What Would Be Possible If We All Understood Our Stakeholders and Our Worlds a Bit Better?

A discussion article. Part of The Thinking Upgrade.

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How much possibility do we walk past every day?

A talent we have never noticed. An ambition someone has never shared. A frustration that could be resolved. A relationship that could be strengthened. A service that could work far better. A neglected space that could support both a community and wildlife.

Across billions of lives, imagine the billions ofopportunities for greater success, wellbeing and positive impact that might be waiting to be recognised. From the massive to the micro, there is so much we could improve, invent, prevent, connect and enjoy.

Yet how much of it can we actually see?

We move through familiar worlds: our homes, friendships, workplaces, neighbourhoods and professions. We recognise the people, places and routines. Familiarity can give us the reassuring feeling that we understand them.

But do we? Or are we sometimes moving through a world we have stopped looking at closely?

There are possibilities within every person, family and group of friends. Within every organisation, industry, profession and occupation. Within every system like education, health, welfare, infrastructure, housing and defence. Across every county and state, city and town, village and hamlet. Within every country, environment and ecosystem.

There are also problems that deserve attention: some urgent and visible, others quietly endured or accepted as inevitable. Some could be solved. Others could be reduced, managed better or prevented from growing.

What might change if we gave ourselves more opportunity to notice?

Our daily habits and routines help us get through life. But they can also narrow what we see. We speak to the same people, ask the same questions, follow the same processes and return to the same explanations.

A colleague is “not ambitious”. A teenager is “not interested”. A neighbour “keeps themselves to themselves”. A service is “just how it is”. An industry “has always worked that way”.

How often do these descriptions close down our curiosity?

We may notice what irritates us more readily than what could be possible. The meeting that wastes time. The person who frustrates us. The system that lets us down. Those problems matter. But what happens when we also ask: what could work better here? What strengths are being overlooked? What could we create together?

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At Maximy, we talk about each person’s Potential Practice...

deliberately stepping back from the busyness of everyday life to look more carefully at ourselves and the worlds around us. To explore what we know, what we assume and what we have yet to understand. To spot opportunities for greater success, wellbeing and positive impact, alongside the challenges that need our attention.

This could start with a single relationship, a recurring frustration or a part of our organisation we have never properly explored.

Take the people in our lives. Stakeholders can sound like a distant business term, but it includes people who influence our lives and people whose lives we influence: loved ones, family members, friends, colleagues, managers, senior leaders, customers, suppliers and neighbours.

How well do we understand what matters to them now?

Someone we love may have an aspiration they have never found the right moment to share. A friend may want more companionship but worry about imposing. A colleague may have skills their role never allows them to use. A manager may be facing pressures we know little about. A neighbour may have an idea for improving the street but lack someone to explore it with.

These are possibilities to ask about, rather than conclusions to draw. The person we think we know may have changed. Their priorities, confidence, responsibilities and circumstances may have changed too.

What might we discover if we allowed people to tell us who they are and what matters to them today?

We can never know everything about another person. Nor are we entitled to. Curiosity needs care, respect and boundaries, particularly where one person has power over another.

A conversation about someone’s hopes or difficulties needs to be something they want. They should be able to choose what to share, what to keep private and whether to continue. Trust includes clarity about confidentiality and any limits to it, and permission before personal information is shared elsewhere.

The intention matters just as much. Are we seeking to understand someone because we care about their choices and wellbeing? Are we ready to hear an answer that differs from our expectations? Or are we trying to steer them towards the life, behaviour or decision we prefer?

Understanding someone better should expand their agency. It should never turn them into a project to fix or mould.

A beginning might be as simple as: “Would you enjoy sometime to talk about what matters to you at the moment?” Then: “Is there anything you would like more room for in your life?” Or: “Would it help if I listened, explored ideas with you or offered some practical support?”

There should be value for both people, on terms each welcomes. That value might be a stronger relationship, clearer understanding or the pleasure of exploring something together. It need not involve an exchange of favours.

And understanding develops over time. One good conversation opens a door; continued care and attention help us keep learning.

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The same curiosity can transform how we look at organisations.

How well do we really understand the organisation we own, lead or work for? We may know our role and immediate team in considerable detail, while knowing surprisingly little about the experiences of customers, frontline colleagues, suppliers or the communities affected by our decisions.

A framework or lens can help us organise that picture. We might examine purpose and strategy; people and culture; customers and services; operations and technology; finances and resources; partnerships; and wider social and environmental impact.

For each area, we can ask: what do we know, and what supports that view? What are we assuming? What remains unclear? What opportunities and problems can we see? Whose experience would help us understand more?

Imagine a leadership team concluding that it needs more staff. Conversations with colleagues might reveal that capable people spend hours entering the same information into different systems. Customers might reveal that unclear instructions generate avoidable enquiries. The opportunity could involve redesigning the work as well as increasing capacity.

Or imagine an organisation seeking a new service idea while overlooking employees who already understand an unmet customer need. How much useful knowledge remains disconnected because nobody has created the opportunity to bring it together?

Such a picture becomes more valuable when stakeholders can challenge and enrich it. Frontline staff may see what a board misses. Customers may question what internal measures suggest. Suppliers may identify practical constraints. People who cannot access a service may reveal problems that satisfied users never encounter.

What if every organisation maintained a live, evolving record of all the opportunities and problems identified by its staff, customers, suppliers, investors and community members, alongside possibilities surfaced by AI for people to examine?

Imagine a shared picture that connected everyday frustrations with bold ideas, revealed recurring patterns and helped people build on one another’s insights. With appropriate confidentiality, contributions could be explored, challenged and prioritised, with clear responsibility for taking promising ideas forward and updates showing what had happened. How much knowledge could we stop losing? How many problems could we address earlier? And how much more willing might people be to contribute if they could see their thinking being considered and making a difference?

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A framework / lens should help us ask better questions while remaining open to whatever does not fit its categories.

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As we look more widely, connections become visible too.

A transport difficulty may affect access to education, employment and friendships. An unused building might offer space for learning, enterprise or community activity. A decision that makes one organisation more efficient might transfer costs or difficulties to families, suppliers or the environment.

Understanding more means asking both what could improve and who might bear the consequences. It also means making room for future generations and ecosystems that cannot directly join the conversation.

We have limited time and energy. We cannot investigate every issue or pursue every possibility. But we can choose where greater understanding could make a meaningful difference, then take a manageable step: ask, listen, observe, test an idea and learn from what happens.

Which person in your life would you like to understand better, if they welcome it? Which part of your organisation are you making assumptions about? Which familiar problem might deserve a fresh conversation? Whose perspective is missing?

What would be possible if more of us made this a regular practice?

More people might feel understood. More abilities might find an outlet. More relationships might deepen. More problems might be addressed before they grow. More ideas might connect with the people and resources needed to bring them to life.

What opportunity for greater success, wellbeing or positive impact might be close to you today – and what conversation could help you discover it?

Thanks for reading.

Best,

Rob

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