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Hi, I'm Diane Grassell and I'm 
also known as silver 

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Disobedience. 
So thank you for joining me for 

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this podcast today. 
I want to talk about something 

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that certainly fascinates me and
sometimes boggles my mind, and 

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it might boggle your mind too, 
but it's really the idea that 

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there's two sides to every coin.
There are many times in our 

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lives where we will be thinking 
about it or observing a 

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particular situation, whatever 
it is, that whether it's work, 

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political, in our personal 
lives. 

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And we truly cannot fathom that 
another might hold a view or a 

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perspective that is completely 
different from ours regarding 

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something that we believe to be 
very important. 

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So sometimes we even find the 
perspectives others hold to be 

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downright shocking. 
Like where could they be coming 

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up with this nonsense from? 
How could they be thinking this?

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It's so obvious to us and we 
cannot understand why anyone 

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else could see anything 
differently. 

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So today I want to explore how 
that happens. 

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So the next time you're 
confronted with someone that 

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sees something like you're here 
and there 180° in the other 

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direction, maybe if you think 
from this perspective that I'm 

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going to share, you'll be able 
to start a conversation with 

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that person instead of just 
saying they're out of their 

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minds, they're crazy. 
Because the more we do that and 

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the other person may be out of 
their mind are crazy. 

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But the more we do that, most of
the time someone's not out of 

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their mind or crazy. 
They're just either getting 

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their news from a different 
source. 

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They're seeing things 
differently. 

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They're not being open minded 
enough to other possibilities. 

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And that goes for us as well. 
We have to be open minded. 

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We have to be open minded to 
what other people are thinking 

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and saying if we want to have 
good communication or if at 

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least we want to understand 
where the communication is going

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awry. 
So to help you understand how 

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people can have very different 
perspectives on any particular 

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topic, I'm going to use the 
example of a company wide layoff

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to explain it. 
So let's imagine we are all 

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working with a company and it's 
a big company and it has all 

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different constituents within it
that are watching the news of 

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this company and trying to 
figure out what's going on and 

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come up with their perspectives 
and why these layoffs are 

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happening. 
So let's start at the top with 

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the CEO, the chief executive 
officer of the company from the 

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CEO's perspective or the chief 
financial officer, the CFO or 

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anyone responsible for the 
bottom line of the company, 

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whether that's to shareholders 
or to themselves or their own 

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pockets. 
A layoff is never a first choice

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for sure, because it means 
things are going maybe a little 

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backwards or they're not going 
quite as we planned or we've got

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fact that, I mean, it involves 
people. 

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No one loves the idea of letting
go of people. 

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But from the CE OS perspective, 
it might be seen as necessary 

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for the long term viability of 
the company. 

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Now let's look at it from the 
human resources perspective. 

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From an HR manager's 
perspective, the focus would 

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likely be on legal and ethical 
aspects of the process. 

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So the HR person, if they have 
to deal with the layoffs, 

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they're going to want to ensure 
the employees that you know, 

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that are being terminated are 
treated fairly and in accordance

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with any labor laws while 
providing support and guidance 

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to the remaining employees 
during any transition like a 

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layoff. 
Now let's get to, let's say 

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there are unions involved. 
From the perspective of a union 

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representative, the layoff event
would be seen as a threat to job

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security and maybe employee 
rights. 

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So the representative would be 
advocating for the affected 

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employees, negotiating with 
management to maybe minimize the

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number of layoffs and ideally 
secure fair severance packages. 

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So again, another perspective. 
And they might try to protect 

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the rights of the remaining 
employees and ensure that the 

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company follows any relevant 
collective bargaining agreements

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or other things that have been 
put in place by the union with 

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the company. 
Then, of course, there's the 

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perspective of the employee and 
in the event they are being let 

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go, certainly this would be a 
disrupting event to their lives 

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and it would disrupt their 
ability maybe to pay bills or 

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care for their families. 
So suddenly they'll be hoping, 

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let's say, maybe for a 
reasonable compensation package 

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or, you know, consider plans 
while they seek new options 

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where they're seeking new 
employment or parallel careers 

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or something in an entirely 
different industry. 

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So you've got a lot of different
perspectives just within the 

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company. 
Now, you could take the 

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financial analysts that might be
watching this company, let's say

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it's publicly traded on Wall 
Street or something like that. 

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So from the perspective of 
financial analysts, the layoff 

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might be seen as a sensible cost
cutting measure. 

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They're immune to the emotional 
impact of it. 

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They're just saying cost cutting
was necessary and this is aimed 

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at improving the company's 
financial performance and bottom

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line for the shareholders. 
And the analysts might assess 

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the financial health of the 
company and analyse the impact 

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of the layoffs on the bottom 
line. 

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And then of course, they're 
going to provide their 

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recommendations or their 
insights on how they think this 

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achieves desired cost savings 
for the company, how it will 

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affect the balance sheet in the 
long haul. 

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A financial analysis going to be
focused on the metrics such as 

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profitability, efficiency, the 
return on investment to justify 

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this decision to the variety of 
shareholders or maybe even 

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stakeholders. 
Then you have the public 

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relations person that has to 
deal with the stress and get 

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this message out and try to 
deliver the message to all the 

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constituents. 
And so from the perspective of 

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the public relations specialist,
the layoff might be perceived as

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the potential reputational risk 
for the company. 

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So because maybe people are 
going to think the company's 

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going out of business, it's 
poorly run, it's not caring for 

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its employees. 
There any any number of things 

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that the public relations 
person, if they're good, it's 

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going to look and think about 
and think about all the 

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perspectives, all the 
stakeholders. 

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And they would focus on managing
the external perception of the 

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layoff, crafting messages to 
communicate the company's 

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rationale and ensuring that 
anybody affected any of the 

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affected employees, for example,
are treated with empathy and 

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respect. 
A good PR specialist might also 

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develop strategies that can be 
used to rebuild trust with the 

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stakeholders and the existing 
stakeholders, which could be 

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partners, employees, regulators,
the neighborhood that the 

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company was in, mitigate any 
negative publicity that could 

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arise from the event. 
So this is an example of a 

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single event, a corporate 
layoff. 

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And as you saw from the example 
I gave you, we're looking at the

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exact same event. 
There was a corporate layoff, 

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yet distinct perspectives arise 
based on how the situation is 

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impacting the individual and 
their role within that 

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organization. 
So if we consider this fact, we 

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might all observe and certainly 
experience the exact same 

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moment, very different. 
We're all seeing it different 

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and we're certainly perceiving 
its impact differently as well. 

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It really helps to draw on 
something like this when you're 

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dealing with politics, 
neighborhood disagreements, 

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developments within your 
neighborhood. 

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So in light of all this, next 
time you have a communication 

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breakdown or need to break some,
let's say, potentially difficult

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news to a group of people or to 
someone, you might want to 

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really carefully consider the 
delivery and make sure you're 

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giving all the recipients of the
news ample time to ask questions

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so that they can clarify the 
news developments from their own

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perspective. 
Because if you give them time to

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absorb it, that will. 
And you share the perspectives 

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and you take the time to listen 
to theirs, it will hopefully get

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people aligned at some point 
with where you are and where 

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you're going in that potentially
crisis communication situation. 

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I want to thank you for tuning 
in. 

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And my name is Diane, PhD. 
I'm also known as silver 

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disobedience. 
I'm a perception analyst and I'm

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a hypnotherapist and I work with
individuals and companies all 

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over the world. 
And my goal is to help them 

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achieve a greater understanding 
of how our conscious and 

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unconscious perspectives or 
beliefs impact everything we do 

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and how they change how we see 
things. 

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And if we can understand our 
perspectives and how we're 

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seeing something, and then take 
the time to understand maybe how

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someone else is seeing the exact
same situation, things can start

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to move forward. 
And hopefully communication can 

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improve. 
And this can apply to business, 

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it can apply to politics and 
apply to personal relationships 

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of every kind. 
OK, It's getting to understand 

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that we may see things one way, 
but there could be a reason 

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someone else sees it another 
way. 

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And somewhere there's a 
compromise in the middle. 

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And that compromise isn't always
5050. 

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It might be 99 one, it could be 
anything, but somewhere there is

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a way to move forward. 
So again, I'm Diane Grassell, I 

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share actionable insights on 
this podcast every time. 

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It's for free. 
You can also go to my website, 

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whichisdianegrassell.com, which 
is my name, and any of my social

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media accounts, which you'll 
find either under my name, Diane

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Grassell or as Silver 
Disobedience. 

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I share perceptions of all kinds
and I look forward to seeing you

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on any of my pages. 
Thanks a lot for joining me. 

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Take care and you have a great 
day.