A Matter of Perspective
Getting a handle on the whole picture means carefully listening to all the truths (even the ones you don't believe).
Last weekend I randomly caught an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, named A Matter of Perspective. It’s a murder mystery set in outer space - but not one solved through fingerprints and evidence, but through carefully navigating perspectives.
Commander Riker is accused of killing a scientist, Dr. Apgar, after Apgar’s research station explodes at the exact same moment Riker teleports back to the Enterprise. At first glance, it looks like an open-and-shut case: just as Riker was disappearing, he shot an energy beam to intentionally cause the blast. Guilty until proven innocent, Riker faces extradition.
To investigate, Captain Picard hosts a hearing on the Enterprise. Using the holodeck - a piece of technology that creates holographic 3D simulations of people and environments - they recreate the events from three points of view: Riker, Apgar’s wife Manua, and Apgar’s research assistant Tanja.
Each version feels plausible, with each storyteller truly believing their own version.
In Riker’s version, he’s a professional officer caught up in an awkward misunderstanding.
In Manua’s, he’s an aggressive intruder.
In Tanja’s, Apgar is a victim being pushed to his breaking point by Riker and his team.
Same room, same events. Three different perspectives.
It’s only when Picard steps back - listening to each version without treating any as the ‘truth’ - that the actual pattern of events emerges. The explosion wasn’t murder at all. Apgar’s own experimental device malfunctioned as a result of a chain of entirely unconnected events taking place in the same timeframe. Each person had seen their truth, but none had seen the truth.
I’m not sure I’ve ever sat through a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode. More fool me! It was a brilliant example of storytelling showing how perspective shapes perception - and how stepping back, suspending judgment, and viewing the situation from multiple angles can reveal what’s actually happening. I guess I’m a little bit Trekkie now 🖖
Multiple Truths in the Real World
Do you notice how we do this all the time? On contentious issues like urban planning, immigration or agriculture, everyone lives within their own ‘holodeck simulation’ - a highly detailed, emotional and personally consistent version of the world. We argue over whose version of the world is right, often missing the bigger picture.
A Park Bench
To a group of teenagers, the park bench is friendship - a free place to meet, talk and belong.
To the police, it’s a place for loitering.
To the local council, it’s a tool to ease loneliness - or a way to invite intimidation, depending on the department.
To an older resident, it’s independence - a resting point that makes daily walks and community life possible.
Alone, each perspective tells a story. Together, they reveal a living neighbourhood that needs inclusive design and long-term vision to balance safety, accessibility and connectedness.
Immigration
To business owners, it might mean growth opportunities - more hands and skills at National Minimum Wage, perhaps, or opportunities to win government contracts for training/accommodation.
To long-time residents, it signals potential disruption - fears of cultural clashes, over-stretched services and unequal support.
To migrants themselves, it’s a mix of hope and anxiety - a chance for a better life, but while juggling a world of unknowns with the weight of what’s been left behind.
Each view - and these represent only a few - is valid in its own way. But only by mapping them side by side, by listening, connecting dots and spotting hidden assumptions, can a fair, dignified and practical path forward emerge.
Agriculture
To farmers, beef and dairy farming represent age-old enterprise - the backbone of rural life and a proven route to stability and recognition. It’s what they’ve always done.
To activists, they’re symbols of urgency - practices that demand change for the sake of climate, environmental and animal welfare.
To policymakers, they’re a balancing act - growing GDP and maintaining livelihoods, while steering toward environmental responsibility.
Each perspective is real. But the missing piece - and the way forward - only appears when we step back to see the whole system: not blaming, but talking. Because no one can change unless an alternative is designed - one which must include the insights of those who are expected to change.
Who is Picard in these situations, standing back to view the various perspectives in context and spot what’s missing and who else needs to be heard? Whose challenge - and opportunity - is to hear every perspective fully, then park them long enough to see the whole system in play: the conditions, patterns and forces that no one individual can see alone if standing firmly inside their own view?
Tools for Seeing the Bigger Picture
Perspective-taking isn’t a ‘soft skill’ - it’s a strategic one. When tackling complex topics like climate action, immigration, public health, or urban design, a few tools help make the invisible visible:
Empathy Maps: Stepping into another person’s lived experience: what they see, think, feel and do. Think of each holodeck testimony as an empathy map in disguise.
Stakeholder Maps: Revealing who’s in the system, how they connect, and what power or influence each holds. Seeing the collective, not just the individuals.
Causal Loop Diagrams: Tracing feedback loops and unintended consequences. Sometimes, what looks like an issue is something in the system reacting to itself and simply needing a tweak.
Foresight Tools (Three Horizons): Exploring multiple ‘truths’ about what’s happening now, what’s part of the past, and what’s part of the future, without landing on a single solution too soon.
Journey Maps & Rich Pictures: Aligning everyone’s stories side by side to spot overlaps, contradictions and hidden patterns.
Each tool slows us down just enough to see together, not just argue separately.
The whole truth - in policy, design or everyday life - rarely lives in one person’s account. It takes stepping back and creating a moment of calm to get a grasp of the whole situation, think it through carefully, and map an effective way forward together.