Perceptual positions are a set of perspectives and skills that, with practice, enable us to understand situations from multiple viewpoints and develop emotional intelligence. A perceptual position refers to the perspective from which we observe or consider a situation. Each position offers unique insights, just as viewing an object from different angles reveals different details. The more complex the situation, the more valuable it is to consider multiple perspectives.
While examining a baseball from different angles may not reveal much new information, navigating a complex environment like Yellowstone requires multiple viewpoints—including a bird’s-eye view. The more perspectives we gather, the more complete our understanding becomes. This is the essence of using perceptual positions.
We naturally employ many perceptual positions every day, often without being aware of it. Some perspectives are more useful than others, especially in complex or conflicted situations. Imagining how others might react helps us understand the bigger picture and make more thoughtful decisions. These mental shifts are key to gaining insight and wisdom.
Five key perceptual positions are particularly helpful: self, other, objective observer, contextual observer, and personal observer.
First Position: Self
The most natural and frequently used position is that of the self. Here, we see the world through our own eyes, motivated by our own interests and experiences. Most of our daily thinking and feeling happens from this perspective.
Second Position: Other
The second position is that of the other. This means seeing things from someone else’s perspective—truly imagining their feelings, thoughts, and experiences, not just projecting our own. Mastering this position builds empathy and compassion, which can extend beyond people to all living beings.
As regards face-to-face encounters, the second position has a paradoxical effect. As I put myself in his shoes during an encounter, I see and hear myself relating to him. In the first position, I am actually in my own body, seeing him. With a refined level of skill, in the second position, I am over his body, seeing me, seeing my face, and hearing my voice. Second position is not just a matter of compassion. Discussions, arguments, power conflicts, and so forth – the stuff of business life – involve different substantive points of view. Our ability to put ourselves in others’ shoes enables us to better understand the bases of agreement and disagreement from their perspective. In fact, the primary purpose of moving into a second position is to gain information, not to achieve compassion. (Note: I must leave behind first position, step out of myself, or I contaminate second position with my own first position biases.) If I can successfully put myself in second position, my perception of situations should change dramatically. As I return to the first position, my behavior and manner should change, having been informed by what I learned in the second position.
Third Position: Objective Observer
The third position is that of the objective observer. Here, you step outside the situation, watching yourself and others as if you were a neutral bystander—like the lens of a camera. This detachment helps you notice patterns and dynamics without personal bias.
If I successfully step into the third position, that of objective observer, then I’m watching a movie. I see myself engaged with others. Now I can see the dynamics between the people, including myself, how what each says and does feeds the nature and quality of the interaction. From here, if I maintain a neutral observing stance, I can view what is happening dispassionately. Again, as I return to the first position, I have gained an entirely different and additional source of valuable information. Change begins to happen, not because I invoke my will or some principle of behavior, but because I have more and fuller information. The change that I experience comes naturally to me because it reflects what I now know, but didn’t before.
Fourth Position: Contextual Observer
Fourth position is the contextual observer. In this position, you consider the broader context that shapes the situation—such as family, work, culture, or shared goals. This higher-level view enables you to assess actions and behaviors in relation to broader purposes and values.
In third position, I view myself and others from a neutral and objective camera eye position, and I only see the interaction of two people, period. From fourth position, I bring in the question of how my own and our behavior is contributory or detrimental to the larger organization and the larger business purposes which we supposedly have come together to serve. We are not just two people interacting; we are two people who were brought together by a business to achieve its purposes. Whereas the second position often prompts us to rightfully and naturally respect others, the fourth position often prompts us to consider broader purposes and principles, in other words, a respect for the purposeful context within which we are functioning. I believe our behavior is part of the larger context that brought us together. I might ask myself, “Am I building upon and contributing to those larger purposes, or am I destroying them? Is my behavior valuable when considered from these contexts, or is it harmful?”
Fifth Position: Personal Observer
The fifth position is both personal and reflective. Here, you observe your own life and choices from a distance, considering whether your actions align with your core values and sense of purpose. This perspective often leads to profound self-reflection and questions about meaning, particularly during significant life transitions.
Fifth position is the place where I stay in contact with my deepest self, juxtaposing questions of personal meaning and value against what life offers. From fifth position, I consider myself within the social order, the community, my country, my religion, my work, and all the other domains of meaning and participation that are available, not just to me, but to all of us. The fifth position involves doubt and belief, “what if”, commitment, questioning, and asserting. It is here
that we hold our deepest spiritual beliefs and meanings. It is here that we hold and honor our most important social and political values, as well as the broadly meaningful codes of behavior that hold the culture together. The saints live in constant touch with the fifth position. The Gandhis and Mother Teresas of the world order their entire lives around fifth-position considerations, and by and large, they successfully bring their thoughts and behavior into alignment with the highest truths that they know. It is from the fifth position that we consider whether we are being true to ourselves. It is here that we ask our- selves, “Is this what my life is supposed to look and feel like?” From fifth position, I check to see if my life looks and feels like an integrated whole, something that makes personal sense to me, or, at the other extreme, like a fragmented, boxy, conflicted, and compromised disarray.
What is the value of being able to move fluidly between these five perceptual positions?
These five positions help us gather richer information and develop a more comprehensive understanding before taking action. Moving fluidly between perspectives fosters a flexible, wise approach to life, helping us build a conscience that adapts to real-world complexity rather than relying on rigid rules.
Let’s use a simple, everyday example. Let’s suppose that I fancy myself quite a cook, and one day I find myself in an argument with my wife over how she is making a salad. She chops everything up and tosses it in a bowl. I like things arranged, sliced, and placed. I tell her there’s no artistry to what she’s doing. (This is the sort of thing that all of us get in fights over, by the way.) To the extent that we each stay in first position, to the extent that this is a running battle, and further, to the extent that it somehow represents a class of differences between us, we will have quite a hard time. It contains, in fact, the potential of producing a lot of emotional distance in our marriage.
Now, let’s imagine that somehow I get unstuck right in the middle of the argument and put myself smack in her shoes. What might I see and hear? What might my insides, meaning hers, be going through? What might be motivating me (her)? Let’s imagine that all of what’s below is true, and that from the second position, I learn or discover the following:
- As I look out of her eyes and see him, I see a tightly pinched face and some gestures of irritation. I hear a loud and accusatory tone of voice. I hear someone attacking my motives: “You just chop them up because you just throw things together all the time.”
- I see someone who is imposing and intrusive, trying to get me to do something in the way he says he would do it. I might notice that he is doing this even though the content of the situation is trivial.
- I see someone who attacks, then pours himself a drink and goes into the other room.
- I might even notice that he tends to be intrusive and bossy a lot in this way, always telling me how to do things and being irritated if I don’t.
- He generally leaves the daily drudge of cooking to me, but when we have guests, he takes over and demonstrates his skill. He shows off when someone’s around and then ignores the more mundane aspects of routine family cooking.
- Although we both work full-time, I am expected to do the cooking and cleaning each night; I feel both responsible and resentful.
- I feel doubts and guilt that are hard for me to manage. I’m confused about being away from home so much; I should be a good cook and housekeeper; he’s better than I am. He hits me right where I’m vulnerable.
If I successfully put myself in second position, my perception of the situation changes dramatically. As I return to the first position, my behavior and manner should change. After all, there’s a lot to apologize for; a change in tone and some apologies should open a door that could lead to mutual understanding and resolution.
Let’s take it further, however, and imagine that I also step into the third position, that of objective observer. Now I’m watching a movie; I see the two people, myself and her, engaged in this fight with each other. Now I can see the dynamics between the two, how what each says and does feeds the downward spiral. From here, if I maintain an objectively observational stance, I can view what is happening dispassionately. For one, I can see the utterly trivial nature of the surface content over which the two are fighting. Again, as I return to the first position, I have gained an entirely different and additional source of valuable information.
From fourth position, this is not just any two people fighting over how to make a salad, or in general, how to prepare food. This is a married couple. I elevate my perspective to the contexts of marriage, family, and parenting. I consider our behavior in the larger context of what we came together for in this marriage and family. I might ask myself, as I watch the two, “Am I building upon and contributing to our marriage and family, or am I destroying them? Is my behavior valuable or is it harmful?” It’s no longer just two people fighting, but rather it’s two people whose behavior is considered in light of some shared commitments they have made. By now, it should be clear to me that what I am doing (fighting about making salads) is not helpful at all.
By the time I consider the fight over making salads from fifth position, if I have also gone through the other four positions, I may feel somewhat sheepish or embarrassed at some of the behavior I have displayed. Regardless, it is from the fifth position that I asked myself a very fundamental question of two types: “Have I made the right choices for myself, and am I behaving in a way that is building the life I want to live?” In our example, it is from the fifth position that we typically ask ourselves whether we will maintain a commitment to marriage with this person. (This, by the way, is not a question that should be asked strictly from the first position.) If the answer is yes, we further ask ourselves whether we are behaving in a way that builds the life we wish to live. It is from the fifth position that I ask myself whether I am building a life that is meaningful to me.
Let’s now briefly consider all the above from a business and leadership perspective. Those who behave with rare judgment share a well-developed ability to view matters at hand from five distinct and clearly differentiated perspectives: self, other, objective observer, contextual observer, and personal observer. This ability may operate entirely unconsciously, but it is there. Conversely, when a leader is firmly rooted in only one of these perspectives, or vacillates between two of them, there are predictable limitations in that leader’s ability.
Let’s briefly touch on some extreme examples. If I am firmly rooted in the first position, from a ‘from the self’ viewpoint, I see and act from how the world appears through my eyes alone. The result is a rigid, closed, and generally authoritarian leader. If I am embedded in a second position, like an empath, I tend to be rooted in how things look and feel to others, and I am overly concerned with the impact that events have on them. I have a sort of social worker’s feeling of the world. If I am rooted only in third position, the camera’s eye perspective, I see myself and everything else from a distance and am emotionally disconnected from myself and others. While I may engineer things quite well, I am dissociated and tend to be distant, clinical, and separate from the action (like a news reporter). Suppose I am firmly rooted in the fourth position, the contextual observer, and disconnected from the other three perspectives. In that case, I tend to be an ideologue about certain things, demanding rigid adherence to contextual requirements and ignoring the importance of other competing contexts. An example might be a boss who sees everything through the context of the business and job, demanding that employees subordinate everything else in their lives. If I am stuck in fifth position and disconnected from the other four, I am head-in-the-clouds, grandiose in my thinking, generally narcissistic, and with enormous blind spots.
One with rare insight and judgment (wisdom), consciously or unconsciously, fluidly shifts through all these perceptual positions. In doing so, he or she gathers and integrates the information that each perspective provides. The person’s talk and action then reflect the holistic judgment, the encompassing mind, that is arrived at by considering matters at hand in such a broad and complete way. A lifetime of viewing matters from such varied perspectives builds up an experiential warehouse of information and decision-making that is drawn upon and applied in each new situation.
These five perspectives are the most basic ones; we could say they are the generic ones, but not the only ones. Obviously, there are thousands of more refined and specific perspectives contained in the fourth and fifth positions that can be applied as needed in various circumstances. Within the fourth position, there are many essential contexts to consider, including marriage and family, work, play, health, finances, and the list goes on. Finally, it is at the level of the fifth position that we must consider these side by side, tested against our criteria for their relative value within our lives.
The five perceptual positions are straightforward and easy to understand, and practicing these perspectives yields immediate, useful results. Practicing the five perspectives mentioned above is a distinct and learnable technique, although hard to master. The purpose of the five perspectives is to bring in more and higher-quality information, to try to arrive at the totality of the situation.
These five perspectives deeply influence how we understand and assess the content of our lives. It is well known and accepted that whether we gain in wisdom is not a function of what happens to us; it is more a question of how what happens is experienced, understood, acted upon, and integrated. The five perceptual positions are ways of understanding and acting on life’s events in the deepest and broadest ways.