A spectacular pass completion in the 1982 National Football Conference championship game helped propel former San Francisco 49er quarterback Joe Montana to the legendary status he enjoys today . The opposite effect apparently occurred for Danny White, the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. He missed in the final minute of the same game and never achieved the status of his predecessor, Roger, even though White led the Cowboys to the championship game three years in a row. This example illustrates the notion of perception, the process by which people select, organize, interpret, retrieve, and respond to information from the world around them. This information is collected by the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. As Montana, White and I can attest, perception and reality are not necessarily the same thing. Even the perceptions or responses of any two people are not necessarily identical, even when they describe the same event. Through perception, people process input information into responses involving feelings and actions. Perception is a way of forming impressions about oneself, other people, and the experiences of everyday life. It also serves as a screen or filter through which information passes before it affects people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The quality or accuracy of a person's perceptions, therefore, has an important impact on their responses to a given situation. Perceptual responses are also likely to vary between managers and subordinates. Consider which one depicts conflicting perceptions of a performance evaluation between managers and subordinates. There are quite substantial differences in the two sets of perceptions; the answers can be significant. In this case, managers who perceive that they already pay adequate attention to past performance, career development, and supervisory help are unlikely to place greater emphasis on these points in future performance appraisal interviews. Conversely, their subordinates are likely to experience ongoing frustration because they perceive that these individuals are not being paid enough attention. Factors that contribute to perceptual differences and the perceptual process between people at work are summarized and include characteristics of the perceiver, the environment, and the perceived. The Perceiver: A person's past experiences, needs or motivations, personality, values, and attitudes can all influence the perceptual process. A person with a strong need for performance tends to perceive a situation in terms of that need. If you view doing well in class as a way to satisfy your need for achievement, for example, you will tend to emphasize that aspect when considering classes. Likewise, a person with a negative attitude toward unions may seek antagonisms even when local union officials make routine visits to the organization. These and other perceptual factors influence various aspects of the perceptual process. The setting of the physical, social and organizational context of the perceptual environment can also influence the perceptual process. Kim Jeffrey, recently appointed CEO of Perrier, was perceived by his subordinates as a scary figure when he vented his temper and had occasional clashes with them. In the previous context, before the promotion, Jeffrey's seizures had been tolerable; now they caused intimidation, so i.