And, either, or, and everything in between

Take a look at the image below.

Who do you see?

Spend fifteen seconds with it before you read on.

Some people see an old woman. The white shape at the bottom is her chin, and the large form turning to the left is her nose.

Some see a young woman, turned away from us, looking back over her shoulder. What was the old woman's nose is the young woman's cheek.

Neither group is wrong. Both women are in the picture at the same time, drawn with the same lines. Nothing on the page changes when you switch between them, and once you can hold both, you can switch between them at will. You can also hold both, at the same time.

Why does that matter in a boardroom?

Because we are trained to resolve and distinguish.

Which is it, old or young?

Is the market consolidating or fragmenting?

Are we a product business or a services business?

Somebody presents A, somebody presents B, and suddenly we have contest to determine a winner, a single truth.

Sometimes the contest is very real and we must choose. Often it is not, with multiple possible classifications, interpretations, on ways forward. Assuming an either/or lens carries cost in a sense that solutions sitting in the overlap will be overlooked.

So, next time you are deadlocked over how to read a change in the market, consider changing the question itself. Assume both readings are true, as well as all options attached with them. What would we do then?

The conversation, and answers, that follow might surprise you more than you expected.

Look at the picture again.

What do you see?