Worldviews, mental models, paradigms and selective perception are related like first cousins are – similar in background and different in expression. To demonstrate selective perception, I use this exercise in my graduate leadership classes. I instruct the students as follows:
Please start now.”
When the 20 second buzzer goes off, I state, “Please face front with your eyes closed. Now in your mind’s eye, visualize every person in the class wearing red.” This usually generates nervous laughter and tittering
“OK, open your eyes. Could anyone see the people wearing red?”
Which usually generates some defensive /aggressive blaming that I made them do it wrong….
This is the opening for a discussion of selection perception — seeing what we “select” to see while overlooking the rest. This is the brain’s effective filtering process to save us from being on overload all the time. It “selects” what we notice. And most of the filtering process is unconscious.
That selection process can be (1) deliberate like looking for someone in a crowd or (2) outside our conscious awareness like only noticing cars we like. While it is considered a “cognitive dysfunction”, I consider it a leadership tool with pros and cons. Selective perception helps me learn new information when I focus on relevant data. Selective perception hampers my decision making when I focus on limited inputs.
If you haven’t seen it, check out the basketball exercise video
A long time friend from my college days called this week, and in our catch-up chat, she mentioned she is afraid of Muslims. Keep in mind this was my literature / theater / travel cohort – a bright, cultured woman of unusual insight. Unsuccessfully, I tried to guide her to the source of this “selective perception”. When I responded I was wary of extremes In any environment – religious, political, social…, she faded away for a few minutes, then returned to reiterate her fear of Muslims. When I suggested they had more reason to tear us that we did to fear them, the talk reverted to family and friends.
Selective perception / worldview is rarely rational or deliberate. I’m guessing her perception is based on media. Currently, we are seeing more about selective perception in relation to media inputs. Some factors could be (1) the
extreme polarization in the US, (2) our information overload, and (3) our desire for reduced anxiety about the state of the world. Whatever the cause, we have an increasing percentage of citizens reporting using one or two sources of news, while ignoring / dismissing other sources.This inevitably leads to limited and restricted perceptions.
A lot of research has been done on the correlation between our selective perception and our expectations, especially in educational settings. It has been proven that teacher “expectations” affect student grades and performance. When low performing students are moved to a new classroom and the teacher is told they are advanced. – the students score higher. Higher performing students moved into a new classroom where the teacher is told they are low performers score lower.
I am consciously careful about this dynamic. To assure I don’t skew grading students based on my expectations, I work at being highly positive at best and neutral at worst. When possible, I grade papers “nameless” – to avoid the
common trap of expecting the same level of performance as earlier work. In addition, I make positive comments on ALL assignments and give positive support for improvement: “I’m sure you can improve this on your next
assignment.”
REFLECT:
What do you expect from your leaders?
How does that match your perception of their performance?
What do you expect from your staff?
How does that match your perception of their performance?
What do you expect from your co-workers?
How does that match your perception of their performance?
What do you expect from yourself?
How does that match your perception of your performance?
Maintaining high expectations is a crucial skill in leadership – especially in project management, team building, and performance appraisal. It is a balancing act between having high expectations and being realistic about performance. One of my management mentors passed on a useful phrase she picked up while touring the Middle East: “Trust in God, but tie your camel anyway.” A performance mentor shared with me his To Do list each day started with “Get out of bed”. That way, he started each day with a “successful action”. A motivational expert advises adding a pleasure word to each goal – “I ENJOY completing my taxes early each year.”
Good team exercises include selective perception considerations. One strategy I often used in executive briefings was to describe a situation, and then ask alternating team members – “What’s the good news in this situation?” “What’s the bad news in this situation?”
Because I naturally seek harmony and balance, I notice what is NOT in harmony and balance, often overlooking achievements / progress. To offset this, I ask myself questions like,
How is team performance different than it was 1 -3 – 6 months ago?
What has improved over the last week / month / year?
What has changed that is making a positive difference?
Apply:
Note / examine / question your perceptions / expectations for a month.
Review your results.
Make adjustments as appropriate.
