Comments on: Perception is reality

By: adowling

adowling — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:11:31 +0000

@Joan You are correct! There were 18. It says that you are very detailed but can see the big picture. Good job

By: Joan Ginsberg

Joan Ginsberg — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:54:51 +0000

I’ve never seen that video before but it’s fun. It’s hard for me to believe that someone actually didn’t SEE that gorilla. Like Trish, it was distracting for a split second, but I tried not to let it throw off my count. The hand waving thing was hard to ignore.
Now all I can think of is: so how many passes were there? What’s the “right” answer? I counted 18. What does that say about me if that’s my most pressing concern right now?

By: adowling

adowling — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:37:39 +0000

@Mervyn That was the point we were trying to make with the staff. Take a look at things differently and you might see that gorilla. Thanks for the comment!

@Victorio – Email notifications and that calendar reminder thing, biggest distractions for me too. It was funny to see people look around like “did you see that gorilla?” during the video.

By: Victorio

Victorio — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:45:21 +0000

That’s a hilarious video!

There’s a couple of different ways you could look at this:

1. The gorilla as distraction. Viewed in this context the gorilla is something that prevents you from focusing your full attention on a task. For me, e-mail notifications are my “gorilla.”

2. The gorilla as unspoken issue. It’s the classic “800 pound gorilla” scenario. It’s the thing that everyone’s aware of but no one wants to acknowledge. The questions to answer then are “Who’s going to be brave enough to point it out?” and “What do we do if other people can’t (or refuse) to recognize it?”

Thanks for the post April!

By: Tweets that mention Perception is reality | PseudoHR -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Perception is reality | PseudoHR -- Topsy.com — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:04:59 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stephanie A. Lloyd, adowling, adowling, adowling, Jessica Genry and others. Jessica Genry said: i'll get in in a sec…@adowling New post: Perception is reality http://tinyurl.com/ycjej9c [...]

By: Mervyn Dinnen

Mervyn Dinnen — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:02:17 +0000

I’m with Trish…the gorilla completely put me off the count!
But you are so right…the answer is usually right in front of you, but you’re too busy looking everywhere else so you miss it!
Good post, good experiment!

By: adowling

adowling — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:47:39 +0000

@HRMinion Thanks! I had never seen it before a few weeks ago.

@Trish That’s the same thing that happened to me. We never made it passed this section of the video, I suspect the gender bit was just to throw people off. I havent seen a noticeable gender difference in who sees the gorilla and who doesnt. The more detailed (DiSC high D, or Type A) tend to not see it and get the count spot on.

By: Trish McFarlane

Trish McFarlane — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:08:37 +0000

What an interesting experiment. I actually saw the gorilla and was a little miffed at myself that I let it distract my counting. I wonder what that says about me. Do you know if men and women see this video differently?

By: HR Minion

HR Minion — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:05:19 +0000

I love that video, I’ve seen it before and I totally missed the gorilla the first time. Great post!