Appearances

I just returned from Bermuda where I led a 2-day corporate training. During this trip I had an opportunity to attend my first Cricket game. As some of you know, I'm a big baseball fan and Cricket has some elements of baseball in it. So while I was excited about attending this event I was also hesitant because I didn't really understand the game.

Prior to this event, I had only watched a little bit of it on TV and I never really knew the rules. All I know is that it seemed extremely complicated. Turns out that it wasn't very complicated after all. All it took was having someone with knowledge and understanding of the game explain it to me. I ended up having a good time and was reminded again how first impressions are often wrong.

As I reflected on this, it dawned on me that our lack of understanding often leads to us thinking that things are either more or less complicated than they really are. This leads to avoidance or "simplistic" solutions that don't work. When dealing with communication and conflict resolution challenges, the first step is to seek to understand before jumping to conclusions. First appearances are often inaccurate. The more you understand, the easier it is to put things in its proper perspective.

Do you have a situation that seems very complicated? Perhaps you should seek a little understanding that will help make it less daunting.