While observing events, other people, or oneself, a lot of information comes up.

But what happens with this information? It’s quite rare that people simply notice something. The more popular reaction is to either judge it or give meaning to it.

Some leaders may be proud of being fast at understanding a situation. And they may be right. However, they are also at risk of remaining focused on the meaning and judgment they’ve given themselves.

By developing the habit of distinguishing between noticing and assessing what they’ve noticed they can question what they noticed. And they can question how they interpreted it. It doesn’t mean that they have to. It is there to learn more about the patterns that describe their relationship with information. It is a view of a reality that is less dependent on their subjective interpretation.