Column

There is an old saying that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. It’s one of those maxims that is universally acknowledged for its truth, and yet, equally ignored. After all, don’t most people have two eyes? Well, the saying isn’t about whether you have eyes or how good your sight is but it’s about how well you use the gift of sight.

We all have the tendency to unconsciously ignore information available to our senses. And we have to do this to continue functioning, otherwise we’d probably end up like old-fashioned sci-fi robots — all flashing lights, warning buzzers and smoke pouring from our ears as we shout ‘overload’.

However, this is unfortunate because we miss out on a lot of important stuff. For instance, our increasingly complex work environment, where politics and competing personalities can leave us baffled. Whatever our role, we tend to be so busy just getting along, that we rarely sit up and take notice.

Those who do, have a clear edge over us. The benefits of enhanced observation skills are plenty. To name a few: it helps in better understanding of friends and rivals, bosses and staff, it aids decision-making, helps influence people, helps you find ways to solve problems and also find opportunities.

As author Jonathan Swift said, “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible to others.” And why does so much of what’s in front of us seem invisible? It’s perhaps because, as the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, people only see what they are prepared to see, or if one were to believe English banker John Lubbock, what we see depends mainly on what we look for.

Frankly, making observation a habit isn’t all that hard. It takes a little more than choosing a focus and, indeed, the willingness to practise. Try focussing on one event or one person at first. Be attentive at meetings, for instance, by observing behaviour and reactions. The advantages could range from anything such as communicating better with an awkward member to handling someone whom you find intimidating.

So, don’t keep those blinkers on. Try a little experiment with your ability to see what’s going on around you. Start now. You’ll be surprised to learn what keen observation can do for you.

N Raghuraman is an editor with DNA