Perspective
When you look at a tree, what comes to mind? Do you see:
A marvel of evolution
An organism that has developed to hold as many leaves as possible, maximising surface area so it can catch every passing ray of sunlight.
A commercial product
A resource waiting to be harvested, processed, transported and sold. Each tree providing different grades, qualities and uses.
An annual sequence
A perpetual cycle of growth, ageing, death and renewal. All linked to the passing of the seasons as the earth rotates around the sun.
An ecosystem
A complex network of predators and prey. A struggle for survival full of danger or opportunity where every ecological gap is filled and exploited.
Beauty
The marvel of nature. An environment where you can relax or somewhere to stand and stare and realise how lucky you are to be alive.
Decay
Perhaps all you see is death and destruction as a fallen tree rots away, slowly putrefying as fungus, disease and insects overwhelm it.
There are many ways you can look at a tree, each perspective makes you think of something different.
Points of view
It isn’t just trees. There are a myriad of ways of looking at and thinking about:
- Hospitals
- Marketing campaigns
- Computer systems
- Supply chains…
The way you think about them is totally dependant on the angle you take. Your point of view will distort your thinking.
Do you understand your business?
Leonardo da Vinci said that to understand something you need to look at it in at least three different ways.
Lucky me
My default perspective is middle-aged white male manager. Fortunately, when it comes to business and organisations that is undoubtably the best perspective to have. So I can happily ignore Mr da Vinci’s advice.
You, however, might not be so fortunate.
Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes! ~ Leonardo da Vinci
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Images by: Paul, Stefan, petalouda62, _paVan_, Mike Green, Armin S Kowalski, H – – J
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