Let's flip it around
Lesson #4: Embracing different perspectives
Welcome to Change, Logged, a weekly newsletter offering 5-minutes of honest thoughts about life, design, and everything in between.
“Let’s flip it around.”
Sometime last year, I unknowingly partially dislocated my elbow and was convinced I would have to pause my yoga practice for 6 months. To my surprise, my yoga teacher had a simple solution to an arms-free practice, “let’s flip it around”.
Instead of a downward dog, we switched to Navasana (boat pose), shifting the focus from my arms to my core. Instead of Bakasana (crow pose), we changed it into from an arm balance to a seated balance. I thought it would be easier, but those 6 months taught me a new challenge of breaking my usual patterns, engaging new muscles and discovering something new — an upside down, armless version of the Ashtanga primary series.
Life would not be very interesting if we all had the same thoughts. We come from different backgrounds, shaped by unique experiences, which means we all have different perspectives, insights, and ways of thinking. This is what Matthew Syed refers to as cognitive diversity in Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking, but why does it matter?
It helps us solve problems better.
It’s natural to be drawn to people who look and think like us, but this can lead to perspective blindness, which is a tendency to overlook our own blind spots and underestimate the value of different viewpoints. No matter how intelligent one is, no one can ever know everything. This is why we need to invite others in.
Blind spots are the gaps in our knowledge or perception that prevents us from seeing the full picture. In today’s fast-changing world, complex decisions are inevitable. The best way to solve problems better is to gather different perspectives. Think of it as a life toolkit with various lenses for new insights and solutions.
During World War II in Bletchley Park, the British codebreaking team consisted of linguists, chess champions, puzzle enthusiasts, and mathematicians. Realising codebreaking was beyond mathematics, they even recruited civilians through a challenging crossword puzzle in The Daily Telegraph. Together, they successfully cracked the German Enigma code, significantly shortening the war and saving countless lives.
It sparks creativity.
To be creative, you need to be open to different perspectives which asks for natural curiosity and exploration. In his book, Matthew Syed introduces the idea of rebel ideas. These are ideas that challenge and disrupt conventional thinking. The most innovative breakthroughs often come from unexpected collaborations between different disciplines, which result in fresh insights, that otherwise may have been overlooked.
The Brain Trust is part of Pixar’s creative process where groups of experienced directors, writers and storytellers meet and provide constructive feedback on each other’s work. Finding Nemo and Up are two films born from this approach.
Steve Jobs took a calligraphy class in college, where he developed an appreciation for beautiful typography. That later influenced the fonts and design aesthetic that set Apple computers apart from their competitors.
It makes us more resilient.
When we are open to different perspectives, like an armless yoga practice, we approach challenges from different angles. This helps build mental flexibility as you learn to pivot and adapt quickly. You are also less likely to get stuck in only one way of thinking.
Reframing exercises
Self distancing: looking at an emotional event from the perspective of another person
Counterfactual thinking: what if x happened instead of y?
Inversion thinking: instead of asking “how can I win?”, ask “what may cause me to fail?”
Even a simple, “I’ll come back to this later after I do this” will help.
It helps us grow.
Shane Parrish talks about an interesting concept called circles of competence in The Great Mental Models. It highlights how we often think we know more than we actually do, but when asked to explain it, the gaps in our knowledge become clear. Be honest, does this sound familiar?
Within the circle: your comfort zone where you have a clear advantage over others
Approach the perimeter: your advantage starts to decrease as you reach the limits of your knowledge
Outside of the circle: you are in a new, unknown area where you find yourself in areas that other people have an advantage
To grow, you want to maintain and build your circle of competence. Understand where you thrive, and where you don’t. Identify opportunities to learn. Reach out to other perspectives. Hire a coach when you do not know how to swim. Practice intellectual humility and curiosity because without it, even those blessed with natural intelligence will slowly, but surely lose out to those who are naturally curious.
Your challenge
What does your circle of competence look like?
Take something you do on autopilot, something second nature. Can you do it differently or approach it from another angle?
What have you noticed?
Wrap up
Sometimes, the answers we seek are already within reach, we just need a fresh perspective to see them. Do not just look, but practice seeing things differently. Be curious and collect different set of lens that will allow you to look at the same thing in many different ways.
Next time you encounter a challenge or feel stuck, ask yourself, “can this be flipped around?”
For the curious reader
Books that inspired the thoughts on this page — and are worth a read: