How well do you see? More precisely, how well do you see the people you work with. I believe that many people in the workplace feel unnoticed.
Carefully read the this from the start of the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook.
Among the tribes of northern Natal in South Africa, the most common greeting, equivalent to “hello” in English, is the expression: Sawa bona. It literally means, “I see you.” If you are a member of the tribe, you might reply by saying Sikhona, “I am here.” The order of the exhange is important: until you see me, I do not exist. It’s as if, when you see me, you bring me into existence…If you grow up with this perspective, your identity is based upon the fact that you are seen — that the people around you respect and acknowledge you as a person.
How well do you see? Count the number of times the white team passes the ball:
Did you see the moon-walking bear? Yes this is an old test but I believe we are put to the test everyday to see the people we work with and to let them know they are seen.
As a child I was a fan of Romper Room, the children TV series. At the end of each show the teacher would pull out the magic mirror and pretend to see people watching her. I liked this clip because she “saw me.” In the workplace we don’t need a magic mirror but we do need to see people and let them know they are seen. If you are invisible you will not be engaged. Make the people you work with visible and watch the magic of engagement unfold.
Photo credit: The mechanic eye by http://www.flickr.com/photos/bogenfreund/1808719569/
Very interesting, I generally consider myself an observant person but it took me 5 times viewing this video to see the bear. Its an important team element to be very aware and “see” the people around you. I would add we also tend to see what we expect, we recently added a post to our blog talking about the “susan boyle” effect, people have pre-conceived notions about what they will see, if they don’t get the opportunity to have those pre-conceptions challenged often we can go around “seeing” people for who/what we think they are versus really seeing them.