So is tunnel vision a good thing or a bad thing for business?

I think it has its place…but, it definitely has places where it should not be.  When you’re on horseback and doing cutting horse competitions, you have to have tunnel vision.  You have to be focused on that calf.  Cutting horse competitions are when you separate one calf away from the herd, move it to the center of the arena…and then prevent it from ducking past the horse and returning to the herd.  The horse and rider move as one.  Both keep their eyes on the calf.  Together horse and rider turn and run to block the calf from returning to the herd.  The calf runs, stops abruptly, turns in the other direction.  Horse and rider watch every move the calf makes and anticipate what it’s going to do next.  I had a competitor tell me, “You take your eye off the calf, you’re coming off your horse.”  What is needed in cutting horse competitions is tunnel vision, concentration, focus — whatever you want to call it.

Tunnel vision in business can be good.  You set your goals and you take action towards those goals.  However, you don’t want to become so focused on the goal and the actions that you miss vital information along the way!  You want to make sure that you’re always looking at the big picture, as well.

As a Virtual Assistant, there is  a time and place for tunnel vision, but it’s also important that we don’t become too focused that we miss other vital pieces of the puzzle.  Have you ever worked on a jigsaw puzzle and you were so focused on finding that one piece that goes in that one spot that you miss other pieces that fit into other spots — and they were so obvious?!  And when you suddenly come out of that focus, it’s an “Oh, duh” moment?

In our online world, we need to continually look at the big picture.  If someone fills out this form, what needs to happen?  If someone clicks a link in this email, what needs to happen?  Oh, the date and time of the teleseminar has changed?  What else do we need to change — what other emails include that information?  We can’t just focus on one thing, we must continually be looking at the bigger picture.

Have you ever gotten so focused that you missed things?  Share with me below.