5 steps to change perspectives
[Music]
so what do you do
as a business school student i have
answered this question approximately 500
times this year
that’s only a slight exaggeration as it
turns out i have a bit of a unique
background
i was an english major who worked in
film production before transitioning to
finance and then pursuing my mba
most people can make the connection
between the first bid and the second bit
and the third and the fourth but the
film to finance transition is usually
somewhat puzzling at first
in some ways they’re not so different in
film you’re dealing with
big diva personalities and in finance
you’re dealing with
big diva personalities but one thing
that is very different is the contract
contrast between the perspectives of the
two industries
to illustrate there is a questionnaire
called the herman brain
dominance instrument it’s a test you can
see you can take to see what your work
preferences are
when i was working in finance as an hr
exercise
my team and i took this test there are
four quadrants you can land in
there’s blue which shows a preference
for numbers and facts
then there’s green which is a preference
for planning and risk mitigation
then there’s red indicating a preference
towards building relationships talking
and mentoring people
and then there’s yellow which has a
preference for the new and novel
what can be done as you might expect
and frankly as you might hope my finance
teammates predominantly had blue green
preferences
they cared mostly about what the numbers
said and having proper planning in place
to mitigate risk
and then there was me my yellow and red
preferences were so high i was nearly
out of the circle entirely
and i suspect if my film colleagues had
taken that test most of them would have
been right there with me
and that’s kind of my point the
importance here is the contrast
it allows you to notice things you might
have missed otherwise when i was in film
my perspective wasn’t that different it
was only once i transitioned to finance
i started realizing what i was missing
and what they were i think it’s this
exposure to the different perspectives
that’s been a key
ingredient in creating my best
initiatives throughout my career so far
and i think this kind of
cross-disciplinary thinking is
especially important now
the technology sector is in need of
different perspectives the pandemic has
revealed that we’re innovative
but maybe not as much as we thought the
sector’s deep expertise
especially in logistics and
communications has thankfully kept
things going
but we’ve seen huge gaps in products
built for sectors such as
mental health education and caregiving
fortunately with the increase in demand
there have been new products coming out
to address these issues but we need many
more
technology’s promise has always been
that it would free up people’s times for
more valuable pursuits
but the pandemic has revealed that we
haven’t been doing enough of that
important valuable sectors remain
underinnovated
but i believe this is just the beginning
of the next wave in product design
similar to how the 2008 global financial
crisis brought on the next wave in
finance
so in many ways the pandemic appears to
be to technology what the 2008 global
financial crisis was to finance
the global financial crisis also
revealed a lot of gaps within that
sector
in particular it raised the question
what’s finance’s purpose in society
and asking this question proved to be
incredibly positive
experience for the industry overall
instead of always feeling the need to
fulfill this default expectation
and profit at all costs finance could
step back and explore its role in
society
and this could be technology’s moment to
do the same
but to create new products new
approaches will be needed and that means
mixing different perspectives and indeed
research supports the finding
that diverse teams ultimately make
better more innovative teams
but that only works when those different
perspectives listen to each other and
work together
this can be a challenge people think a
certain way because they truly believe
it’s the right way to think and it can
be difficult to convince them otherwise
so in case it’s helpful i’d like to walk
you through some steps i discovered
while working on an initiative that
meant a lot to me
the creation of our platform’s first
sustainable finance strategy these steps
help me contribute my perspective
despite being an outsider personality
before we begin though it’s important to
note that you should be excellent at
meeting your team’s expectations already
the reason for this is if you’re at the
top of your game and handling everything
deftly this will earn your colleagues
respect and when you advocate for change
even if your colleagues don’t initially
agree with you they will listen to you
okay this is the foundation now onto the
steps
step one determine the unique
perspective you have to contribute
i’m a proud planeteer for those of you
unfamiliar with the reference
it comes from captain planet a kids
cartoon show featuring teenage
superheroes who come together
to fight pollution using the powers of
nature earth
wind fire water and heart that was my
perspective
i came from a generation that grew up
watching captain planet and reading
about silent spring and social studies
we were taught to be concerned about the
environment furthermore
i came from a sector film which truly
believed
in the purest sense of the notion that
anything is possible
this gave me my unique perspective i
believe that there was a market coming
that would want investments that
incorporated environmental social and
governance factors
combined with my anything can be done
outlook from film i set to work
that brings me to number two step two
prepare so that you can be ready for the
right moment
even when the idea is there it needs to
meet its moment
sustainable finance has been a concept
for a few decades now
but it remained a niche market for a
long time but over the last decade
with the moment of pause from the global
financial crisis the emergence of data
showing that esg
investing results in better long-term
performance over time
and above all growing customer demand
that made scaling the strategy possible
if you can see the value of your idea on
the horizon start preparing for that
moment as soon as possible so you’ll be
ready for it when it comes
see what resources are available at the
firm start reading books and articles
and importantly
start reaching out to your colleagues
and that brings me to step number three
build meaningful relationships with your
colleagues
interview your colleagues to get a
better understanding of the current team
culture in your colleagues unique
perspectives
meet with them individually if possible
maybe taking them out for coffee tea
and be sure you don’t only ask them
questions about your idea
build a real relationship and ask them
questions about themselves
what do they value what excites them and
what worries them
it’s important to do this for two
reasons one from a purely logical
perspective you’ll need these people to
support you if you wanted your idea to
progress forward
and two your colleagues have genuinely
valuable insights
learning about them will help you to
enhance your idea
and that brings us to step four round
out your idea
using the new information you’ve learned
using the information you’ve gathered
from your colleagues
start rounding out your idea what has
the exceptionally logical colleague
pointed out to you that you might have
initially missed
what potential pitfalls has the socially
connected teammate highlighted
synthesize your colleagues points of
view to enhance your approach
and be sure to credit your teammates
contributions
just as you would prepare for a debate
by thinking of arguments they’ll be used
against you
use that same mode of thinking here this
will make your
initial idea and its implementation much
stronger
step five the final step but the longest
step
socialize and continuously iterate on
the idea
this part is why it’s so important to go
with an idea you’re passionate about
you will need to constantly
re-underwrite your idea
it will take a lot of energy and effort
from you you will need to keep enhancing
the idea with additional perspectives
defend it and shepherd it through
implementation
but i think it’s worth the effort i’m
absolutely convinced that everybody has
a perspective worth contributing
and i hope these steps can help you
bring forward your unique perspectives
to change things for the better in
technology and beyond
this crisis as terrible as it’s been is
also providing a window of opportunity
to rethink technology and its role in
society
new perspectives will be urgently needed
to solve the issues that have been
revealed and the ones yet to come
up until now the monitoring technology
has been mainly to move fast and break
things
but i think we’re ready for the next
frontier to move fast and fix things
i’m ready to be part of that and i hope
you are too
thank you for your time today
[Music]
you