As Thanksgiving approaches, my thoughts turned to turkey. This morning a couple of random facts popped into my head, and oddly converged with the management discussion we have been having lately in this space.
Turkeys have monocular vision: Each eye sees a different thing. Since their eyes are also located on each side of their head, they are able to see rather different views from each eye. However, both eyes cannot focus on the same image at the same time (like human eyes can). Although this helps turkeys avoid predators, it doesn’t give them much depth of vision. To focus, they sometimes will tilt their heads to get a better look, thus focusing the prominent eye. Furthermore, their eyesight overall is excellent so that when focused, they can easily see detail from over 100 yards away.
So, OK…that’s probably more than you wanted to know about turkeys. But we can combine this knowledge of a turkeys vision to better understand management’s analogous need to see what is in front of them, while at the same time see what might be coming at them from a distance. Let me call that TurkeyVision.
Good corporate managers must develop TurkeyVision to effectively manage their organizations. They must be able to focus on the tasks and issues immediately before them, while maintaining a long-distance (call it long-term) view of the marketplace. Granted, the long-term view is not as clear and sharp as the one you focus on day-to-day, but is required to assist you in conducting your activities properly for what awaits you. From time to time, you must consciously tilt your head to focus on that long view to assure you are still on track, and that there isn’t a predator coming at you from a distance.
Alright, it’s a bit of a weird analogy, but one that may help you address and fine-tune your management techniques. Like anticipating the
29th Day, the development of turkeyVision can be a worthy tool in your planning cycle.
“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.” --- Theodore M. Hesburgh, President of Notre Dame