THE POWER OF OBSERVATION & THE HOLOGRAPHIC BLUEPRINT

Yesterday, Dilip popped into my place to have a quick pow-wow. As usual, we covered a broad range of interesting subjects, besides trivia of the week.

During the course of conversation, Dilip brought up a fascinating point.

He was relating a TV show he saw recently, during which a magician had interviewed - live - a woman who had earlier seen an unknown man just walked past.

When asked at the beginning, she wasn't sure about specific details of the man, but when cajoled by the magician, & at the same time putting her at ease, she was able to talk about details of the cap, the jacket, the inside T-shirt, etc., which the guy had apparently worn.

What a remarkable feat?

Actually, each & every one of us has that ability. It's innate.

Whatever person, object &/or event that falls in our field of vision is always captured by our mind, consciously as well as unconsciously.

Don't forget that we also have both a focused vision as well as peripheral vision.

Focused vision generally captures what is directly in front of us, or our eyes, so to speak.

Peripheral vision often captures what is at the corner of our eyes, even for a fleeting moment. Most scientists believe that peripheral vision is the most powerful of the two.

In fact, its vision field is comparatively much broader than the focused vision

More importantly, sensory information from the environment flows into our peripheral vision unconsciously. In other words, without realising the entire experience.

When the two vision fields are synergisticaly "combined", so to speak, you can imagine our latent power of observation.

When you scan a horizon, say in a broad sweep, you are actually using both inherent vision skills.

In reality, when we look at the horizon of our immediate environment, we are not depending on our eyes alone. We also use our ears, our sense of smell, our sense of feeling about what's around us, about the ambience, etc.

All these sensory data are somehow processed, synthesised & integrated in our mind.

The end result is what I often like to call, drawing intellectual cues from Dr Karl Pribram, Professor Emeritus of Stanford University, a "holographic blueprint" of our sense impressions, which is created by the "interference patterns" of prevailing sights, sound, smells, feelings, etc.

It is pertinent for me to point out that the "holographic blueprint" is not really a tangible thing per se.

Neurologically, it's actually a resulting networking pattern of neurons & brain cells firing in harmony during the process of assimilation of incoming data.

The blueprint may generally be fuzzy, but it's there. Always. So, once we are in a resourceful state of mind, we can often recall the blueprint with ease.

We are know that kids are truly adept in using their power of observation, so much so that we often think that only kids have that acute sensory acumen.

Don't forget, we were kids before. It is just that, as adults, our logical sensor invariably often like to take primary control.

One way to practise this power of observation is to "gaze" at our environment, & try not to "stare" at one particular point or aspect.

This is also called "soft focus".

Innovation strategist Wayne Burkan calls it "splatter vision", which I had already talked about it at length in this weblog.

What can we use it for?

One area of immediate application is reading.

With "soft focus", we are able to look at a larger area of the book pages, thus giving us the ability to pinpoint the topic sentences or key ideas rather quickly, & also learn to identify text organisational patterns, signal words, as well as contextual clues to difficult words in the text.

Once we have gotten the global overview of what we have read initially, so to speak, it becomes much more easier for us to narrow down the requisite passages to read more slowly with focused attention, in order to meet our reading objectives.

[to be continued in the Next Post.]

THE POWER OF SOFT FOCUS

If you have enjoyed watching the legendary Bruce Lee, whose fists shook the world during the 70's, in the movies, you would probably recall one of his last movies, 'Enter the Dragon' - the one just before the 'Game of Death'.

In the opening segment of the movie, Bruce Lee was seen working with a young martial arts student, who just didn't seem to get the essence of a particular move, when asked repeatedly to kick our hero.

Bruce instructed him to do it with "feeling" or rather "emotional content", but the student still had trouble getting beyond the technique to the spirit of the move.

So, Bruce provided him with what I thought was a very beautiful illustration:

"It's like a finger pointing away to the moon", while stretching out his arm & pointing towards the sky."

At the same time, the student began to stare at Bruce's finger, & Bruce gave a quick smack on top of the seemingly bewildered student's head, saying:

"Don't look at the finger, or you'll miss all of that heavenly glory."

[Amusingly, if you had paid attention to the movie: After the lesson, the student bowed, but Bruce smacked him again, & warned him that he should not take his eyes off his opponent, even when bowing.

The student bowed one last time, but this time he kept his eyes on Bruce. Bruce said: "That's better." The student then walked away with a grin.]

What Bruce Lee had demonstrated in the movie was essentially the power of soft focus.

'Soft focus' comes about when we are gazing at what's around us, or what's ahead of us, in the far horizon, rather than staring at what's directly in front of us.

That's to say, one is totally aware of what's happening around oneself, immediate as well as beyond, when in 'soft focus'.

I would even add that, with 'soft focus', one even has this gut-feel/intuitive sense of one's surroundings, immediate as well as beyond.

Especially as a martial artist, 'soft focus' is critical to personal success.

In fact, legendary Japanese combat strategist of the 16th century, Miyamoto Musashi, excelled in it too.

In today's rapidly-changing world at accelerating pace & with increasing complexity, I believe that 'soft focus' is a prerequisite for personal as well as professional success.

It's akin to wide-angle vision, as illustrated beautifully by innovation strategist Wayne Burkan in his now classic book bearing the same name, which I had already reviewed in an earlier post.

He calls it 'splatter vision'.

He explains, from the business world perspective:

"In reality, you are unfocusing your eyes, maximising your peripheral vision, sustaining a soft focus, increasing your view of the landscape with an almost 180 degree-field-of-vision, in order to avoid becoming so focused that you expect your challenge to come from a specific direction!"

I fully agree with Wayne Burkan that 'soft focus' is a useful & powerful anticipation tool, with which you can apply to constantly scan the entire business landscape in sweeping motions in order to avoid missing "unexpected gaps", which could be potential threats &/or hidden opportunities.

BOOK REVIEW: 'PERIPHERAL VISION', by George Day & Paul Schoemaker

[Extracted from the 'Optimum Performance Technologies' weblog.]

'Peripheral Vision' is quite a catchy title.

For all intents & purposes, it is a very fascinating book, filled with superb insights.

From my personal perspective, "Peripheral Vision' rides on a much larger issue that has strategic ramifications for businesses as well as for individuals in today's chaotic world.

Mercer Management Consulting calls it 'Strategic Anticipation', & they define it as `the ability to get it, to spot an emergent opportunity & chart a path there before the competition does.'

In fact, one of their VPs, Adrian Slywotzky, has even written a book about it in the late 90's. It's called 'Profit Patterns' which provides a powerful discipline to see order beneath the chaos, based on the company's ground-breaking research into over 200 companies in 40 industries.

They have identified some thirty patterns.

I call it anticipatory prowess.

The two authors of 'Peripheral Vision' come with excellent credentials.

George Day wrote 'Market Driven Organisation' & 'Market Driven Strategy'.

Paul Schoemaker wrote 'Profting from Uncertainty' & 'Winning Decisions.'

The four books have been my personal favourites. I must compliment the two authors for coming up with a seven stage systemic process model in 'Peripheral Vision.'

It provides practical tools & strategies for building a vigilant organization that is readily attuned to external environmental changes. The 'Strategic Eye Exam', which has been well thought of, is a real gem.

To my great delight, the same model & tools can also apply to the individual.

'Peripheral Vision' draws its intellectual cues from the concept of `splatter vision' which has been mentioned earlier & for the first time in a business book by Wayne Burkan in 'Wide Angle Vision', during the mid-90s.

According to him, the concept involves scanning the entire landscape & looking at the big picture, to consider the signals coming in from every direction, rather than focusing on the individual signals coming from one direction or another.

I understand that it has its origins from an ancient technique practiced by North American natives as part of their survival repertoire. They call it the 'eye of the tracker', which allows them to take in all of a tracking scene, like a wide angle lens, without focusing immediately on anything in particular.

Today, it is practiced by US Secret Service & FBI agents as well as army snipers, police detectives, fighter pilots, truck drivers, animal hunters, bird watchers & other nature observers.

In the martial world, it is known as 'soft eyes', often exemplified by the late Bruce Lee as he fended off fighting opponents with his stealthy anticipatory 'Jeet Kun Do' moves.

As a matter of fact, in the 'Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy', Japan's legendary combat strategist, Miyamoto Mushashi, taught how to 'relax & unfocus' the eyes in order to secure a sure victory during life-&-death duels.

In 'Photo-Reading' developed by Paul Scheele of Learning Strategies Corporation, readers are taught how to use a similar technique, known as 'Photo-Focus', which allow them to absorb massive information with relaxed & unfocused gaze of the reading material.

Anticipatory prowess is a critical survival skill for a company as well as for an individual in today's turbulent world. Our ability to avoid or withstand threats & crises is a function of both our ability to anticipate & our ability to respond quickly.

Applying the seven stage process model alone is inadequate. One must first truly understand how one's mind perceives the world in its many manifestations e.g. data.

When we look at new data, we automatically try to make a match to what we already know & select a pattern from our memory store-house that might apply. This matching process gets influenced not only by what patterns we have stored up, but also our goals, prejudices, fears & passions.

Perception is undoubtedly the first & most important step in turning raw data into reality.

Next is creativity.

Creativity requires seeing things differently as well as doing things differently.

In essence, creativity takes place in the perceptual phase of thinking. This is where our perceptions & concepts are formed & this is where they have to be changed.

According to Edward de Bono, most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic.

I wish to drive home the point that the only sustainable edge a company (or an individual) has over the competitor is the perceptual sensitivity & creative ability of its people, because the competitor can also likewise implement the seven stage process model.

I generally concur that the seven stage process model can readily help in reducing the vigilance gap but as a user one must constantly enhance one's perceptual sensitivity to the world & also be prepared to challenge one's assumptions.

Additionally, one must also be prepared to be exposed & adapted to other new approaches.

In this respect, & in order to broaden & expand one's repertoire of perspectives & tools, I would like to suggest the following supplementary reading to 'Peripheral Vision':

At the Business &/or Organisational Level:

- 'Opportunities: A Handbook of Business Opportunity Search', by Edward de Bono (**must read**);

- 'Future Edge', by Joel Barker (**must read**);

- 'Wide Angle Vision', by Wayne Burkan;

- 'Profit Patterns', by Adrian Slywotzky;

- 'Market Research Matters', by Robert Duboff (a former VP of Mercer Consulting);

- 'Early Warning: Using Competitive Intelligence to Anticipate Market Shifts, Control Risks & Create Powerful Strategies', by Benjamin Gilad (his earlier work, 'Business Blindspots', is also worth exploring);

- 'Heads Up: How to Anticipate Business Surprises & Seize Opportunities First', by Kenneth McGee;

- 'Business Early Warning Systems', by Patrick Caragata;

- 'Harnessing the Power of Intelligence, Counter-Intelligence & Surprise Events', by Alain Martin;

- 'Anticipatory Management', by William Ashley;

- 'Vital Signs', by Melanie Herman (written for non-profit managers but worth exploring);

- 'Managing Business Crises', by John Burnett;

- 'Creating a Market Sensitive Culture', by Ken Langdon;

- 'Developing Strategic Thought', by Bob Garrett (only Chapter 5, which is a real gem. It illustrates strategic 'seeing' from multiple perspectives or viewpoints. A masterpiece from Henry Minzberg!);

At the Personal &/or Professional Level:

- 'Dinosaur Strain', by Mark Brown (**must read**)

- 'It's not the Big that eat the Small', by Jason Jennings (**must read**);

- 'The Power of ImPossible Thinking', by Jerry Wind;

- 'Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way', by Robert Ramsey (written for school principals but worth exploring);

- Anthony Robbins' 'Power Talk (Professional Series): The Power of Anticipation' (**must listen**);

- 'The Titanium Professional', by Hugh Davies;

- 'Who Moved My Cheese?', by Spencer Johnson;

- 'High Impact Leadership', by Mark Sanborn;

To conclude my review, 'Peripheral Vision' is definitely worth exploring, but first be aware of your perceptual sensitivity to the world!