Last night, I watched a friend make the hardest decision of his life.

He thought we would think less of him. But we only thought more.

He thought his family would be disappointed. But they were proud.

He felt like he had failed. But we knew he was on the road to success.

I’m not sure it’s possible for each of us to see ourselves accurately. Even in the most basic ways, we spend our lives looking at ourselves backwards: a reversed image in the mirror. We’re so accustomed to it that most of us don’t like the real, unreversed image—the image that everyone else sees and knows us to be.

So it isn’t really ourselves we dislike, but only our perception of ourselves.

I got up for work this morning, still thinking about my friend. I was still thinking about him as I began filing literature for our flowprobes. He was still in my mind as I talked with one of our salesmen about a doctor who didn’t want our products because he didn’t see a need for them. And that helped me see the problem:

Perception is everything.

My friend was nearly paralyzed by his perceptions of himself and us, just like the doctor in question was paralyzed by his perceptions of his work. The doctor thought he couldn’t possibly make a mistake with a CABG graft, therefore our systems for quickly checking his work were unnecessary.

The doctor did end up buying our system, but that was only after our salesman wheedled his way into the OR to demonstrate the equipment, just in time to catch a stitch through the backwall that was obstructing blood flow. The graft had palpated well. The doctor was ready to close.

My friend will be okay, but the road to his decision was long and arduous, and delaying it has left him with a harder road still.

Perception can have a high price.

But he’ll live.

Fortunately, so will the patient.

               Transonic Systems, Inc

                        The Measure of Better Results