Reality and the perception of it

There are many ways to segment people. One approach to segmentation I’ve been thinking about of late is around reality and the perception of it.

There are two kinds of people in this regard. The first kind are those who care deeply about understanding reality and regard perception to be a second order priority. The second kind are those who care a lot more about perception than about the reality underpinning it.

As is the case with many of these things, the right path tends to lie in the middle. Reality matters. But, perception matters too.

However, when it comes to most marginal decisions, we tend to make calls based on our preference. So, if you are kind who indexes high on reality over perception, I’ve found that it helps to have folks who are different from you on your team so you can understand the other perspective.

That said, I think there is reason to worry if the folks who are making big decisions are more worried about perception over reality.

If reality sucks, perception can only tell a different story for a finite period of time.