PERSPECTIVE LIFT | Turning Tunnel Vision Into Target Action
Intense focus is a go-to-strategy for startup founders. A better way is hiding in plain sight.
In today’s coaching session my client, founder of a startup that received its first seed investment told me: “I feel like I'm all over the map. Yet I can’t see what is left or right of me. Drives me crazy." What he was describing as a paradox making him wonder whether he was losing his mind, is a common case of tunnel vision. In my coaching practice I have seen many founders - new founders in particular - mentally enter a state of combat. It’s an almost inevitable default mode: the burning desire to make it work, incredibly high levels of uncertainty, daily bugs to fix and the ticking time clock surmount in a strong cocktail of emotions. To cope with the number of real and self-imposed OKR’s, tunnel vision becomes a startup founder's new normal: zooming in on the target, blocking out anything happening on the periphery and losing the ability to see beyond. Like in a real combat situation those surrounding details can prove to be valuable and, in worst case, fatal if not spotted early.
The patterns of tunnel vision - focusing on the central aspects of a situation at the expense of attention to the periphery - is a survival mechanism as old as human existence and playing out in multiple domains. Say you’ve fallen into icy, below 40 degrees water, your body’s first response is to shut down blood supply to your feet, legs and arms. Its core focus is maintaining the function of the heart, lungs and other vital organs in your body’s center so as to keep you alive.
Ditto, my clients every waking hour is spent in intense focus: Gaining traction is central to the survival and success of his startup. Coming from a career in finance, he’s had some experience of volatility, risk-taking and how at times, it can make one’s morale swing like a pendulum. But he wasn’t prepared* for lifting the mental-emotional heavyweight of the entrepreneurial hat.
A sharp focus and clear mind, as we all know, are fundamental to succeeding in a wildly competitive environment.
When you can’t see the forest for the trees, it’s time to lose your focus
Losing focus, as counterintuitive it sounds, is actually a good thing. When you lose focus, your brain and body can change position. From the new vantage point you are able to access an alternate perception of your surroundings. Like standing atop of a mountain peak provides new insights about the landscape, and just sort of clears your head - losing focus, in favor of seeing what else may be there, hiding in plain sight, gives rise to fresh ideas, and more importantly resharpened focus.
Main aspects of tunnel vision that hinder potential
Trite Thinking + Opportunity Cost | Using intense focus over extended periods of time decreases your ability to perform well targeted, efficient action. More than just not seeing the forest for the trees, it makes you irritable, your leadership suffers and you are less effective in creating novel opportunities for success.
Anxiety + Shooting-In-The-Dark | An added challenge for a startup yet to find its product-market-sales-fit: Your target is still moving, shape-shifting and you haven’t figured out the best way to approach it. A natural reaction is to start shooting in every direction, losing valuable energy, and run out of "munition".
In the session with my founder client, we completed a mental exercise to help him regain perspective. Afterwards, we mapped out the situation using both micro and macro perspective. The result: 1 innovative idea, 2 action steps informed by a detail that had gone amiss in tunnel vision and a renewed sense of clarity and focus.
Here are key shifts you can make to strengthen focus and maintain perspective
Intentionally lose focus**: Rather than having your focus invariably decline as a result of exhaustion prevent this by regularly calling in a time out for you and your co-founders
Give yourself permission to play: play here not referring to a win-lose type-of thing, but rather a non-dualistic experience: You do it for the sheer fun of doing it. Like exploring a new part of town, nature time, playing music, cycling, dancing, tinkering on a new idea, trying a new sport*** et cetera.
Strategically implement micro-doses of being “off-topic”: When you reach the moment where thinking becomes tense, learn to step way - the time this moment occurs will vary pending the perceived difficulty on any given day. Go for a task-free talk, call the friend you think you have no time to talk to, text somebody you care about, take a clearing shower
Realize you are not at the mercy of a ticking clock: You are in the business of creating something for the experience it affords you. And not a slave to the house your building. Plus, patience is your best friend when it comes to making impactful moves
I know this is easier said than done when you have invested significant chunks of mental, emotional and financial resources. Yet exiting the anxious m.o. asap is the #1 hack for well targeted, effective action. Another way to embrace the idea of losing focus to gain focus is to think of an old school camera: to get a sharp picture, you need to turn that little wheel on the left a couple times to go from blurry to brilliant.
Next time you find yourself in tunnel vision, try turning the wheel.
You just might discover something brilliant.
Interested in 1:1 work? Send me a note here, or here.
*regrettably, this is true for most new founders. Imho, preparation should be mandatory before entering the start-up arena. Like any top-athlete knows: proper practice is part of mitigating injury and, winning the game. There's reason why Michael Jordan "rather miss a game than practice."(Source)
**Intentionally losing focus has absolutely nothing to do with wasting time, procrastinating in form of doom-scrolling or engaging in the compare-affairs of Twitter and Instagram
***a new sport because your regular exercise routine engages familiar muscles - in body and brain, thus keeping you locked in focus mode. And possibly triggers more mental benchmarking, if you're competitive like me. Do something that suspends your ego