a shift in perspective

One of the things I love about business simulations is that they allow us to see things from a different perspective. They help us to see problems from new angles and explore new possibilities. Sometimes, a shift in perspective can lead to the most profound personal learning experiences and fundamentally change the way we engage with the world.

Simulation experiences are an opportunity to become immersed in a new world and tackle new challenges. I love seeing people experience those a-ha moments when they get to make decisions as if they were the CEO.

When we’re busy dealing with our day-to-day challenges – reacting to events and dealing with crises – it can be difficult to be mindful of the bigger picture. The real world is full of complexity, and it is impossible to know and understand everything and everyone. Problems unfold and escalate quickly; we have to respond to events in the moment.

We don’t always have the perfect insight into any given situation, so we make assumptions. They are calculated guesses that help us plug the knowledge gap and find a good-enough solution that will make do for now. We might also simply follow a predefined process with little thought – we just act. Someone developed that process for a reason, right?

But the more we can replace assumptions and thoughtless actions with understanding, the better we become at decision making. The challenge is that assumptions are usually unconscious; we don’t even know that we are making them. It is the shift in perspective that uncovers them and allows for a more accurate version of reality.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.”

- Marcel Proust

When we replace flawed assumptions with new insights, we develop personally and professionally. We get to engage with others from a more considered perspective. This deeper awareness means we can understand others better, be more empathetic and show up in service. We can be more innovative, more creative and more connected.

To help us with this journey of discovery, we need to create experiences that challenge some of the things we believe to be true. We need to be confronted with scenarios that deal with real world problems and understand how our choices impact different stakeholders. We need to experiment, appreciate trade-offs and understand consequences. We need to uncover our biases and find better ways.

Business simulations go far beyond helping us build more robust commercial acumen skills. When the storyline connects to real world challenges that people are dealing with, they allow us to create learning experiences that go deep. A new perspective is an opportunity for better understanding, more clarity, increased curiosity and a more mature worldview.