Transform Your Perspective: The Power of Asking 'What Else Could This Mean?' (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: There's a simple sentence that can help you when you're in the middle of a difficult situation or even an argument with someone to help get a new perspective on things and that perspective is so vital. You know Stephen Covey talked about the importance of perspective in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. You may be familiar with the story about the gentleman who gets on the train and his kids are acting crazy and someone says to him, hey why can't you make your kids behave and he explains that well they've just gotten some really bad news their mother I think had been in a car accident or something like that. Anyway there was some sort of really bad news that that was affecting his behavior his ability to control his kids and also his children's behavior. In a split second the person talking to the gentleman had a shift in perspective. Now nothing changed the kids were still acting up and the the father still didn't know what to do to help them but in that instant there was a moment of awareness and a moment of understanding that that shifted the whole scenario. Similarly you can have that same kind of shift if you're in a difficult situation by using these five words when you're approaching your boss when you're talking with your spouse or your partner think of these five words what else could this mean? What else could this mean? You know we observe behavior and we think we know exactly why we are seeing this behavior and oftentimes when our imagination runs wild our reasoning is projecting a worst-case scenario. Maybe that worst-case scenario is what you should expect and prepare for but my question to you is what else could this mean? Those five words can change your perspective and give you a new insight into the situation at hand. Now it may not solve your problem but it can make you better equipped to address the issues that you're facing.