Nothing, really. When you’re talking about a spherical planet suspended in the void of space, the notions of up and down when it comes to geography are, of course, completely arbitrary. And yet, when we look at this map, with Mexico positioned above the U.S. and Canada below it, it just feels wrong—which gives you an idea of how deeply entrenched we can become in our own perspectives.
I’ll give you another example. As summertime is heating up, our thoughts turn to outdoor activities, days at the lake, kids running around outside. Right? Not here in Scottsdale, where the temperature hits 120 by the peak of summer and not even the snakes and scorpions are outside at midday.
My point is we have to remember that as individuals we each come with our own unique contexts. As dentists, your success depends greatly on your capacity to recognize and empathize with these different world-views. You need to be able to come in each day, prepare your way of looking at each case, and then prepare yourself to see it from the patient’s perspective. You need to get inside their heads and really understand their mindsets, their priorities, and the world as they see it. Even if—especially if—it seems completely upside down from your perspective.
It looks like Steve Jobs has done it again. On May 3, Apple sold its one-millionth iPad—a phenomenal feat considering the device had been on the market for just 28 days at that point. (To put that into perspective, it means the iPad is breaking out at 2 ½ times the pace of the iPhone—which also sold in ground-breaking quantities, but didn’t hit the 1 million mark until 78 days after its release.)
I’m proud to say I have had a number of failures in my career. It’s one of the secrets of my success.
If you fly often enough, you’ve probably learned—as I have—to tune out the flight attendants’ spiel-and-pantomime performance about how to fasten a seatbelt and how to activate the flow of oxygen in the event of an emergency.
