PERCEPTION
People can learn, providing they are capable of sensitivity towards the feelings and needs of others. In addition, they must have a willingness and interest in achieving the goals of the workplace. One of the greatest barriers to improving one’s workplace effectiveness is unwilling to respect others’ perceptions, or to change our own.
Perception is not mere observation. Perception refers to the complex interaction of observation and meaning-making that determines an individual’s attitudes, beliefs, and values. Perception is profoundly affected by a person's life experience, and also by their social and cultural backgrounds. Finally, perception is the process of selecting, interpreting and evaluating the data that is continuously received in our daily lives according to what we believe is possible, reasonable, acceptable and desirable. One cannot separate the process of perception from the processes of emotion and cognition, which makes perception not only the most fascinating of subjects, but also one of the most problematic.
Perceptual barriers
One of the main reasons that perception can be problematic is that it involves all aspects of our experience, including our experience of self. Self-esteem, feelings of helplessness or competence, self-doubt and self-criticism are all perceptual problems resulting from patterns of thinking about and perceiving ourselves. Negativity, pessimism, lack of motivation, helplessness and despair can all be attributed in some way to our perceptions of reality and our place in it. The cluster of perceptions that determines how we define reality, often referred to as our world view, will in turn affect our everyday interactions and behaviours, and be reinforced by them.
Our perceptions may not felt as problematic and may not even been examined until they are seen to result in psychological barriers that prevent us from achieving our goals. In fact, until we consciously examine our perceptions and their effects on our lives, we tend not to see our perceptions as separate from reality, and may take them for granted as truths. I may say, “People are basically selfish” and believe it to be the truth about reality rather than an opinion about reality. Because I believe this, I will tend to perceive the world from the standpoint of that belief: I will focus on examples of selfishness and ignore or otherwise explain away examples of human selflessness. I will be particularly responsive to experiences that reinforce my belief and might ignore or not even register experiences that contradict it. Therefore, the effects of perception lie deep within our everyday experience, and may only be uncovered when unhappiness, crisis or conflict compel us to delve deep into ourselves for understanding.
Perceptions do not always (or usually) reflect reality and can greatly distort a person's thinking, leading to emotional, physical, relationship and financial problems. For instance, a woman may perceive that she is failing her community if she does not work long hours at her community oriented job, or a man may perceive himself as unattractive because he is balding. The effects of these perceptions can be far-reaching, and will undermine attempts to find personal fulfillment and success. The woman might work excessive hours, forfeiting social interaction, rest and physical activity. As she begins to resent the burden of so much work, she might feel guilty or uncharitable, which may cause her to push herself even harder. The balding man may start to distance himself from his partner fearing eventual rejection. He may become less confident with clients as his self esteem plummets, which can affect his performance at work.
Perceptual change
A demanding and rewarding task is to draw out the faulty or limiting perceptions that underlie a problem. Using the above example, a woman recognises a deep and unresolved need for acceptance, a childhood guilt grown out of proportion, or even a limiting belief about women’s roles that drives her to sacrifice her personal well being in community service. Perhaps this person has developed a pattern of assuming excessive responsibility, or perhaps she feels that as a woman, she should be more nurturing and selfless. Perhaps she was bought up with a very intense work ethic.
The key to perceptual change is awareness, primarily awareness of the relationship between our perceptions and the quality of our lives. The first step might be to lead the recognition of the negative effects of their perceptions, after which the client might be more motivated to do the self-reflection that will increase awareness of the thinking that has resulted in those effects. Gradually, people become more conscious of the thoughts and feelings that move through one’s mind, of the ‘self-talk’ or internal dialogue with which the perception of any situation is moulded.
Changing our perceptions can have a powerful effect on our experience of the world, as well as our behaviour in it. Changed perceptions can help us understand that community work does not require self-sacrifice, and that we are not personally responsible for social ills or well being. This helps us make more beneficial and balanced choices, such as reducing work hours and improving social lives and physical well being.
Motivating people to challenge their perceptions
One task a manager may face is identifying underlying beliefs and attitudes that may be creating barriers to employee effectiveness and productivity. Then, the good manager can help employees change those perceptions to become more cooperative, productive, and effective. Sometimes, part of the problem is the perceptions that managers themselves may hold. For instance, if a manager believes that there is one correct approach to a problem, they may not be willing to accommodate or respect other approaches, even if they are better. Perceptions can be difficult to change because we tend to initially resist all suggestions of faulty or limiting perceptions.
Some reasons that we resist changing our perceptions are: laziness (because it takes effort), confusion or uncertainty, fear of conflict with those who share our old perceptions, fear of change itself, and desire for certainty and psychological comfort. We are all more comfortable dealing with our established views of the world and ourselves, even when we understand that they limit us. Our established, comfortable perceptions are referred to as our “comfort zone”, and if we choose to believe that there is only one way of looking at things, we can avoid the discomfort and work of stepping outside our comfort zones. However, the basic principle of life is change, so refusal or unwillingness to change denies us the benefits of growth and change, and severely limits our ability to manage and enrich our lives.
The superior manager is able to nurture employees’ confidence in their ability to cope with change, and foster their desire for purposeful change. To do this, the manager is best to use peoples’ own motivation to change their current situation and experience. Once staff begin to understand how their perceptions and actions have limited them and their opportunities, they are much more likely to seek to change them. The next step is to explore options. For instance, the manager might help a poorly performing staff member to separate kinds of tasks, establish priorities, and plan how to achieve them without sacrificing any one area.
A superior manager will help employees develop their own potential for organising and managing their workloads, and for seeing possibilities for change and development that they may not previously have seen. In this respect, superior management is, to a certain degree, personal, and may be confronting, even to the manager. This kind of management requires persistence, patience, a non-judgmental attitude, and lots of encouragement and support, which may explain why it is so rare.
