In today’s complex corporate environment, effective problem-solving often requires more than just a willingness to cooperate—it requires a deep understanding of different perspectives. Unfortunately, traditional approaches to improving empathy and addressing challenges often fall short, resulting in lingering misunderstandings and unaddressed issues. To bridge these gaps, we’ve developed a structured tool that helps participants gain new insights into difficult situations, ultimately laying the groundwork for effective action and resolution.

Our approach—inspired by decades of experience in corporate training and partnership management—involves role-based perspective-taking that drives true understanding. Let’s take a closer look at how this tool works and why it is more effective than conventional methods.

The Challenge of Understanding Difficult Situations

One of the biggest challenges in corporate settings is dealing with situations that seem baffling or intractable. Often, the key to resolving these situations lies in understanding the perspectives of those involved. However, achieving this understanding requires deliberate structure, time, and attention. Without it, individuals often remain stuck in their own views, unable to see the full picture or uncover new ways to move forward.

Our tool addresses these challenges by creating an environment where participants are encouraged to rigorously and systematically step into the roles of their counterparts, ensuring that they gain meaningful insights into the situation rather than just scratching the surface.

The Self, Other, and Objective Perspectives

The core of our approach is a working session done in pairs, where one participant thinks of a situation that was baffling or difficult for them and they would like to gain insight into the situation. The other person guides them through the process, taking on one of three distinct perspectives: Self, Other, and Objective. Each role is designed to foster deep understanding of the stakeholders and the dynamics at play.

• Self Perspective: The participant with the challenging situation represents their own role truthfully—expressing their goals, motivations, performance measures, and challenges. By grounding themselves in their own experiences, the Self Perspective helps them articulate their needs and frustrations clearly.
• Other Perspective: The guide takes on the persona of the counterpart. They are asked to adopt the beliefs, mindset, knowledge, and motivations of the other person or team. They speak in the first person, as if they are the stakeholders they represent (“I am in the research team, and my top goal is to get the initial proof of concept completed”). By embracing this role rigorously, the guide helps the participant gain an authentic understanding of the concerns, constraints, and drivers on the other side of the table.
• Objective Perspective: The person then steps back entirely and takes a neutral, detached view of both the Self and Other perspectives. They act as an impartial observer who looks at the broader dynamics, including how the different perspectives align or conflict. Their job is to uncover insights into the dynamics of the situation that neither of the directly involved perspectives may recognize on their own.

The outcome of this exercise is that the person with the difficult situation almost always gains a revelatory insight—something they had not considered before—which provides an experiential understanding of the power of the tool.

How the Working Session Unfolds

The working session begins by dividing participants into pairs and briefing them on their roles. The Self and Other perspectives are articulated, while the Objective perspective takes on an interviewer role—asking questions to gain insight into the underlying motivations and challenges of each side.

The process of interviewing and summarizing creates a safe and constructive environment for airing concerns and motivations that might otherwise go unspoken. Once the Objective perspective has gathered enough information, they summarize their findings, pointing out where goals and performance measures match or diverge, and highlighting opportunities to gain new insights.

This deliberate and structured approach leads to a richer and more grounded understanding of what drives each stakeholder, often leading to “aha” moments where participants recognize biases or misjudgments they had previously held about the situation.

Actionable Outcomes

Our approach moves beyond simple empathy exercises by focusing on gaining insights first, which can then inform problem-solving and negotiation. After the summaries, both participants engage in a discussion focused on translating insights into specific actions:

• What new insights did we gain that change how we view the situation?
• What gaps exist in our understanding of each other’s perspectives?
• What specific changes in perception or behavior could help resolve the situation?

These questions drive participants to reframe their strategies in ways that incorporate new insights, which makes problem-solving not just smoother but more impactful. By making both the alignment gaps and opportunities explicit, participants can create specific, actionable plans that lead to effective resolution.

Why This Approach Is Different

Traditional training programs often fall short in helping individuals truly understand difficult situations. They may offer general guidance on empathy or communication, but they rarely provide structured opportunities for participants to experience different perspectives in a meaningful way. Our tool goes deeper by combining the rigor of role-playing with guided analysis and practical action planning.

• Immersive Role Play: By asking participants to inhabit their own and others’ roles thoroughly, the exercise is more immersive than traditional “discussion-based” empathy training. Participants not only describe their own positions but learn to speak and think from the viewpoint of their counterparts.
• Structured Objectivity: The Objective Perspective is a game-changer. It removes the emotional attachment inherent in conflict and helps participants see things as they are, uncovering insights that lead to new understanding and potential resolutions.
• Action-Oriented: Insights without action are useless. Our tool ensures that the insights gained are translated into actionable steps, ensuring long-term impact and improved outcomes.

Unlocking New Insights for Better Outcomes

The results of this approach are striking. Individuals who use this tool report gaining unexpected insights, fewer misunderstandings, and faster resolution of challenging situations. They develop a clearer view of how their actions impact others and find new ways to add value—both within their own teams and across functions—leading to more effective collaboration.

In corporate environments, where teams often find themselves facing complex challenges, gaining a deep and actionable understanding of each other’s perspectives can be the key to unlocking better outcomes. Our Self, Other, and Objective perspective tool provides a clear, structured path to achieving that understanding—making problem-solving easier, more insightful, and ultimately more successful.