Why is perspective such a big deal?

I’m about to blow your mind with some facts from the animal kingdom.

Humans are trichromatic: we have 3 different types of photoreceptors in our eyes. We believe that this corresponds to being able to see red, green and blue, and from those 3 we are able to see millions of different colors.

Enter the mantis shrimp.

The mantis shrimp has SIXTEEN different types of photoreceptors, and we don’t even really know what that means. Sure, it can see colors that humans can’t. And. The mantis shrimp can also see ultraviolet light, polarized light, circularly polarized light, and I’m sure things we can’t quite comprehend yet.

We’re over here with our 3 photoreceptors thinking we’re so perceptive. Ha!

My favorite exercise on perspective involves 2 people facing each other. Put a paper in between them and ask them to read the number that they see on the paper. Person A responds “5” and Person B says “8.” Who is right? Well, both of them are correct. The side of the paper facing Person A has a 5 and the side facing Person B has an 8. If you ask them to defend their position, they could really take a stand for what they “see.”

This is the cause of a lot of arguments and pain. From one person’s perspective, they may see something totally different than another based on their vantage point, past experience, eye sight or any number of other differences.

It happens in politics, sales, science, leadership, economics, relationships. Everywhere really.

My brothers and sisters of nuance and discernment understand this. Perspective is everything. If we can do our best to truly put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, maybe we’ll see that it is actually and 8 and a 5. And maybe when we call something purple, we’ll realize how primitive that would sound to the mantis shrimp.

How history got ruined?

History was my favorite subject in high school. I absolutely loved it. Humans have been doing cool shit for centuries.

And we’ve also done some terrible things that we just don’t talk about.

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History was an eye opener. The Dollop also helped shattered the illusion. The opening of The Watchmen and having to google the Tulsa Massacre left me in disbelief for a few weeks.

I’ve gone through all sorts of emotions around this historical discovery process. I was super frustrated for a while, sad, angry, depressed, confused, and resentful.

When I accepted that most of what I know about history comes from stories that contains some range of truth, it helped me zoom out and take a broader perspective. Maybe Thanksgiving wasn’t such a heart warming gathering and President Lincoln wasn’t so perfect. In other news, Santa Claus might not be real.

The ruining of history has opened up something much more powerful. I’m still just as fascinated as ever with the stories of humans from all of recorded history, but now I treat them more as fiction than truth and I’m able to enjoy it again.

Where the hell is the gift?

Everything is a gift.

This is a core belief that has been instilled in me over and over again for many years. We have an opportunity to find a gift in each and every situation that presents itself to us. The good, the bad, the ugly, all of it.

“Everything is a gift of the universe – even joy, anger, jealously, frustration, or separateness. Everything is perfect either for our growth or our enjoyment.” -- Ken Keyes Jr.

I'll be the first to admit. It's not always easy to find the gift. It may be buried deep or may take years to reveal itself.

Sometimes it takes an external perspective or coaching to help reveal the gift. It's a line of questioning I refer back to frequently. If this less-than-desirable thing has happened, will happen or must happen, so be it, but where is the gift in it? What can we learn from this? How can we leverage it in the future? What has it revealed to us that we were previously unaware of? How have we grown or changed in response to it?

On a conversation this morning, I've witnessed this scarcity-to-abundance flip unlock a new idea that could turn a loss into a massive win for everyone involved. It was a shift that took place in only a few minutes and yet could have far reaching positive implications.

Some of the best and most unique innovations in recent memory have come as a pivot when one thing seemingly didn't work but it opened up the possibility for something far, far greater than previously imaginable. Interestingly if I was a professional investor, I would definitely figure out how to filter for this mindset in the entrepreneurs I was investing in.

You can't force a gift to reveal itself, but we sure can do our best to be open for when it does.