How Optics can Help you be Better at Work

The benefits of understanding perception and second-order thinking

Photo by bantersnaps on Unsplash

Halfway through a client meeting, the Partner on my project walked into the meeting room where my manager was walking through a presentation with some client executives, who were interested in our findings on the project. The Partner explained that he had been booked for another meeting across town, and immediately after that meeting, he rushed over to this one. None of this was out of the ordinary — except that he was also holding a Tim Hortons coffee in his hand as he came into the room.

My manager and I glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, but kept quiet. Luckily for us, the client did not notice, or at least did not mention it during the meeting. After the meeting ended, and it was just the three of us (we were all friendly outside of work), I jokingly asked the Partner, you rushed over, yet you had the time in between the meetings to grab a coffee? My manager laughed. The Partner said that the coffee was purchased early in the morning, yet I also noticed that he was drinking from it during the meeting. Regardless, my Partner had not realized the ‘optics’ in the situation.

Contents

• What is Optics?
• How can I understand Optics in a situation?