The Zoom-Out Path is a transformative training experience that helps individuals reclaim clarity, expand personal agency, and navigate life with more fluidity. Rooted in the four pillars — Perspective, Presence, Possibility, and Practice — this course guides participants through a dynamic blend of inner work, cognitive tools, and embodied techniques.
This is not a productivity hack or mindset fix — it’s a compass for moving through complexity with more spaciousness, choice, and intention.
Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed, stuck at a crossroads, or simply seeking a deeper way to engage with yourself and the world, this course offers a powerful framework to zoom out, see clearly, and move forward with grounded clarity.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Perspective
Identify and shift limiting narratives and thought patterns.
Reframe challenges through a systems and storytelling lens.
Apply zoom-out tools to gain clarity in emotionally charged or high-stakes situations.
Presence
Cultivate body awareness to better understand emotional states and needs.
Develop practices for nervous system regulation and moment-to-moment grounding.
Recognize and disrupt reactive patterns with conscious pauses.
Possibility
Expand their vision beyond current constraints using creative thinking tools.
Challenge binary thinking and develop a mindset of curiosity and experimentation.
Generate aligned next steps based on desire, not just duty.
Practice
Design meaningful, sustainable personal rituals and habits.
Build micro-practices for daily integration of insights.
Reflect, iterate, and adjust their path using regular self-inquiry methods.
Additional Course Outcomes
Develop a personalized Zoom-Out Path toolkit to apply in work, relationships, and life decisions.
Build resilience by navigating complexity with a blend of structure and spaciousness.
Experience shifts not only in mindset, but in embodied presence and daily action.
What makes a team truly great? Before strategy, skills, or systems—there’s trust.
In today’s dynamic workplaces, trust isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s the bedrock of strong collaboration, resilient teams, and real psychological safety. But what does trust really look like in action?
Within the Teamworkings framework, trust is about having confidence in someone’s reliability, honesty, and skill—believing they’ll do what’s expected, without constant oversight or proof.
Imagine two team scenarios:
In one, no one truly relies on each other. Everyone’s covering their own back, cautious and disconnected.
In the other, teammates say: “I know my team has my back—even when things get tough.”
The difference? That’s the power of trust.
⭐ Hallmarks of Trust
❑ Autonomy ❑ Mutual support & care ❑ Active listening ❑ Transparency ❑ No secrets / hidden agendas ❑ Honesty and fairness ❑ Mutual appreciation ❑ Mutual respect ❑ Understanding risks & mistakes ❑ Constructive feedback
🌱 How to Cultivate Trust
Trust doesn’t just appear—it’s grown deliberately. The Teamworkings model outlines practical cultivators of a trust-driven team:
❑ Being reliable & dependable ❑ Being transparent ❑ Open information flow & channels ❑ Single source of truth ❑ Conflict resolution interventions ❑ Frequent alignment ❑ Clear roles & accountabilities ❑ Respecting confidentiality ❑ Leading by example ❑ Team building
It’s not about perfection; it’s about creating an environment where people feel safe to show up fully—where accountability meets empathy.
When trust is strong, teams are strongly bonded. They innovate more, communicate better, and weather challenges together.
💬 Your Turn
How would you rate trust within your team—Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good, or Great?
What’s one small action you or your team can take this week to build more trust?
Everyone experiences adversity in their lives. Wealth and privilege are no guarantees against it.
A common theme of zoom-out is that when faced with things we cannot control we should keep in mind that we can still control our perspectives and attitude.
“Hardship is inevitable, so put your goggles on and face into the wind” – Tommy Caldwell, professional climber
For me, “goggles” here in the context of zooming-out has a double meaning. As well as meaning prepare yourself and face into adversity, it can be interpreted as intentionally selecting the lenses through which you will view adversity in our mind’s eye.
Tommy Caldwell also provides a beautiful set of “goggles” to wear if we choose:
“Reframe adversity as adventure” – Tommy Caldwell, professional climber
The full quote is:
“I think the greatest gift that my dad gave me, is that he reframed adversity as adventure and taught me to be bold. He showed me that if we allow ourselves to be exposed to challenge, then that challenge can energise us and show us who we are. And even if we don’t open ourselves up, conflict is gonna find us. It’s the rare pathetically privileged person that doesn’t get their fair share of hardship. So we should make an effort to be prepared.” – Tommy Caldwell, professional climber speaking about his father
Here’s Tommy’s Ted Talk – the elevant part here is 8 mins 11 seconds into the video:
I highly recommend watching the “Dawn Wall” movie, regardless of your view on rock climbing. It’s a fascinating and inspirational story of a person achieving what was believed to be impossible despite the odds being stacked against him. A true “adversity adventure”.
In 1976 Richard Lazarus developed what was to become a highly influential model of stress. In his transactional model, cognitive appraisal is the key to understanding stress. Cognitive relates to thinking and appraisal means making a judgement when evaluating a potential stressor.
A person perceives a situation and gives meaning to it. Stress arises when a person perceives that a situation places a strain on them which is greater than their resources.
More generally, the Zoom-Out mindset correlates strongly with our cognitive reappraisal skills.
Our ability to step back from a default perspective and find the most helpful perspective is another way of expressing cognitive reappraisal as encoded in some of the Zoom-Out signposts and motto:
“All Perspectives are wrong but some are helpful” – Zoom-Out Signpost
“Default perspectives can be overridden” – Zoom-Out Signpost
“Zoom-Out to find the most helpful perspective” – Zoom-Out Motto
You will find that some of the individual Zoom-Outs can help with “coping” with stress in the model as follows:
Some Zoom-Outs are “emotion-focused” and help “change the relation to the situation”
Some Zoom-Outs are “problem-focused” and help “change the situation itself”
Some Zoom-Outs are both “emotion-focused” and “problem-focused”
Neil deGrasse Tyson and cohosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly learn about the probabilities all around us and the idea of risks in our personal and digital lives.
Finding broader and more helpful perspectives to boost wellbeing and performance. In this increasingly connected, collaborative, dynamic and rapidly changing …
Seeing that bad behaviour does not equate to a bad person.
We often equate a person’s behaviour completely to the person they happen to be.
Bad behaviour = bad person.
This is an easy way to see and think. A simple equation. But we’ve known for a long time that this is far too simplistic. Yet, it’s still such a common way of seeing others and reacting to them.
Kurt Lewin, the father of Social Psychology, is famous among many things for this behaviour equation, which states:
B = f(P, E)
Where: B = behaviour P = person E = environment (sometimes quoted as S = situation)
Verbosely:
Behaviour = a function of (a Person, and their Environment)
That is to say, a person’s behaviour is a product of who they are and the situation (or environment) within which they find themselves.
This is a Zoom-Out in its own right. We often Zoom-In on the person and translate bad attitude to ‘bad person’; or poor performance to ‘poor person’. Resulting in the reaction of wanting to get rid of the person in a work context for example. I’ve personally seen this so many times.
The Zoom-Out highlighted by Lewin is that we need to look at the broader perspective of the situation/environment. In fact, Lewin insisted that there are multiple levels and broader arcs of time we need to examine, both being further degrees of Zoom-Out in many dimensions including time and space.
However, I can’t resist prizing this equation apart a little more to give:
B = f(P, E, PV)
Where: B = behaviour P = person E = environment (sometimes quoted as S = situation) PV = perspective held regarding the environment or situation by the person
Verbosely:
Behaviour = a function of (a Person, their Environment, and their Perspective)
Clearly, the person’s perspective has an impact on behaviour and this is implicit in the original P of Lewin’s equation but from a Zoom-Out stance, it’s helpful to separate out the perspective. Thus making explicit, that if the person and situation remain the same but the person’s perspective alone changes then the person’s behaviour is correspondingly going to change.
>> IN ACTION <<
So BEFORE attempting to change or replace a person for poor performance…
… First, ask:
Q. Can we change the situation or environment?
… Secondly ask:
Q. Can we change the person’s perspective in a way that helps them and those around them?
Further Watching…
Simon Sinek tells the story of a barista at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas — a wonderful hotel because of the behaviour of the people that work there… but there’s a ‘Kurt Lewin twist’ to this tale…
Let’s go on a journey to the heart of what it means to be human. Let’s consider the way many people live out their lives.
Many people spend their entire life… interpreting opinions as facts.
Many people spend their entire life… interpreting what they witness, as being the reality.
Many people spend their entire life… assuming that there is only a single reality.
Many people spend their entire life… believing that everyone witnesses the same reality.
Many people spend their entire life… being powerless victims to their reality.
They may never realise that they live in a ‘Matrix’ partly of their own making. That they can be ‘Neo’ and alter their own reality for the benefit of themselves and those around them (indirectly).
What if… they had a “crowbar to prise open the cracks of reality”?
What if… they had in their hands a “hacksaw blade to cut through the bars of their mental prison?”
What if… they understood and practised the most fundamental of all the Zoom-Out PRINCIPLES:
“All perspectives are wrong but some are helpful.” — Zoom-Out Signpost
The structure of this phrase may look familiar. You might spot that this is an adaptation of:
“All models are wrong but some are useful” — George Box, Statistician
After all, a perspective is simply a mental model. One constructed by our senses and brain. In other words, your reality is a model constructed inside your consciousness.
Let’s take a closer look at the George Box quote courtesy of Wikipedia:
“Burnham & Anderson, in their much-cited book on model selection,[7] state the following (§1.2.5).
A model is a simplification or approximation of reality and hence will not reflect all of reality. … Box noted that “all models are wrong, but some are useful.” While a model can never be “truth,” a model might be ranked from very useful, to useful, to somewhat useful to, finally, essentially useless.”
If you replace the word “useful” with “helpful” and recognise that all the perspectives we hold are essentially mental models then you can see how this inspired my own adaptation, or perspective, on this famous quote.
It’s dangerous territory when we rigidly stick to a perspective because we think:
(a) it is correct
(b) it is the only correct perspective.
Instead, if we see that any perspective we hold is an approximation and one of many, many approximations then we have more mental flexibility and choice. We free ourselves from the mental shackles of our default and only perspective. As many people say, happiness is a choice, and this choice about our point of view is a key contributing factor. In this regard, we can certainly choose to abandon ‘unhelpful’ perspectives and seek out and adopt more ‘helpful’ ones that boost our own well-being and the well-being of those around us.
Let’s consider perhaps the most profound erroneous perspective of all and one that we all share at least to some degree.
The perspective is this:
“I am the centre of the universe.”
Our subjective experience plants us firmly at the centre of the universe. It physically envelops us. We view the universe from our point in space and time and it appears to physically and metaphysically ‘revolve around us’.
Of course, we cannot all be right. Indeed, we are all wrong. Every single one of us.
What’s more, the more we lead our lives in the mode of “I am the centre of the universe.” the more suffering we are likely to encounter. Why? Because we set up an expectation that we are special. That people and physical matter will comply with our wishes just because we are “me”. We expect life to be fair to us, perhaps more than fair. The odds are tipped in our favour. We get upset when other people appear to put their needs ahead of ours! How dare they! How dare someone inconvenience me!
If instead, we live our lives without this self-centred, universally-centred perspective, we open our eyes and hearts to the plight of our fellow humans that are all living out their lives just like you. They want to be happy. They experience suffering. We can all help each other if we stop thinking we are the ‘special one’. In a counter-intuitive way, the world is now a more humble and satisfying place. We are all in the same boat. We are all special. Everything is special. Life is not fair but we can choose to redress the balance in whatever way we can. Instead of despising the person that stands on our foot; is ahead of us in a queue; is holding you up at the till with their slow behaviour; gets ahead of us on the motorway in their car; or gets that job promotion we wanted; we can see that they are living their lives the best way they can, just like us. By opening our eyes to our non-uniqueness we also open our eyes to the diversity of life and are more tolerant to behaviours we perhaps at first do not recognise in ourselves.
If we can get this perspective so wrong, what other perspectives do we hold that are just plain wrong?
The answer of course is…
All of them.
But as I said, some perspectives are more helpful to us and our fellow humans than others.
Need some more convincing?
Let’s try a couple of thought experiments:
A) If 100 people witness the same event, each of those people will have a different perspective and indeed a different experience. Whether subtly or dramatically so. All of the perspectives cannot be the real truth. If one of them is the truth, which one?
B) Depending on the day of the week, time of day, your mood, what you ate for lunch, etc, you will construct a different perspective faced with the same event. Therefore “perspective NOT EQUAL TO event”.
Since all perspectives are wrong then my perspective about this is surely wrong. Which of course it is.
But it is, however, incredibly helpful if you want to lead a more effective, resilient and fulfilling life!
Seeing that without time, nothing can change. And as time passes, everything changes — nothing ever stays the same.
In life and business, we often resist change, wishing our present circumstances and future plans would remain constant.
But what if embracing change could lead to greater resilience and success?
Here’s how:
1) Seeing that change is constant
We all know that time cannot be halted.
And so it is that time and change are inseparable — one drives the other.
Without time, nothing can change. And as time passes, everything changes — nothing ever stays the same.
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus expressed this truth over two thousand years ago:
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.” — Heraclitus (535 BC — 475 BC), Greek philosopher
This idea holds true in our personal lives and professional careers.
Over time, we evolve, as do the situations around us.
If you reflect on who you were 10 years ago, it’s likely that you’ll see how much you’ve changed — physically, mentally, and emotionally. Even on a cellular level, with a few exceptions, the molecules in your body have been replaced.
The world around us is constantly evolving, often beyond our perception. Just like a time-lapse video reveals how glaciers shift or seasons transition, life’s gradual changes can often go unnoticed until we pause to reflect.
However, our minds tend to resist this reality.
We often perceive things as static, a bias called eternalisation.
We cling to the idea that our current situation, health, job, or relationships will remain as they are.
This perception, while comforting, can lead to suffering when things inevitably shift.
Buddhism highlights this concept of impermanence, noting that suffering arises when we resist change:
“‘All conditioned things are impermanent’ — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.” — The Buddha
Seeing change as constant is the foundation.
But how do we accept change?
2) Embracing change
In the professional world and our personal lives, adaptability is one of the most critical skills.
Understanding that change is constant can help us respond more effectively when market conditions shift, industries evolve, or personal circumstances change.
Instead of resisting or fearing change, we can see it as an opportunity for growth.
Here are a few ways to embrace change and leverage it for personal and professional development:
3) Acknowledge that our perspectives can be deceptive
Our perspectives of ourselves, others and the world are imperfect.
They are based on our own unique life experiences, cognitive biases and a limited set of information.
When we acknowledge this, it helps us to loosen our grip on any belief or mental model that may be anchoring us to how things are now or were in the past.
“All perspectives are wrong, but some are helpful.” — Zoom-Out Signpost
4) Adopt a growth mindset
See change as a chance to learn, adapt, and grow rather than something to fear.
Everything changes, including ourselves, so see each day as an opportunity to change and grow in a direction we prefer.
5) Reflect regularly
Take time to assess how you, others and the world have evolved over the years.
Use this awareness to guide you into the future.
6) Let go of what you can’t control
Recognise when you’re grasping at something that was always destined to change.
It may have changed in a way you did not expect or desire but ask yourself how much control did you ever really have?
By letting go, you can reduce unnecessary stress and focus on making the most of what that change has opened up.
Changing your mind
The art of embracing change is rooted in our mindset.
What other ways have you found help you embrace change in your personal and professional lives?
Seeing how intentional, mindful breathing helps us take control of our state and stress response and helps us “see” better.
Something so simple, so taken for granted and literally right under our noses.
Breathing is a superpower when used intentionally and deployed at the most opportune moments.
It’s a foundational skill for taking control of our state and cognitive faculties.
Helping us to more effectively zoom-in and out. Why?
Well, there are a few reasons.
1) More self-control
Taking control of our mind’s eye is a conscious activity engaging our cognitive capabilities.
When we are stressed or tired, we need to give ourselves a boost, to breathe more life into our conscious awareness and cognitive muscles (our brain’s prefrontal cortex).
2) Less stressed and more rational
When we are stressed or anxious our “fight, flight or freeze” response is activated (sympathetic nervous system) which diverts blood and oxygen from our cognitive muscles making it difficult to think clearly.
When we intentionally breathe slowly and deeply this activates our “rest and digest” response (parasympathetic nervous system) which helps us be more rational and see things more objectively.
3) Better attentional control
We can leverage our breathing to direct the spotlight of our attention.
To zoom-out from whatever situation is gripping us, then zoom-in on our breath
Then zoom-out to see a broader perspective or one or more alternative perspectives.
We may then zoom-in on something more helpful.
4) Anxiety to excitement
When combined with some other zoom-outs (see “Catchphrase” Zoom-Out) we can turn situational anxiety into excitement.
“Anxiety is excitement without breath.” ― Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt Therapy
In general terms, mindful breathing:
helps to reduce stress and anxiety
reduces blood pressure
slows the heart
improves your immune response
– all of which also have health benefits.
>> IN ACTION << Mindful Breathing
In its simplest form, we just take a deep breath in and then exhale slowly. Paying attention to the sensations of the breath in our body (nose, throat, chest, belly). Repeat until you feel a sense of ease and perspective.
The key here is for the exhale to be longer than the inhale. It’s also advantageous to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
>> IN ACTION << Physiological Sigh
This is reminiscent of the inhale-on-top-of-an-inhale that can occur after someone has been crying and can be soothing.
A quick, deep inhale through the nose
A further short ‘stretch’ inhale through the nose
Long exhale through the mouth – the “sigh”
Repeat one to three times
This is calming, soothing and dampens your stress response.
Source >> Stanford Medicine research group: David Spiegel, Andrew Huberman and Melis Yilmaz Balba
>> IN ACTION << 4-7-8 Breathing.
Repeat the following several times. The power in this again comes from the exhale being longer than the inhale.
Inhale for a count of four
Hold for seven
Exhale for eight
>> IN ACTION << Box Breathing
Imagine moving along the sides of a box for a cycle of breath:
4 seconds inhale
4 seconds hold
4 seconds exhale
4 seconds hold; repeat
There are many apps to guide you in different patterns of breathing and to help you cultivate a mindful breathing habit.
Dealing with acute stress in the moment and taking control of our stress response.
Here we are focused on acute stress, those short-lived bursts of potentially high-intensity stress which can feel unpleasant and undermine our performance if not handled with insight and skill.
Typical sources of acute stress include:
Unexpected events (job loss, breakup, medical emergency)
Sudden change or uncertainty (bad news, disrupted plans)
The symptoms of acute stress include:
Rapid heartbeat
Shortness of breath
Sweating
Muscle tension
Upset stomach or nausea
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Shaking or trembling
Racing thoughts
Irritability or agitation
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling overwhelmed or panicked
Nail biting
Q. Are you experiencing acute stress?
The first level of zoom-out is to recognise when we are in a state of acute stress. Acute stress is familiar to us all. The above sources and symptoms of acute stress may help us get a little more clarity.
When we are gripped by a stressful situation, we are in fight, flight or freeze mode. This is evolution’s way of helping us deal with challenging situations even if it means overreacting. Better to be safe and alive than happy and stress-free.
The steps below will help you zoom-out further, to step back from the stressor and your stress response itself and gain more control.
Q. Is your focus unhelpfully narrow?
When we experience stress, our focus tends to narrow.
Again, this has an evolutionary advantage in that it increases our chances of survival and passing on our genes when it really matters. In most cases, this is an overreaction.
We are facing a challenging situation.
But just when a broader perspective could be most helpful, our focus has instead narrowed in a potentially unhelpful way.
For example, we can become fixated on a single course of action which may be hindered. We persist as this is the only course of action we can see in this moment when in fact other options may be available to us when we zoom-out.
So when we experience stress, keep in mind that by zooming-out and applying the actions below, we can not only keep things in perspective but also open our mind to other ways of seeing and dealing with the current situation.
Q. Are you breathing optimally?
When we are stressed or feeling anxious, our breathing diminishes. So just when we may need our maximum internal resources, we are cutting off the oxygen supply!
Some have referred to this dramatically as a “self-lobotomy” as this can severely undercut our mental faculties (pre-frontal cortex).
“Anxiety is excitement without breath.” ― Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt Therapy
So let’s not forget to breathe!
Breathing is usually automatic but in this case we need to take control and breathe intentionally.
Action
Belly breathe in through your nose & slowly exhale through your lips. Feel the sensations. Repeat a few times.
This grounds us in the present.
It helps us step back from the situation.
It increases the flow of oxygen to our mental faculties.
Let’s explore how Zooming-Out can help us view, think about and act upon stress in the most optimal way.
What is stress?
We are all familiar with stress, we’ve all experienced it.
Here are a couple of dictionary definitions:
Stress is: “subject to pressure or tension.”
Stress is “to cause mental or emotional strain or tension in.”
At this point, it’s worth making the distinction between physical stress such as heat, physical pressure on our body, etc and psychological stress. In Zoom-Out we are concerned with psychological stress – which is what people usually mean when they refer to the stress of everyday life.
Types of stress
There are generally considered to be three types of stress:
Acute stress is a short-lived, often high intensity reaction to a challenging situation (a stressor). Acute stress being short-lived
Episodic acute stress is where the acute stress is experienced regularly.
Chronic stress is where stress is long-lived and constant. It can be caused by life factors and more constant environmental stressors.
It can lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed and burn-out as a person’s psychological resources become depleted. Chronic stress can lead to illness and may require treatment.
Distress versus Eustress
Distress is the label given to stress that is considered overwhelming (insufficient resources) and damaging and is associated with negative emotions.
Eustress is the label given to stress that feels challenging but manageable (sufficient resources) and is associated with positive emotions and growth.
Which type of stress is as much a reflection of the person and their inner resources than the external stressor. Faced with the same stressor, one person may experience distress while another eustress.
The role of perspective in stress
I think we can all relate to these definitions of stress but from a Zoom-Out stance, there is a vital piece of the jigsaw missing and that is the role that perspectives and human perception play in stress. Here’s a more helpful definition:
Stress is: “The physiological changes in your body due to external factors that are perceived as threatening harm, loss or misfortune, or as demanding more than you have in resources or capabilities.” – Theresa Fox, DeStressify
The key zoom-out words here are:
“perceived as threatening”
This is incredibly empowering!
We have an extra variable to play with in the stress equation.
the ability to also change how we are viewing a stressful situation (stressor)
Zoom-Out is about acknowledging and developing this ability.
Stress may be in the eye of the beholder!
This is ancient wisdom.
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
– Shakespeare’s Hamlet
“People are not disturbed by events but by the view they take of them.”
– Epictetus, Stoic philosopher, A.D. 55 – 135
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality”
– Seneca, Stoic philosopher
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” – The Buddha, 563 – 483 BC
Lazarus’ transactional model of stress
In 1976 Richard Lazarus developed what was to become a highly influential model of stress. In his transactional model, cognitive appraisal is key to understanding stress.
Cognitive relates to thinking and appraisal means making a judgement when evaluating a potential stressor.
A person perceives a situation and gives meaning to it. Stress arises when a person perceives that a situation places a strain on them which is greater than their resources.
More generally, the Zoom-Out mindset correlates strongly with our cognitive reappraisal skills.
Stress arises when a person perceives that a situation places a strain on them which is greater than their resources.
Our ability to step back from a default perspective and find the most helpful perspective is another way of expressing cognitive reappraisal as expressed by some of the Zoom-Out signposts and motto:
“All Perspectives are wrong but some are helpful” – Zoom-Out Signpost
“Default perspectives can be overridden” – Zoom-Out Signpost
“Zoom-Out to find the most helpful perspective” – Zoom-Out Motto
You will find that some of the individual Zoom-Outs can help with “coping” with stress in the model as follows:
Some Zoom-Outs are “emotion-focused” and help “change the relation to the situation”
Some Zoom-Outs are “problem-focused” and help “change the situation itself”
Some Zoom-Outs are both “emotion-focused” and “problem-focused”
Perspective on stress itself
It turns out that the rabbit hole goes even deeper than just our perspective on events/stressors.
Our perspective on stress itself has a profound effect on the role that stress plays in our lives.
It even has an effect on our physical health and life span.
If we view stress as damaging and something to be avoided, in the long run, stress can make us ill and reduce our life expectancy.
If we view stress as a challenge and something that strengthens us then the opposite can be true.
Why Respect is the Cornerstone of Effective Teamwork
In today’s hyper-collaborative world, teams thrive not just on skills or goals—but on something more human: respect.
At its core, respect is the mutual regard and consideration team members show for each other’s contributions, perspectives, needs, and wellbeing. It’s about making space for every voice and seeing value in diversity—not just of identity, but of thought, experience, and style.
Think about it: how many meetings have you been in where brilliant ideas were ignored because someone didn’t feel heard? Or where decisions were made without truly considering different viewpoints?
The impact is real. Teams lacking respect often face poor morale, low psychological safety, and even high turnover. On the flip side, teams that embed respect into their daily habits create the foundation for trust, inclusion, and innovation.
⭐ Hallmarks of respect
So what does respect in action look like?
⭐ Valuing contributions of others ⭐ Embracing diverse viewpoints ⭐ Active listening ⭐ Inclusivity ⭐ Mutual support ⭐ Constructive conflict resolution ⭐ Mutual encouragement ⭐ Empathy & sensitivity to needs ⭐ Considerate decisions & actions ⭐ Constructive feedback
Active listening means truly hearing others without interrupting or dismissing.
Inclusivity is about making sure all voices are not just welcomed, but encouraged.
Empathy involves considering the emotional and practical needs of teammates.
Constructive feedback is offering insights in ways that uplift, not diminish.
Valuing contributions acknowledging everyone’s input, not just the loudest.
And importantly, it’s not just about being “nice.” Respect is an engine for better outcomes. When team members feel valued, they’re more likely to contribute boldly, challenge ideas productively, and support each other through change.
Leaders: You Set the Tone
Respect starts at the top. Model it. Reinforce it. And when you see it lacking—call it out.
Build team rituals that celebrate diversity, foster empathy, and promote personal connections.
Because when people feel respected, they don’t just show up—they bring their whole selves to the table.
Teamwork is the bedrock of every organisation and of every team.
If you are working in an organisation, you are most likely working with other people to achieve something or supporting other people to achieve something, or both.
Teamworking exists in various contexts: single team; team of teams; across an organisation; within management; Senior Leadership Teams; Exec teams; coaching teams, etc.
For over 25 years, I’ve been building and optimising teamwork as a leader, manager, coach, and —perhaps most importantly— as a team member.
I’ve observed how we can become zoomed in on one aspect of team health or productivity and lose sight of the broader picture.
We can lose sight of the human system as a whole.
We may focus too much on one aspect of teamwork when, in reality, our attention would be better spent on something more relevant and impactful at that moment— such as the needs and interconnected dynamics of the people involved.
We may end up:
“barking up the wrong tree”
“focusing on the wrong tree in the forest”
“overlooking the space between the trees”
“neglecting to cultivate the soil the trees are living in”
For example:
Focusing on speed when there is a lack of trust.
Focusing on working smarter when there is a lack of diversity or inclusion.
Focusing on throughput when there is a lack of shared understanding.
Focusing on results when there is a lack of personal connection.
Focusing on deliverables when there is a lack of alignment.
Increasing the pressure to deliver when the support or resources needed are lacking.
Teamworkings is a simple framework and set of cards that I developed to help myself and others to zoom-out on the teams I am working with to help see the bigger picture.
To consider multiple factors, interconnections & root causes and the broader context.
The term Teamworkings should be read as a contraction of “the workings of teamwork” or “what makes teamwork work”.
Each Teamworkings card provides insights into a single aspect of what makes great teamwork work.
Aspects are grouped into related dimensions.
Collectively the cards (dimensions & aspects) help us view the bigger picture.
The 25 aspects of teamwork are grouped into 8 dimensions, which can be understood as:
Teamworkings Dimensions
“Truly great teamwork is Strongly Bonded, Driven, Diverse & Inclusive, Smart & Innovative, Flexible, Optimally Structured, Craft-Mastering, and Greatly Supported.”
Expanding each dimension to reveal its aspects, we have:
Teamworkings Dimensions + Aspects
Truly great teamwork is:
Strongly Bonded through Trust, Respect, Accountability and Personal Connection
Driven through Purpose and Autonomy
Diverse & Inclusive through Diversity, Collaboration, Psychological Safety, Equal Voice
Smart & Innovative through Collective Intelligence, Creativity and Slack
Flexible through Constructive Challenging, Resilience and Adaptability
Optimally Structured through Optimal Topology and Balanced Roles
Craft-Mastering through Shared Understanding, being Skilled, a Learning Culture, and being Disciplined
Greatly Supported through Supportive Leadership, Continuous Coaching, and a Tailored Environment
With a splash of colour, dimensions on the left and aspects on the right, we have:
Using the cards
So how do we use the cards and the framework?
Using the three C’s of Clarify, Check & Cultivate:
Clarify > Check > Cultivate
Clarify Use the cards to get super clear on what makes teamwork work
Check Use the cards as “lenses” to check the various dimensions & aspects of teamwork to determine where our focus should be
Cultivate Use the cards to help cultivate one or more aspects of teamwork where needed
Return to step 1 or 2. Did teamwork improve? Repeat
Every minute spent comparing yourself to someone else is a minute stolen from building your best life.
I used to be in a long-haired grunge band. We all had long hair, but all the band members were built like stick insects, like some of our heroes, such as Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Pete Murphy and Nick Cave.
All of them except me!
I was built like a rugby player, which was actually what I was.
I was envious of my fellow bandmates and felt less attractive and inferior to them as a result. Years later, it was pointed out to me that some people would love to have my physique!
I realised how foolish I had been.
After one of my Zoom-Out workshops, I spoke with a lady who said she had always been envious of her cousin’s long blonde hair and blue eyes. She told me how she was hanging out with her cousin years later and revealed this fact to her, to which she responded, “You were envious of me? I’ve always been envious of you! With your thick curly hair and big brown eyes!”.
Two people locked in a “comparison duel” for years only to have its futility and hilarity brought into vivid, sharp focus.
These two examples have highlighted that comparing yourself to others is wasteful and foolish. But there are three much more powerful reasons for quitting the comparison game.
#1 Comparison diminishes you
If I compared my bicycle to someone else’s garden shed, I may end up thinking:
They can store loads of stuff in there; my bike can only store a bottle’s worth of water and a puncture repair kit — my bike is rubbish!
See what I did there? I reduced my bike to a storage device.
Utterly zooming in on that trait and assessing the worth of my bike in that context.
Now you may be thinking that’s not a reasonable comparison. I would compare my bike to someone else’s bike?
Well, when it comes to human lives, they are incredibly diverse. Every human life is different, not just a little bit, but a lot!
Is it reasonable to compare one person to another? Just consider someone you may have been comparing yourself to and consider how different you are. Is it any less rational than comparing a bike to a garden shed?
Are you reducing yourself to a single aspect of them?
DO THIS INSTEAD: Be curious and be inspired by others — not diminished by them.
#2 Comparison is a rejection of you
In the thought experiment of comparing my bike to a garden shed, the outcome can be worse than concluding that my bike is rubbish!
Worse still, it may end up in rejection:
My bike is terrible; I need to get rid of it.
So, you reject yourself through that comparative lens whenever you compare yourself unfavourably.
No one else is rejecting you. Only you!
Don’t do it!
DO THIS INSTEAD: Love yourself unconditionally as you would a best friend or one of your children.
#3 Comparison can make you miserable
Ever noticed how we lean towards comparing ourselves with people we perceive as more fortunate than us rather than those less fortunate?
This can trigger negative emotions of envy and even self-pity.
“Comparison is the thief of joy” — Theodore Roosevelt
DO THIS INSTEAD: Focus on gratitude! If you get drawn into comparing yourself to someone more fortunate, balance the equation by comparing yourself with the myriad of less fortunate people.
BETTER STILL: Break the habit of comparing yourself to others completely and focus on gratitude instead. Gratitude for all you are and all you have, right here and now. No conditions.
SUMMARY
Embrace your own uniqueness!
Don’t judge yourself through the lens of other people!
Don’t judge yourself by where other people are on their unique road of life.
Forge your own unique path, and don’t let what other people are doing or have ever get in the way of that!
Love yourself and be grateful for what you have and who you are!
“Hike your own hike” — motto of hikers of the Appalachian trail
Last night someone suggested one to myself and around 500 other people.
The suggestion came from a wise 82-year-old man.
So you sit up and listen.
What’s more, he’s a former monk.
So you sit up even more and listen.
The occasion is an Action for Happiness event in London (19 April 2018) and the man is Satish Kumar and he’s an Indian activist and editor. He has been a Jain monk, nuclear disarmament advocate, pacifist, co-founder of the Schumacher College and is the current editor of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine. And we’ve just watched an award-winning film featuring him entitled “A Quest for Meaning”.
So you definitely sit up and listen.
After watching the film Satish took questions from the audience. His formula for happiness is:
Learn from the PAST
Celebrate the PRESENT
Trust the FUTURE “Trust the future” – not always easy. Anxiety is often associated with thinking of the future. And anxiety in society is on the rise, especially among younger people.
Satish described what is needed to cultivate trust and that is courage.
TRUST requires COURAGE
Satish gave an example which is an example of an Odds Zoom-Out and a Univeral Zoom-Out.
Consider our inclination to trust people. It’s easy to be driven by fear and avoid trusting people. Avoid trusting people in case they betray you or cheat you.
The more courageous perspective is this:
“I prefer not to be cheated but would prefer to be cheated once in a while rather than never trust anyone at all.” – Satish Kumar
In other words, do not focus on a single ‘bad instance’ and an imaged one at that. Focus on the big picture over time. Of all the opportunities to trust someone, only a small number are likely (odds) to lead to something bad. Obviously, wisdom should be employed. Don’t trust a crook for example.
Satish also added:
“There is no guarantee that I will never be cheated.” – Satish Kumar
(a Universal Zoom-Out (no law of the universe))
So to sum up and elaborate on Satish’s formula:
Learn from the PAST
Celebrate the PRESENT
Be COURAGEOUS and Trust the FUTURE Wishing you much happiness and success!
Seeing negativity and also that another side exists.
With Zoom-Out we are careful to use the phrase “helpful perspective” and not default to a “positive perspective”. Helpful can mean positive but ultimately we are concerned with whether a perspective helps you and those around you. Being 100% positive all the time is not always helpful.
I first encountered the phrase Realistic Optimism in the brilliant book: “The Danish Way of Parenting: What the Happiest People in the World Know About Raising Confident, Capable Kids“, in which there is an entire chapter dedicated to reframing and seeing the bigger picture and alternative perspectives is a central theme.
Danes don’t pretend that negativity doesn’t exist. They just point out in a rather matter-of-fact way that another side also exists that you may never have even considered thinking about. They choose to focus on the good in people instead of on the bad.
They change their expectations to focus on the bigger picture rather than getting trapped by one aspect of an argument, and they generally tend to be more tempered in their assumptions. Danes are what psychologists call “realistic optimists.”– The Danish Way of Parenting
In Zoom-Out we often talk about how our distorted view of reality can get us into trouble and be a major source of suffering.
So we need to be careful not to paint an overly positive and optimistic view of reality – that would not serve us or the people around us well.
We are aiming for “Realistic Optimism” and not “Blind Optimism” – being an all out extreme Pollyanna. This article from Independently Happy makes the distinction between “Pollyannaism” and the dangers of “Pollyanna Syndrome”:
Pollyannaism as our predisposition towards the positive. It doesn’t ignore everything negative. Instead, Pollyannaism acknowledges the negative and searches for the positive in it.
Those with Pollyanna Syndrome focus on the positive while ignoring the negative. More than a bias towards positivity and away from negative, Pollyanna Syndrome completely ignores any potential negative. I’ve even seen the phrase “blindly optimistic.”– article from Independently Happy
Zooming-Out, reframing and positive thinking are ultimately intended to boost both our wellbeing AND our effectiveness. Therefore we need to be aligned with reality otherwise reality will teach us a hard, cold lesson. We cannot bury our heads in the sand even if the view down there is amazing!
We need to build resilience against life’s challenges / problems – the “hard knocks” and “downs”. We cannot do this by avoiding such challenges and pretending they are not there. Many problems will magnify over time if not dealt with. We need to face them head on and become good at dealing with challenging situations. A key skill here is optimising how we view such situations in order to empower us to deal with them and not avoid them and in a way that helps us grow and boosts our wellbeing rather than diminishing it.
Life’s challenges need to be tackled, not only for the benefit of ourselves, but also for the benefit of those around us.
Rory Sutherland highlights our neglect of psychological solutions in favour of purely technical solutions.
Rory Sutherland is a British advertising executive. He is the current Executive Creative Director of OgilvyOne.
He’s a pioneer in the fields of marketing and economics. He highlights how human perspectives are often overlooked but play such a huge role in the delivery and consumption of ‘value’.
In this TED Talk video: “The circumstances of our lives may matter less than how we see them, says Rory Sutherland. At TEDxAthens, he makes a compelling case for how reframing is the key to happiness.”
Here are some Zoom-Out highlights from Rory’s talk:
“Reality is overrated”
“The power of reframing things, cannot be overstated!”
“The power to rebrand things… cannot be overstated!
Interesting to note that Rory refers to “Rebranding” as advertising reframing?
“The value of perceived value should be treated absolutely equivalent to any other type of value.”
The value of marketing. There is value in changing the way people look at things.
“We’ve given far too much priority to engineering solutions… and not nearly enough to psychological solutions.”
“One of the problems with classical economics, is it’s absolutely preoccupied with reality, and reality isn’t a particularly good guide to human happiness.”
Happiness is often more to do with our sense of control over our predicament than the predicament itself.
“Perception is leaky.” i.e. perception of one thing changes your perception of another, e.g. having your car valeted and cleaned makes you feel that your car drives better.
This is a key slide from Rory’s talk:
Rory goes on to make the case for considering psychological aspects and solutions in the mix amongst technological and economic solutions. He cites Google as being as much of a psychological success as a technological one.
Rory’s TED Talk is highly recommended viewing.
If you were to look at the World through Rory’s eyes, how would you aim to change perspectives in order to improve the human experience? Within our cities? On our transport? Within our workplaces?
In this TEDx Talk, entitled “Learning about the brain changes everything: David Rock at TEDxTokyo“, David covers a key Zoom-Out technique that he describes as emotional reappraisal. The whole video is full of gems but if you have limited time, jump straight to around timecode: 05:38 (this timecode is a link will take you straight to that point).
He begins this section by describing “How wrong we get emotions”.
And goes on to contrast:
Suppressing emotions >> what most people do (with some cultural variance):
makes us less smart
kills our memory
less likely to remember what someone else is telling you
increases blood pressure in other people by triggering a threat response (surprising result!)
versus:
Reappraisal of emotions >> which has many benefits including:
making us happier
making us smarter
more optimistic
higher mastery of the environment
more positive relationships
higher life satisfaction
(see slide below – snapshot from the video)
He also highlights how many of our negative emotions stem from internal threats, that is, ones that we have fabricated in our own minds – “Made-up fears, anxieties and concerns.”. By realising this you can reappraise yourself and accept that this is “Oh, just my brain doing something crazy” or as I would interpret it, just your brain functioning in an unhelpful way(Zoom-Out Principle:“All perspectives are wrong but some are helpful”). If we can spot this, or “watch the thinker”, we can choose to view things differently and override the default emotional response (Zoom-Out Principle: “We can override our default perspectives”). David also points out that laughter is a powerful and low-cost way to do this if we can cultivate that habit.
David also describes another aspect to a Zoom-Out (my words of course). That is that adopting a different perspective is not easy and requires a lot of cognitive effort. For example, seeing someone else’s point of view when you are engaged in an emotional argument. As I have said before, I view us as having a ‘Zoom-Out muscle’ and that the more we use it, the stronger it gets. If we Zoom-Out frequently on the small things then the big things become easier.
Seeing how our imagination controls us or we can choose to control it.
As humans we are endowed with an incredible power.
One that we all too often take for granted.
The power itself goes unnoticed.
The power itself is not harnessed to its full potential.
In fact it often does us harm without us realising.
It creates a universe that we inhabit much of the time. We ‘see’, ‘hear’ and ‘feel’ this universe as much as the ‘real’ one.
We experience delight, joy, intrigue, fear and sadness in its grip.
What is this power?
This is the power of your imagination.
“Imagination is the golden-eyed monster that never sleeps. It must be fed; it cannot be ignored.” – Patricia A. McKillip
Your imagination will interpret your current situation and project its own version of that reality into your consciousness.
It will take you on a trip to a fictional future. A future that will never exist or at least never exist exactly as you just ‘experienced’ it.
“I have suffered a great many misfortunes in my life, most of which never happened” – Mark Twain
In human evolution, this imagination has served us well. It has enabled us to play out “what if” scenarios in our mind and mentally rehearse for challenging situations, possibly life or death ones.
However, left unchecked, your imagination can run wild and be ruled by your insecurities, fears and no-longer helpful animal instincts.
Real or imagined?
It’s a well established fact that your brain cannot tell the difference between something that’s real and something imagined (see further reading at the end of this article).
This in part is why reading a story or watching a movie can be such a powerful experience.
Also consider how memories that manifest in your imagination can stir up such powerful emotions.
The choice is yours
You have a choice. You can take more control of this incredible power.
“Because when you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worth while.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Try this quick exercise/experiment:
1. What have you got coming up tomorrow?
2. How are you currently imagining it?
3. How can you improve your imagined version to make it function more effectively for you?
The first step is to notice when your imagination runs in a direction that is not serving you and not contributing to your happiness in the short-term or long-term.
The second step is to acknowledge what is happening and ‘take the reins’ – you can redirect your imagination.
You can imagine something more useful or valuable to your well-being and happiness.
Consider these examples:
Example 1: Staff presentation
Situation: You are on your morning commute to the office. You have a company staff meeting at which you are scheduled to give a presentation.
Your imagination on auto-pilot: You imagine your turn to present and people in the audience wanting you to forget your lines or screw up in some way. You are tense, stressed and can’t wait for the day to be over.
Instead you choose to imagine: Imagine yourself enjoying giving your presentation regardless of what others may or not be thinking. You are relaxed during the presentation and it goes well.
It can also be helpful to recall a time when you have felt and functioned as you would like to in a similar situation, and apply that feeling to the imagined scenario.
Example 2: Job interview
Situation: You are on your way to a job interview.
Your imagination on auto-pilot: You imagine other candidates that are “better” than you going for the interview and how could you possibly compete against them?
Instead you choose to imagine: Imagine yourself as a unique individual and that you may be the best fit for what these unique interviewers are looking for.
Harness the Power
This takes practice but like any exercise gets easier the more you do it. Your imagination is an incredible force. It can undermine your happiness or if you take control, it can be used to boost it.
Is this something you have already experienced? Is this something you do naturally?
Please share your experiences and insights by leaving a comment.
David Rock highlights five key social factors that drive people towards or away from something.
Dr. David Rock is a consultant and coach that tapped into the latest findings in neuroscience on how our brains operate in work situations. He coined the term ‘Neuroleadership’ and is the Director of the NeuroLeadership Institute.
In his book “Your Brain at Work” (2009), he introduces the SCARF model, representing five social domains that influence human behaviour:
Status: Our relative importance to others.
Certainty: The ability to predict the future.
Autonomy: A sense of choice and control over events.
Relatedness: Feeling safe with others, sensing social connections.
Fairness: Perception of fair connections and exchanges with others.
Perspectives plays a powerful role in this model. Our brain processes perceived social threats and rewards with the same intensity as physical ones. For example:
Status: A compliment or a criticism can change our perceived status even though no physical change has occurred (e.g. job role or rank).
Certainty: People’s comfort level for uncertainty and ambiguity varies. Providing a vision or plan for the future will be received with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Autonomy: Giving people choice and the extent to which people feel they have choice are two different things.
Relatedness: This too is subjective. People can feel lonely in a crowd. People can feel highly connected to people on the other side of the world, more so than people physically close to them. A communication interpreted in a way that is different to what was intended could undermine a sense of relatedness.
Fairness: Again, fairness is subjective. What seems fair to one person may seem unfair to another. Personal values and expectations can have a significant influence.
Two ways in which we can apply this model are:
1) Our behaviour:
Noticing when we are drawn towards something (approach a perceived reward) or withdraw from something (avoid a perceived threat).
2) Other’s behaviour:
Noticing when others are drawn towards something (approach a perceived reward) or withdraw from something (avoid a perceived threat).
In each situation, we can use the SCARF model to zoom-out on a person’s behaviour, including our own, and explore what may be driving it: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness or Fairness?
Seeing how an insect sting can put everyday stress and suffering into perspective.
Here in the UK summer (ed: summer 2015) is in the air and the buzz of wasps is often heard. In life, metaphorical “wasps” are more perennial however.
This is one of my favourite and funnier Zoom-Outs. A little humour goes a long way in relieving life’s stresses.
Try this 6-legged Zoom-Out.
The next time someone behaves in a way that you find extremely irritating, insulting or hurtful, recall a time when you were stung by a wasp, bee or other insect.
Zoom-Out and see that stinging experience alongside this one.
Compare the initial bolts of pain.
Which one is worse? Really.
If you had to choose, would you have this encounter or rather be stung by a wasp?
See how the initial pain will fade.
See how, like the wasp sting, it will heal if you let it and leave no residual suffering.
Like a wasp sting, if you keep focusing on the encounter and “scratching it” the pain will last longer and may even leave a scar.
Like a wasp you have no control over the offending person’s behaviour.
Like a sting from a wasp, do not take it personally. You never think, “Damn, that wasp has really got it in for me?” do you? This is more difficult with a stinging human remark or interaction but it’s almost certainly not personal. The other person is likely exhibiting a default pattern of behaviour in response to some trigger. And, like a wasp they may be “stinging” someone else very soon.
Like a wasp they are more likely to leave you alone if you do not aggravate them in retaliation. Ignoring their behaviour might just be the best strategy. No, this is not losing — you are the winner! I’ve had many heated and ugly interactions with “wasps” and the next time I saw them, I beamed my best smile and gave a warm and happy “Hello, how are you?” This often gets a shocked and almost disappointed look in response. So, who has won?
Of course, it’s not about winning. It’s about leading a happy and resilient life.
Don’t let the “wasps” in your life threaten your happiness!
In your mind, Zoom-Out, tell them to buzz off and view the encounter as less than a sting!
Boosters
For added impact, imagine the offending person in one of those kiddie wasp outfits complete with sting, compound eyes and antennae.
For added power, take a compassionate view of the “wasp”. It does not know any better in that moment. It may be a fight or flight response to something you said or did. Sometimes an innocent action on your part can unintentionally be perceived as a threat.
Summary
Putting things into perspective by comparing to other events / situations.
Zooming-Out to take a less personal perspective; view it more objectively.
View it as a fleeting moment.
Ridicule the situation in your mind to take the emotional stress out of it.
Finding broader and more helpful perspectives to boost wellbeing and performance.
In this increasingly connected, collaborative, dynamic and rapidly changing world, our ability to see the bigger picture, embrace diverse perspectives, manage our emotions and see clearly is ever more valuable.
Zoom-Out is all about finding the most helpful perspective in any given situation and is relevant to all aspects of personal life and work.
To begin our journey, we’ll venture to another world which you may recognise and exploit to optimise your reality.
Planet Zoom
A planet not too far away is home to two particular types of an inhabitant.
The Zoom-Ins and the Zoom-Outs.
Let’s meet them now…
Zoom-Ins
Zoom-Ins are good at focusing in on a single detail or aspect.
And given the choice of a positive or negative aspect or thing…
…a Zoom-In will tend to focus more on the negative due to inbuilt negativity bias.
At times, Zoom-Ins can become fixated on a narrow and unhelpful perspective.
…sometimes for days, months or years!
A small thing can become blown out of proportion.
“Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it”— The Focusing Illusion, Daniel Kahneman
Zoom-Outs
Zoom-Outs are good at seeing the bigger picture — taking a broader perspective.
“Child, you have to learn to see things in the right proportions. Learn to see great things great and small things small.” — Corrie Ten Boom
Both Zoom-Ins and Zoom-Outs have their pros and cons:
The Human Perspective
As humans, we have both the abilities of the Zoom-Ins and the Zoom-Outs.
However, our Zoom-In ‘muscle’ is quite strong and we too, like the Zoom-Ins, have a negativity bias that means that at times we can adopt a narrow and unhelpful perspective to the detriment of ourselves and others…. in some cases for days, months or years.
And furthermore, our brain can have difficulty distinguishing between ‘real’ and imagined experience. Our psychological and physiological response to an imagined threat, for example, can be as powerful as if that threat was real.
“I have suffered a great many misfortunes in my life, most of which never happened” — Mark Twain
In addition to responding to something imagined as ‘real’, we may derive something ‘imagined’ from what is real.
We sometimes incorrectly associate physiological responses to the wrong cause, the wrong reality in some sense.
A special case of this being misattribution of arousal where for example a person interprets a fear response as romantic arousal.
As with the inhabitants of planet Zoom, both zoom-in and zoom-out have their pros and cons.
When Zooming-In is helpful:
Focusing on a helpful aspect or detail of yourself, a person or the world
Getting into a flow state — getting “in the zone”; focusing on one thing can is a key ingredient to entering a flow state
Focusing on what is truly valuable
When Zooming-In is unhelpful:
Fixated on an unhelpful aspect or detail of yourself, a person or the world
When Zooming-Out is helpful:
Taking a broader perspective to reveal the bigger picture
Reveals helpful aspects; one of which may be helpful to zoom-in to
Reveals the connections and relationships between the parts
Considering the broader context — “context is everything”
When Zooming-Out is unhelpful:
Seeing the bigger picture can lead to analysis paralysis and a lack of action
Seeing the sum total of a situation can make you feel overwhelmed; especially if you are struggling to see the positives
So clearly, we need to cultivate both our Zoom-In and Zoom-Out abilities, however, it is often our ability to zoom-out which is the least developed and is the key to finding the most helpful thing to Zoom-In on.
By strengthening our ability to Zoom-Out and find the most helpful perspective, we can live a more effective, agile, resilient and fulfilling life.
We can learn to recognise when we are Zoomed-In on something unhelpful.
Then we can become better at Zooming-Out to take a broader perspective and find a more helpful perspective.
We can Zoom-In on something more helpful as appropriate.
We can also strengthen our Zoom-Out abilities which can provide us with broader perspectives and more options for Zooming-In when helpful.
Our ability to both Zoom-Out and Zoom-In are very powerful. Part of the skill of being human is to know when to do which. There are pros and cons to both which we can be mindful of.
The Zoom-Out Premise and Motto
To recap, the Zoom-Out concept is based on a simple premise:
At times, we can become fixated on a narrow and unhelpful perspective
We can become Zoomed-In on something unhelpful.
Which brings us to the core signpost or motto of Zoom-Out:
Zoom-Out to find the most helpful perspective
Here’s a potential dictionary definition:
Zoom-Out [zoom-out] verb To Zoom-Out is to break free of a narrow or fixed unhelpful perspective and see a more helpful perspective
The words “break free” point to the fact that often we are stuck in or with a particular perspective.
In some cases, you could refer to some perspectives as a “mental prison”.
Strong words but our perspectives can hold us back as effectively as an iron cage.
Our perspectives are much more subtle however as we cannot necessarily see the bars or see that we have any choice at all in entertaining another perspective.
The existing perspective just is.
Which brings us to highlight another phrase in this definition: “see a more helpful perspective”.
The key motivation and purpose of Zoom-Out is to help us have more options and exercise more choice than we might otherwise have had regarding how we see things.
Note that I fall short of using the phrase “adopting a more helpful perspective” — the adopting part is down to you — the aim here is to provide you with more options.
Note that there is still benefit in Zooming-Out to see more perspectives even if you ultimately decide to stick with your original perspective. It may have strengthened your resolve for example. Or maybe it will help in a similar situation in the future.
There’s also a case of the more you Zoom-Out the easier it gets.
I often state a deeper definition which builds on the one above as follows:
To Zoom-Out is to see beyond your current reality to many potentially more helpful perspectives.
This is because our perspectives literally shape our reality. For this reason, the Zoom-Out strapline is:
