A practical framework for leading when smart people see the same problem differently
Intro
Most organisational breakdowns don’t come from poor leadership or lack of effort, they come from something quieter and harder to spot.
People are acting from different, valid versions of reality.
Operations is protecting flow.
Finance is protecting margin.
Sales is protecting growth.
Compliance is protecting risk.
Each view is rational.
Each is incomplete.
Compounded Reality Theory (CRT) is a leadership framework designed to help individuals and teams see beyond their own vantage point, integrate multiple perspectives, and make decisions that hold under real organisational complexity.
Not by forcing alignment.
But by expanding understanding.
What CRT Is
Compounded Reality Theory recognises a simple truth:
“In complex organisations, no one sees the whole system, but everyone sees something real.”
CRT provides a structured way to:
- Surface partial truths
- Challenge hidden assumptions
- Integrate perspectives into clearer, more resilient decisions
It reframes disagreement not as dysfunction, but as unintegrated insight.
The Core Metaphor: The Cuboid
Imagine a cuboid placed on a table.
- Viewed from the front, it looks like a square
- From the side, it looks like a rectangle
Ask two people to describe the shape, and they may disagree, not because either is wrong, but because each is seeing one face of a three-dimensional object.
Organisations behave the same way.
Functions, regions, and leaders don’t disagree because they lack competence, they disagree because they are standing in different places.
CRT exists to help leaders move around the object and then see it together.
The CRT Framework: The 3P Model
CRT operates through a simple but powerful structure: Perception → Perspective Shift → Perception Integration
1. Perception: “What do I see from where I sit?”
Every role creates a lens.
Your incentives, metrics, proximity to risk, and accountability shape what feels obvious and what feels irrelevant.
CRT begins by making these lenses explicit:
- What am I optimised to protect?
- What information am I closest to?
- What pressure am I under right now?
The aim is not to judge perceptions, but to surface them honestly.
2. Perspective Shift: “What might I be missing?”
This is the hardest step, and the most valuable.
Perspective shifting means temporarily suspending your own certainty and asking:
- If I were sitting in their role, what would matter more?
- What risks or constraints would feel unavoidable?
- What trade-offs would I see differently?
This stage introduces productive cognitive discomfort.
Not debate. Not compromise. But curiosity.
It builds cognitive humility and the recognition that your view, while valid, is not complete.
3. Perception Integration: “What becomes true when we hold this together?”
Integration is not consensus.
It is the creation of a higher-order understanding that preserves insight from multiple perspectives without collapsing into simplicity.
At this stage:
- Trade-offs become explicit
- Second-order effects are considered
- Decisions are tested against multiple realities
This is where fragmented truth becomes compounded reality, and where decisions gain durability.
Where CRT Is Most Powerful
CRT is particularly effective in situations where clarity exists but alignment does not.
Common examples include:
- Post-acquisition integration
- Cross-functional delivery breakdowns
- Leadership team tension despite strong individuals
- Strategy stalls caused by competing priorities
- Change initiatives that face quiet resistance
In each case, the issue is rarely execution.
It is unintegrated perception.
What CRT Changes in Practice
Leaders and teams using CRT consistently report:
- Faster alignment without forced agreement
- Better decisions under uncertainty
- Reduced friction between functions
- Higher trust, because perspectives are acknowledged rather than overridden
- Stronger ownership, because decisions are co-constructed
CRT shifts organisations from “who is right” to “what are we not seeing yet?”
How I Use CRT
CRT is grounded in established thinking from:
- Systems thinking
- Organisational sensemaking
- Constructivist epistemology
- Cognitive psychology
CRT underpins how I work across:
- Leadership teams
- Operational transformation
- Post-acquisition integration
- Strategic decision making
- Complex stakeholder environments
Sometimes it’s explicit, but often it’s embedded.
But the intent is always the same:
“To help people see more clearly, and act more coherently in complexity.”
Ryan Hill 