Perspective Is the Edge Your Team’s Missing
The unfair advantage great teams use daily.
In fast-moving teams, confusing perception with perspective creates unnecessary conflict and bad calls. Know the difference.
Perception is your immediate reaction.
It’s emotional. It’s biased. It’s shaped by your past.
It’s how something feels.
Perspective is your chosen angle.
It’s reflective. It’s intentional.
It’s how you frame what you’re seeing.
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman described this well: System 1 thinking is fast and instinctive (perception); System 2 is slower, deliberate, and rational (perspective). Most people live in System 1. Great leaders don’t.
When a sprint veers off course or a stakeholder challenges your priorities, your perception might want to push back. Your perspective gives you space to assess and respond instead of react.
Perception is reactive.
Perspective is reflective.
Leading with the latter turns chaos into clarity.
Apply it:
When the team resists a change, don’t assume laziness (perception); consider past burnout or trust gaps (perspective).
When a PO shuts down feedback, don’t assume arrogance; maybe they’re under pressure you can’t see.
Lyssa Adkins, in Coaching Agile Teams, pushes Agile coaches to develop this exact muscle—to pause, zoom out, and help teams shift out of emotional reaction into shared understanding.
If you want clarity, don’t just trust your gut—train your view. Shift from how it feels to what else might be true.