By Hailey Nguyen
Why Reality Matters More Than You Think
We talk a lot in business about alignment, innovation, and transformation. But none of these are possible without first interrogating something far more fundamental: our shared sense of reality.
Reality Is Constructed, Not Absolute
Here’s the thing. Reality, as we experience it at work and in teams, isn’t truth. It’s constructed. It’s agreed upon. And it’s always up for renegotiation.
The Risks of Believing Your Reality as Absolute
Many executives operate as if their version of reality is solid ground, especially in fast-changing environments where markets, technologies, and customer expectations are constantly shifting. This mindset, while it can bring clarity and confidence, carries significant risks:
- It creates blind spots that hide new risks or opportunities
- It stifles innovation by dismissing ideas that don’t fit the accepted worldview
- It increases defensiveness and reduces open collaboration
- It slows down problem-solving as teams focus on defending positions instead of adapting
What Executives Are Missing When They Hold Too Tightly to Their Reality
Holding too tightly to a fixed reality means missing out on critical advantages:
- The power of possibility thinking to explore bold, transformative ideas
- Greater team engagement by encouraging diverse perspectives and psychological safety
- The ability to stay agile in volatile, fast-changing environments
- Building a culture of curiosity, learning, and adaptability instead of defensiveness and inertia
From Truth to Usefulness: The Shift We Facilitate
At JAL, we coach leaders and teams to see the hidden architecture of their interactions. One of the most liberating and high-impact shifts we help clients make is moving from “what’s true” to “what’s useful.” In other words, teams become conscious creators of their collective reality rather than passive consumers of inherited norms and mental models.
Building Resilient Teams Through Shared Agreements
This is not about relativism or soft consensus. It is the opposite. When a team intentionally agrees on how they want to operate, what they value, and how they challenge each other’s thinking, it creates a stronger, more resilient foundation than any individual’s “correct” view of the world.
This way of working doesn’t just inspire new thinking. It turns it into action.
But most teams don’t know how to move from theory to practice. That is where structure matters. Below is a practical framework we use with leadership teams to help them consciously reshape the reality they are working in and deliver results because of it.
A Practical Framework to Transform Your Reality
To help leaders and their teams put this into practice, here is a simple framework we use at JAL:
- Surface Current Realities Start by making explicit the team’s current assumptions and shared beliefs about how work gets done and what the business environment looks like. This includes calling out what is accepted as “true” and why.
- Question and Suspend Judgment Create space to ask: What if this isn’t entirely true? What assumptions could be limiting us? Suspend the need to be right and invite curiosity about alternative perspectives, even those that seem unconventional.
- Co-Create New Possibilities Collaboratively explore and prototype new ways of working, solving problems, or approaching markets that challenge the existing reality. Agree on what new “realities” the team wants to test and embody.
- Agree on How to Work Together Formalize shared agreements on communication, decision-making, and conflict resolution that support ongoing openness to revisiting and reshaping reality as conditions evolve.
- Measure Impact and Iterate Define success indicators linked to agility, innovation, or team health. Regularly review how these new realities are impacting business results and adjust accordingly.
Your Competitive Advantage Lives in Your Willingness to Question Reality
Leaders who can reframe reality do not just improve collaboration. They gain strategic advantage. In markets where speed, adaptability, and innovation separate the winners from the rest, the ability to challenge and reshape what your team believes to be true is a core leadership capability, not a luxury.
Ready to Explore How Your Reality Might Be Holding You Back?
If you’re curious about how your executive team might be limiting its potential by holding too tightly to its version of reality, let’s talk. At JAL, we work with leaders who are ready to disrupt their own thinking in service of bigger results. You don’t need to tear it all down. You just need to be willing to question what you’ve accepted as fixed.