The different ways people experience reality result in their having distinctly different attitudes toward change. Understanding these different concepts contributes to new understanding of resistance to change and the modes of leadership. This article presents a description of four alternative realities and introduces a pencil-and-paper instrument that has been used to assess the reality concepts people use. "A Scenario in Four Languages," a hypothetical case, elucidates the ways in which managers with different reality bases would choose to act and the problems facing leaders who have diverse concepts of reality.
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