A lot more than tunnel vision is required
For the longest time I wondered about the intense focus you need to start anything new and to succeed in all walks of life. I knew it was required, but after that, I had all kinds of questions.
Could that focus be learned?
Could it be harnessed?
Must it be limited to just one thing? Or would it be better to concentrate on multiple related variables? (Sales and marketing. Research and development.)
In recent years, neuroscientists have done a great deal of research in the area of attention, some of it covered in the book Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, by Daniel Goleman, a psychologist who popularized the early research on emotional intelligence.
When it comes to business Goleman wrote, the most successful people have, “a triple focus.” Specifically, they exhibit:
- An inner focus (self-awareness of their strengths and weaknesses.) In other words, they know who they are and what they are good at—and what they are not.
- Another focus (attending to the needs of people around them, particularly their employees and customers.) This is important because it invariably requires they help of others to create the new; and
- An outer focus (keeping an eye on what’s happening in the world that might require a change in business strategy or even a rethinking of the entire business model). The world in general, and competition in particular, requires you to constantly change and adapt. An outer focus is mandatory.
Goleman’s three traits sound right to me, based on interactions with success over the years and my own experience in creating new companies and projects. And what I particularly like about Goleman’s conclusions is that he is saying the focus that the most successful people exhibit is more than tunnel vision.
Tunnel vision implies you are concentrating on just one thing such as what you need to do to make your company successful from a marketing point of view. As Goleman points out, you need to do more (focus on figuring out where your employees fit in; keeping an eye on the competition, and making sure that you are the right person to be making the decisions in these areas. You may not be.)
And I love the fact that apparently the multiple focus can be learned. According to Goleman, neuroscientists have found that the ability to focus attention “works much like a muscle—use it poorly and it can wither; work it well and it grows” and the ability becomes stronger, which of course allows you to focus more.
So, focus can be learned…if you focus (on learning it.)
The conclusion seems clear to me. If you want to be successful: Focus. Focus. Focus.
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