Look up: How to change your perspective by challenging your beliefs

The other day, a friend told me a story about a dead mouse. She had been getting ready to close up her summer cottage—a property that has been in her family for decades—when she noticed an unpleasant odor. She was sure it was a dead mouse and didn’t want to leave it there in the cottage to rot, so she started hunting for it. She searched and searched, even bringing some friends into the effort. They scanned the floorboards, peered under furniture, and squinted into every shadowy nook and cranny, but no luck. Her friends finally gave up, but she was determined to find her quarry. She continued her fruitless search until, finally, something told her to look up. There was the dead mouse, above her head in the rafters. “Look up,” she told me. “That’s what I learned.”

In my last post, I wrote about the value of shifting our sightlines from the horizon to the ground, to help bring into focus the value of the often unseen work many of us do day-to-day. As my friend’s story illustrates, shifting your gaze in the other direction can be equally valuable. Such a change in either direction can be particularly beneficial when you’re feeling stuck. If you’re hopelessly overwhelmed by a monster project, drill down to home in on one particular task. If you find yourself muddled by minutiae, reset by broadening your view and focusing on the big picture.

What I’m talking about here is a change in perspective that can help you challenge your own assumptions. This is the strip away everything principle of our Breakthrough Manifesto. In the Deloitte Greenhouse®, one way we help leaders and teams do this is by flipping their orthodoxies, turning well-worn beliefs on their heads to see what new insights that might bring. You can do this, too, if you’re feeling stuck. I’ll show you how by sharing a personal example.

After finishing The Breakthrough Manifesto book, I was having a hard time getting my energy and enthusiasm back. I often found myself thinking “I’m exhausted and burnt out,” and not only that, but I felt somehow guilty for it. One day, I decided to try challenging that perspective by exploring different versions of the thought. First, I tried the direct opposite; “I’m not exhausted and burnt out,” or alternatively “I’m energized and inspired!” What if that was true? This was a nice thought, and I dearly wished it was true because that could bring me back to my creative zone, but it didn’t feel quite right.

Next, I tried some other modifications of the thought, starting with switching out just one of the words: “Everyone is exhausted and burnt out.” What if that was true? That could mean it wasn’t just a me problem—nothing to feel guilty about—maybe something larger was going on that I couldn’t fix on my own. I thought that could be the case, at least that I wasn’t the only one in the world feeling this way, but I wanted to be more proactive than that seemed to allow. I tried switching out a different word: “My attitude is exhausted and burnt out.” What if that was true? This one seemed interesting, like there might be something I could do about it by changing my mindset. But I kept going, creating other versions that challenged the original thought, and ultimately landed on: “I’m resting and recovering so I can be ready to tackle my next great challenge.” What if that was true? It did, indeed feel true, and it changed my whole perspective on how I had been feeling.

You can do this with just about any kind of thought or belief you have, and it can be a helpful exercise for diverse teams who may be struggling to work across their differences. For example, Integrators and Guardians are more likely to agree that it’s important to gain consensus, while Drivers and Pioneers sometimes feel such efforts can slow them down. To work across these differences, there’s room on both sides to explore a perspective shift. Integrators and Guardians could explore alternatives like, “Gaining consensus is a nice to have,” or “Consensus matters, but sometimes speed matters more,” or “Consensus is most important when success requires broad-based support, but other times it’s less critical.” What if any of those were true? At the same time, Drivers and Pioneers could challenge their beliefs by exploring alternatives like, “Time spent building consensus now could save us time later,” or “Rushing ahead without consensus could mean we won’t have the broad support we need to succeed,” or “Efforts to gain consensus can help us test and improve our ideas.” What if any of those were true?

The thing about beliefs and assumptions is that we often don’t recognize that’s what they are. Instead, they may simply seem like facts or reality. Moreover, we don’t always recognize the ways in which our beliefs and assumptions may be holding us back. But sometimes we do. And in those cases, when you have a thought that’s keeping you stuck, causing you discomfort, or leading to conflict with others, you can put your questioning skills to work. Ask yourself, “Is this really true?” “How do I know?” and “What if something else was true?”

And if you can’t find whatever you’re searching for on the ground, look up!