Perceptual Blindness Is Costing You on Every Front

by Judy Ryan

Change blindness in the world of facts and knowledge is also a problem. Sometimes we are exposed to new facts and simply filter them out. But more often we have to go out of our way in order to learn something new. Our blindness is not a failure to see the new fact; it’s a failure to see that the facts in our minds have the potential to be out-of-date at all.
-Samuel Arbesman, “The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date”

Perceptual blindness is described as an event in which an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight. In my work with clients, we put them into experiential exercises that demonstrate their perceptual blindness, their conditioned responses and their limiting beliefs. They need to understand the import of challenging their existing belief system in order to clear the way for new thought. We literally call this “spitting in their soup.” They need to know that perceptual blindness is in play, costing them on every level: emotionally, physically, socially and financially.

Perceptual blindness is best illustrated in the reluctance of leaders to let go of the old ways of managing people. The move to a self-governing, shared power model is gaining recognition as a valuable approach yet remains a minority model among most organizational structures. This is because many leaders still fail to see that the facts in their minds are absolutely out-of-date and that new unexpected stimuli for improvements are in plain sight.

As little as 30 years ago, most of us could not imagine a life in which we had computers and cell phones, nor the internet connecting us globally, nor the current speed of change, nor our vast digital transformation, etc. Similarly, many business leaders cannot imagine dismantling existing organizational structures for new, proven ones. Here are just three major reasons why:

1. Many cannot imagine a practical, cost-effective way to learn, use, integrate, scale and sustain a new, shared power model. They automatically imagine alternatives to be permissive, expensive, time-consuming and an added burden to managers and supervisors. This is a great example of “out-of-date” thinking that requires that we “go out of our way” to understand that a responsibility-based alternative brings higher expectations of performance, trust, loyalty and efficiencies and fosters social interest (caring about what we cause one another) as essential for success. Today’s model is desperately needed because it holds the key to expanding time, money and agility to lead or follow as needed; bridges intergenerational, racial, gender and every other diversity and inclusion gap; and leads to extensive people development, resulting in shared problem-solving and support for excellence.

2. People do not want to be vulnerable. Learning an entirely new system requires not only humility, courage and willingness but also discomfort and initial inconvenience and admits to flaws in the existing model, thereby causing many to feel uncomfortable, guilty and foolish.

3. People are afraid they will be weak and condone chaos. They struggle with the new facts, supported by copious industry data, that a connected community, high in trust, authenticity, harmless-yet-bold communication, coaching and encouragement strategies, changes lives in radically positive ways. They wonder: How can the relinquishment of conventional punishment and judgmental and withdrawal behaviors be acceptable or have a hope of resulting in better teamwork and co-creation?

The time has arrived for the “end of days” as we have known them. This does not mean the end of life. It means the beginning of a much kinder, stronger and more miraculous future.n

Judy Ryan (judy@LifeworkSystems.com), human systems specialist, is owner of LifeWork Systems. Join her in her mission to create a world in which all people love their lives. She can also be reached at 314-239-4727.