June 2023 - Peripheral Thinkers™ Newsletter
June 15, 2023
Aloha Peripheral Thinkers™,
Thank you for being part of the growing Peripheral Thinkers™ community.
It’s June 15, 2023. Do you know where your business is going? Are you sure it’s going in the right direction? In this edition, we’re covering the importance of the Peripheral Thinking™ skill called Visioning. It’s similar to Big-Picture Thinking but with a twist, of course.
There’s an overview of Peripheral Thinking™ here 👉🏽 https://bit.ly/43WPCNO and scroll down to “What is Peripheral Thinking™?”
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So…
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A Peripheral Perspective: Visioning (aka Big-Picture Thinking)
Over the last 12-18 months, I’ve noticed more companies questioning their strategic direction. Business leaders are trying to make sense of confusing and conflicting signals. Inflation↑. Unemployment↓. Access to capital↑. Political uncertainty. War. Climate. To AI or not to AI? 🙄
It’s no wonder companies are waiting for the dust to settle.
But waiting is Not For You!
Now is not the time to stop moving.
Brad Pitt’s character in World War Z nails it.
Movement is life!
“But Paul, what if I move and it’s in the wrong direction? I’ve come too far to lose ground or start over.”
I get it, but sitting still makes you the proverbial sitting duck. And if you sit long enough, your goose is cooked. (Sorry for the fowl 🦆 language 😁)
Look, you’re a Peripheral Thinker™. When Peripheral Thinkers™ are uncertain which direction to turn, they RISE UP.
Visioning: The Skill for Big-Picture Thinking
The definition of Big Picture Thinking (also referred to as Visioning) is to ‘see past the details to obtain a strategic view of a challenge or goal.’
The definition does not say to ignore the details.
To never return to the details.
To forget about execution.
Peripheral Thinkers™ rise up by zooming out to gain a “strategic” view. Zooming out gives the current situation a broader perspective.
You’ve seen videos that begin by looking down on something like a building and then zooming out into outer space. The original object fades into a neighborhood, city, state, country, continent, and Earth.
Here’s a 1-minute video, but come right back.
Don’t be distracted by YouTube’s next shiny object.
Ok? I trust you.
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx9ziQBP5EW6BV_WjnrB2tNqDr-GHSO4pI
Welcome back.
You zoom out to gain perspective on your situation.
Where you are, can, and should go next.
Obstacles that you didn’t see from the ground level.
Where you can sprint and where you must crawl.
At what point on your video zoom-out journey did the building stop becoming the focal point? When did you start looking at other things that aren’t at the center of the image?
At that moment, your attention moves to something else. A different path. A new destination. An unusual signal.
Are you with me?
Here’s the fun part…
Peripheral Thinking’s™ version of Big-Picture Thinking/Visioning zooms out…
AND…
Zooms IN.
Fly High. Fly Low.
My friend, Kim “KC” Campbell, is a retired Air Force fighter pilot. She flew over 100 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan in her A-10 Thunderbolt (aka Warthog). The A-10 is a single-pilot aircraft designed to support ground troops. It flies high, and it flies low.
While writing this newsletter, I saw parallels between stories about Kim’s combat missions and Peripheral Thinking’s™ Visioning skill. Want to know what it’s like to be a fighter pilot? Ask one.
Kim confirmed that mission briefings include a lot of data/intelligence. There are the overall mission objectives (the goal). Flight plans to the target—flying as high as 30K feet—and closer assessment of combat zone at ~5K feet. The support plan... including flying as close to the ground as needed—often below 1K feet—to provide “Close Air Support” for ground troops.
Then there is planning for contingencies for each phase of the mission and gathering additional intel to support ground troops and future missions.
That’s the planning.
During the mission, the pilots focus on each phase, mentally zooming in and out and preparing to execute any contingency measures.
The A-10 has a targeting pod that allows the pilot to zoom in and out on the target area. They engage in two-aircraft runs—with one airplane looking at the target area zoomed in while the other aircraft is looking outside (zoomed out) to watch for threats.
Continuous zooming out and zooming in.
I will never do the complexities of being a fighter pilot justice. But they’ve got it when it comes to Peripheral Thinking’s™ Visioning skill.
Kim’s combat stories and the message about leading with courage are worth zooming into. You can learn more about Kim, her keynotes, her book, and her ventures at www.Kim-KC-Campbell.com.
So Now What?
As business leaders, you likely do some form of big-picture thinking now. Here are three steps you can use the next time you are uncertain about your strategy or next steps or want to collect more options.
Rise up
Get a bigger picture of your situation. Go higher than 10 feet or even 100 feet. Look at your situation from nothing lower than a mile up. That should be enough height to you the big-picture perspective you need.
You must disconnect yourself from the immediate situation and climb high enough to see where you started and where you plan to go. You can learn a few things with a retrospective and use that as one lens to evaluate your current direction. But that’s just the start. Don’t stop there.
As you gain altitude, ask for help from a trusted advisor. Someone who can ask you questions that help you zoom out. It’s best if your advisor is not an expert in your industry. Fresh eyes ask fresh questions. You need fresh perspectives.
You’ve gained altitude, reviewed your journey, evaluated your current path, and been asked fresh questions about your situation. That’s 3 perspectives.
There’s more…
2. While at altitude, look around. Before diving back in with 3 perspectives, use this opportunity to see what else is happening in your big-picture view. You may see lights ahead and to the left. You may see a river back and to your right. Find a few interesting objects and investigate.
In business terms, what trends are hot in an unrelated industry? What’s happening in global finance, New Zealand, nanotechnology? Find something interesting and zoom in. Gather general concepts, principles, or details. Whatever you have time and capacity to collect.
Then zoom out, find another topic or industry, and zoom in.
This zooming exercise uncovers new perspectives and occasionally new opportunities. You’ll find new ways of doing things. You may uncover threats and new opportunities you didn’t consider before they hit.
Bring it home!
Time to bring it all together to address your situation. You have 5 or more perspectives now. You also have lessons, concepts, principles, and details. Don’t worry that some information came from “unrelated sources.” Everything you discover doesn’t have to apply to your current situation. But having more quantity and variety of resources is better than a handful of 10-year-old best practices.
The more perspectives you have, the more extensive and varied the resources you have to inform your decisions. Take the best of what you have and apply these to your situation. Measure results and adjust as needed.
TL:DR
This is an introductory view of Peripheral Thinking’s™ Visioning skill. It isn’t just imagination or high-level goal-setting. It is both strategic and tactical. It is retrospective and prospective. It is reactive, adaptive, and proactive.
Keep moving!
Visioning sees past the immediate details to achieve a strategic view of your situation. Just as important, Peripheral Thinking’s™ Visioning skill uncovers new opportunities for growth and innovation.
Until next time, I’ll be looking for you in the periphery.
🤙🏽 Mahalo,
Paul
Two More Things
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I’ll See You In The Periphery!
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