The Orange Circles, both of them are exactly the same size. However,
at a quick glance, it is very obvious that one looks bigger than the other.
Philosophical questions
The first question is which orange circle would you like to
be? Small fish in a big pond or big fish in a small pond? Why? If you are the
fish, do you realise that the fish is the same irrespective of the pond. Are
you living in hope? Are you living in false hope? Do you think the big pond
means that you have a great opportunity etc? The size of the pond does not
allow the fish to become bigger or smaller. Is it a protection mechanism that you are
using? Small fish in a big pond, are you trying to hide to protect yourself? Are
you trying to be insignificant? Do you fear that you might be attacked by
predators? Big fish in a small pond, are you the predator? Are you trying to
show off and dominate? If you are, what impact is that having on your
eco-system?
Political questions
If you are surrounded by ‘small’ people it may make you
seem/feel big and if you are surrounded by ‘big’ people it may make you
seem/feel small – would you be aware of that? How comfortable would you be with
that? What would upset you? How can you use it to your advantage?
Human Factors perspective
What goes on around you can distort your perception. We also
know that our perception is our reality. We face adverse effects for ourselves
and create adverse effects for others by distorted reality.
Let us say you are selecting someone for a job or a
promotion and you faced this distortion and always picked what you thought was
a bigger orange circle, you would be causing chaos and confusion. Let us say
both the orange circles are urgent medical conditions and you constantly chose
the ‘larger’ one you would continuously disadvantage one particular group of
patients.
Similarly, when gearing up for tasks, you could be under
prepared or over prepared depending on how you perceive. You could then face
surprises, nasty surprises that could harm. It is this kind of illusion that
results in over estimating our strengths and underestimating our weaknesses.
It is okay for poets to talk about the moon being larger and
closer or smaller and farther but when it comes to operations of any kind but
especially in healthcare - Measurement and objectivity are important, they become even
more important in complex situations.
©M HEMADRI
Follow me M HEMADRI on Twitter @HemadriTweets
M Hemadri’s mini e-book 'Standardised Management Conversation' is available - click http://www.amazon.co.uk/Standardised-Management-Conversation-Hemadri-ebook/dp/B018AWBJTU
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