As a former educator, I worked for a not so gentle person who was constantly spouting, "your perception is your reality."
Unfortunately, beyond the phrase, which he used almost as a mantra, he never took the time to explain what he meant by his words.
In the perception of a great many of his subordinates, he was a person who was incompetent and his performance was so poor that he was ultimately forced out of a high-paying position.
I will share my thoughts on the subject of perception and reality.
What you perceive to be true is what is real for you; but, what is perceived may not be real beyond your own mind.
Your perception may be real for you, but your reality may not be real beyond your own perception.
I have often known people whose perception did not match reality as I knew it. I think it is important for everyone to ask, "Does my perception match reality?" Many people I have known have had a distorted perception of the world and I too have been guilty of a misaligned perception from time to time.
Instead of being passive about our perception, we need to actively seek feedback that will help us to align our perception to an accurate reality, as this will facilitate the successes in our personal and professional life.
As an educator, I observed that feedback was often threatening to faculty and administrators alike. Whether you like it or not, people are constantly evaluating others, including you and me.
Thus, you might as well invite feedback so you can adjust your perceptions to your reality and so you can improve your performance.
As a professor, I had students evaluate my performance anonymously as often as weekly. With this information, my perception and my reality could be better harmonized.
Honest feedback must be invited, interpreted and used in both personal and professional settings. At the same time, we must be alert to the potential for smoke and mirrors in both the giving and the receiving of feedback.
Feedback can be useful to blow away the smoke to better see the image in the mirror. It is important that you understand and own your own personal and professional performance plan. "To thine own self be true," or, in the vernacular of the street, "Do not bullshit thyself!"
Feedback in the performance of individuals, teams and organizations is critical to proactive management. But, more than just receiving data, the data must be analyzed, interpreted and acted upon to present real value as information.
Fundamental to any successful feedback plan is a desire to shift the paradigm from being evaluated to seeking constructive feedback. The value is that for most people, being evaluated is a negative experience; however, when you seek feedback, you are in control, proactive and in charge to positively shape your perception to match a more accurate reality.
What you perceive to be true is what is real for you; however, far too many people operate within a closed reality sphere that is inacurrate due to defective perceptions of themselves and others. A willingness to be open to criticism is fundamental to self improvement.
I performed an Internet search and found several articles worthy of sharing. See, http://www.godchannel.com/reality.html; and The Reality-Based Community, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_based_community. So, how accurate is your perception today? How would you interpret the expession that your perception is your reality?
Burton Fletcher
www.USAMonuments.com
Burton@USAMonuments.com
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