Zachary Aldwin Milkshake in the Boardroom
How many red balls are on a snooker table?
That was one of the questions at a quiz night I attended this last week. I did not know the answer, but one of my team mates did.
Unfortunately the rest of us “logically” overruled him and we got it wrong.
There was a nervous period while we waited for the final points tally to be announced where we beat ourselves up over our mistake, once the result came out we no longer cared. At the end of the night it did not matter, we still won.
Our perspective had shifted. We won and nothing else mattered. If you took our score on a grade system we barely scraped by with a “B”; did not matter as we were better than everyone else that was there. Comparatively we were better; the actual score did not matter as long as we had a higher total than the others.
Perspective and comparison; two creatures we come across on a daily basis. Unless handled correctly these two will get under your skin and destroy you from the inside out.
Perspective is simply the way that you look at something. We could take our meagre 60 out of a hundred points at a quiz and see it as a failure (we got a B and not an A), or we can see it as a success (we won, get over it).
Perspective allows us to manipulate statistics, imply value and set inflated prices for goods because people think they are worth it.
Comparison is comparing you to another person. You can compare to anything about them from attributes to wealth to success. You rank your life against theirs. A little competition is healthy for the soul. Continual comparison is not.
When your life is about getting on top of someone else then often, instead of building yourself up, you tend to pull them down below you. Companies can end up stifling growth because of the selfish, personal, vendettas of destruction playing out in their boardroom.
Comparison gives your perspectives a twisted and nasty edge. That perspective is one of cutting back, whittling down and becoming as efficient as possible by developing a streamlined, cut-throat operation where any excess is a potential hindrance to you beating the competition.
I am not against streamlining, it is the spirit of intent behind it that matters, the perspective you are taking.
Often donors come out to Africa, look at a problem and go “How can I fix this problem?”, whereas the local is asking “How can I get around this?”.
The Hero Complex is based on a comparison-basically at a root level “I am better than you and have all the answers”.
That determines the perspective when facing the problem. Often problems do not have to be fixed, they need to be avoided or a better path found. Rookie donors and volunteers make that mistake, more experienced ones get involved in a community, see how the community view the issue and then set about working with them to build greatness.
To place a sticker of “This is what success looks like” on someone who lives in a rural village is not just wrong, it’s ignorant and foolish.
The problem with comparison is it makes us focus on the “other team” rather than the real issues.
During the quiz night we jokingly considered buying the opposition table a round of free drinks so they would be too intoxicated to think straight.
We became more interested in taking out the opposition than dealing with our own issues (like why on earth we did not have a sports guru on our team).
There is a correct way to handle comparison. It is when you take an attribute that you see in another person or company and think to yourself “That will make me grow, that will make me a better person that will make my organisation better.”
Not out of envy or jealously, but out of a genuine, humble need to improve the way you do things. Then you assimilate that attribute into yourself. You end up developing yourself. Not because you are trying to pull the rug out from underneath someone else, but because you are your own successful person striving to be better.