothing else to the drawing. Which group was right? 

In fact, if you look closely, both groups are correct. An old woman and young lady both do exist in the same image. 

REFLECTION

How many times do we look at a problem or situation in life and accept our view as the only one? Perhaps there is often more than one answer? And maybe we can find that there is more than one point of view that is correct. 

Comments

[CE version]

And my own self made phrase... perception is a lazy man’s reality, but laziness is not exceptional, be mindful of the conversation you leave people with.......

I may have borrowed the last part 

Have a great weekend

[Bonbonsan]

What an interesting and timely post - Anand and I were just discussing today another book by Covey called "The Third Alternative -Solving Life's Most Difficult Problems."

Per Amazon.com book description, 'In any conflict, the 1st Alternative is my way and the 2nd Alternative is your way. The 3rd Alternative transcends traditional solutions to conflict by forging a path toward a third option, a 3rd Alternative that moves beyond your way or my way to a higher and better way—one that allows both parties to emerge from debate or even heated conflict in a far better place than either had envisioned."

I am half way through this big book, and it's especially intriguing that you can also view your own child as The Third Alternative, not yours, and not your SO's. Enjoy!

[Mark Dennen]

I worked on a homebuilding project for charity. There was a house manager who made all the decisions, even though two other qualified house managers worked on this job. The problem was it could paralyze the operation waiting for a decision. Yes, the house manager was responsible, was very smart, very detailed but proper delegation could have sped the project along to completion. I think we see this in business every day.

In my woodworking group, I get to observe other approaches to design and construction which I would likely have never considered. There is much to be said for quietly listening and observing. That said, people have various levels of skill and unless you are completely sure they are competent, they need be kept away from dangerous work. In business, we also see people taking risks every day in areas where they are not qualified resulting in harm to many.