Perception is reality, and perspective a matter of where you are when you look at something. Today, while pouring my morning coffee, it occurred to me that as I approach the fourth anniversary of receiving this lovely “gift” it’s taken on a different meaning:  I WISH I was fifty years old.

Of course that isn’t really true; I wish I was closer to thirty. But from today’s perspective fifty doesn’t look quite so bad, anymore.

Perspectives change, and can be manipulated. The picture of the coffee mug is an example of that; I de-focused most of it after the fact using software built into my newest SmartPhone, an HTC One (M8). It took very little effort, and no knowledge beyond the fact that I had the option to shift perspective perception and reality about a bit.

Business Change is a lot like that, except for the “easy” part. Take a look at where you are, where you want to be, and realize that if you don’t approach business change proactively someone else will make a change that you’ll like less. Sharks die unless they keep swimming, and when it comes to business change and Influency, you’re a shark. If you’d like to talk about strategies for exploring business change, you can contact me here.

Now let’s look at a special kind of perspective.

We’ve recently launched Video Network One.  VN1 is partly about business opportunity and partly about helping shift the media business to a place of greater professionalism. Lots of things go into that, including perception and reality on issues like privacy and piracy, the need for sanity relative to what media “is”, and what the currently-popular buzz phrase content marketing actually means.

Lofty goals aside, Video Network One is about helping folks with a creative bent make more money from their efforts, and that’s a matter of changing perspectives, too. A couple of months ago I told you about the issues that artists using YouTube to distribute their videos have getting paid adequately. Video Network One addresses that.

And there’s even a perspective-shift issue behind that, starting with the question of whether YouTube is the right distribution network for video artists to use.

When we discuss Business Change and Influency Perspective and Perception are everything. And sometimes all it takes to drive a discussion about all of that is taking a new look at an old coffee mug.