Blind Spots – What to do about them?

I was in a conversation with the head of sales for an insurance company recently and we got to talking about the concept of identifying “what is missing” to help improve results. The conversation had started with us talking about the different perspective Gimbal Systems provides by helping organizations identify what is working well in order to leverage the successful behaviors to achieve more consistent results. We were discussing how this approach differs from only looking for what is broken or needs to be fixed as most expert consultants pride themselves on doing for their clients. I was struck by how important this third option was and how it was not simply an either or conversation between strength building and problem solving.  The more I thought about it, the more I found it appropriate that this revelation was discovered in discussion with someone outside of myself.

As I considered the idea of “what is missing” further, it brought to mind the concept of a “blind spot” for me. I enjoy using analogies and seemed to fit. The scientific definition of a blind spot relates to vision and is an obscuration of the visual field. The blind spot is the place in the visual field that corresponds to the lack of light-detecting cells to detect light on the optic disc. The result is that a part of the field of vision is not perceived. The brain fills in the gap with surrounding detail and with information from the other eye, so the blind spot is not normally perceived. It is interesting to me that the human system has figured out a way to hide the visual blind spots from ourselves. The double redundancy of two eyes comes in handy for this and without an optometrist and some tests we can’t identify our own visual blind spots.

The concept of a blind spot that I am more familiar with relates to driving a car and not seeing another vehicle behind or next to you. We have all had the experience of not looking closely enough when changing lanes only to be honked at by a car we had no idea was there. Cars continue to improve to try and limit blind spots. It was not too long ago when there was no passenger side rearview mirror and now cars have sensors that let you know when you are getting too close to something.  Despite all the improvements the auto blind spot still exists and requires someone else outside of the car to bring the blind spot to your awareness by some method like honking, causing the warning signal to beep or crashing into you.

The psychological word for blind spot is shadow and was introduced by the late Swiss psychiatrist, Dr. Carl G. Jung. It is defined as everything in us that is unconscious, repressed, undeveloped and denied. These are dark rejected aspects of our being as well as light, so there is positive undeveloped potential in the shadow that we don’t know about because anything that is unconscious, we don’t know or see. The shadows that we all have are also referred to blind spots in our character.  These inherent blind spots in the psyche that we know absolutely nothing about are precisely what create havoc in our relationships and our individual effectiveness.

The reality is that these blind spots or shadows are in all of our lives as individuals or organizations. Given that reality we then all have a choice as to whether or not we want to acknowledge and understand the blind spots. One alternative is to do nothing with the hope that we won’t eventually get blindsided by them. The more courageous and safer option is to ask for feedback from an outsider and then be open to learning more about ourselves through their eyes.  

The goal of the exploration should not be to eradicate the blind spots, because just like your car there are always going to spots where you can’t see the other car regardless of the number of mirrors or technology you have. Rather the goal is to be aware of where the blind spots are and to learn how to work with them.

I propose that this learning can only happen in relationship with another person you trust that is outside yourself or the organization. Whether it is the optometrist, another car honking at you to let you know they are there in your blind spot or the executive that in the course of a conversation raised my awareness to a third alternative when I only saw two choices; an outside perspective is needed to identify the “what is missing” blind spot we all have. So the question I leave you with is; what are you or your organization doing to proactively identify and understand your own blind spots, both positive and negative, so that you can be the best possible version of yourself?