Self-Perception vs. Reality

photo by Victoria Peckham

Another hidden gem from Sheena Iyengar’s The Art of Choosing. Dr. Iyengar had several hundred Columbia Business School students get 360-degree feedback from past managers, colleagues and subordinates.

The lesson?  You’re not as great as you think you are so get over yourself.

Turns out that 90% saw “…significant discrepancies between how they saw themselves and how others interpreted their actions.  Many who thought they were popular and valuable team players learned that they were seen as average and difficult to work with.”

90%.

Unfortunately for that group, others’ perception is reality.

Even worse news is that Dr. Iyengar references a study by Daniel Ames that reported that “…in the workplace, people who attempted to overtly enhance their position and reputation were seen as disruptive to the group and ultimately performed poorly.”

This speaks to the importance of being able to have those immensely difficult conversations about who we fundamentally are (or perceived to be) as people and how we behave in the workplace.

The more you have in common with others in terms of values and personality the easier these conversations are and the better you understand and appropriately interpret the actions of your colleagues.  This gets to the heart of what we’re measuring at RoundPegg and why we so vehemently believe that hiring for fit needs some objectivity and rigor.

And while we may not have the exact answer, we believe we’re taking a big step toward the solution with our internal Touchy Feely meetings.  It’s damn hard to discuss our perceptions that rub or (possibly harder) to be on the receiving end of that feedback.  But it’s what makes a group and company run more efficiently and effectively.  When we can get out of one another’s way we’re better able to put the business first.

We can all improve and we will be far more successful if we’re able to listen to others’ perceptions and internalize that.

Everyone and every company is a work in progress, to be sure, but nothing worthwhile is easy.

Kaizen.

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