Perspective.

I have been doing a lot of reflecting recently on the idea of perspective; hope you like analogies because this post is jam-packed! At both work and home and life in between, my perception and what I learn about different things moulds and adapts. Like a lava-lamp, it is building into something fascinating and intriguing as I meet different people and am exposed to more and more perspectives. At work, I have been diving into the Village Agent Retail Model (VARM) from the business’s perspective; learning about how it works, how it is monitored and evaluated and its general effectiveness. Now, I will be going into the field and living with an agent; looking at what makes a high capacity agent and gaining farmer insight on the service. It will be very interesting to see how these ideas align or potentially where the misalignment occurs. Fundamental to the idea of perspective is its impact on the ‘story’- what you hear, what you are told, how you are told, how you see, what you choose to see/not see etc. This filter built up from our past, present and future is the one thing standing between you and me, between me and the ‘story’ I am trying to piece together. Every extra day I spend in the office, I become more and more persuaded that my value-add is in the field. My value-add is to piece this puzzle together with a wide variety of perspectives. Hinging on my conviction that the pieces of the puzzle should  not be forced together but rather should naturally align, I am wondering how my perspective impacts the puzzle I am making. Further, if recognizing the distortion that exists is the first step, how do I account for its magnification?