It’s funny the things that make you look at the world differently. As some of you will know we’ve had a hefty dump of snow in the UK today. Suddenly the familiar becomes unfamiliar and even the simplest tasks that involve going out become adventures. Such a change is also easier for some to deal with than others.

It put me in mind of Jan Carlzon and his ‘Moments of Truth’ approach that helped turn around Scandinavian Airlines, incredibly his book of the same name was published in 1987. It is an approach that focuses on every moment or interaction that allows the customer to form an impression of an organisation. I liken it to trying to see things from a different perspective, to look at our work and world with new eyes.

This is not easy to do as we quickly become too familiar with what we do or our surroundings, as Malcolm Forbes once said

It’s so much easier to suggest solutions when you don’t know too much about the problem.

So how might we make a shift in perspective, we can’t always wait for it to snow! How about:

• Asking someone else for feedback or to tell you what they experience, what are the things they notice?
• Thinking about what you are doing or the problem you are trying to solve from the perspective of a blogger or journalist, what might they say?
• Physically take a different viewpoint on whatever it is you might be looking at, sit in a different chair, turn it upside down, try and imagine seeing it for the first time
• Take photographs of your workspace or activity, then really study them, what do you notice that you might not have noticed before?
• Take your notebook or tablet device and make detailed notes of everything you notice as you move through your space, or experience your work. Try and make them as detailed as possible capturing everything from smells and sounds to feelings and what you see
• Or as I mentioned elsewhere, simply take a brain break, take time out from whatever it is you are focusing on and come back with fresh eyes and a new perspective