Wow! I did not see this coming…
There’s an “invisible gorilla” in my business? (It does, however, explain who’s been raiding the snack drawer late at night.)
And it’s having its way with my business growth!
An an entrepreneur, my business depends on attention. In fact, I pride myself in staying focused on strategies to grow my business. The notion of not being alert to a “stocky animal with broad chest and shoulders, large, human-like hands, and small eyes set into a hairless face” is horrifying.
Admitedly I’m less than perfect in pursuit of the attention objective. Like you, my attention is divided between client requests, meetings on zoom, acquiring talent, moving projects forward, juggling cash flow…
Growing a business today isn’t easy — despite what we often read online. Moving a business forward strategically and systematically is not for the faint of heart.
The fact that an “invisible gorilla” roams aimlessly around the office is unconscionable!
. . .
TLDR:
- The business owner’s inability to pull themselves out of day-to-day operations overshadows key elements of business growth.
- “Inattention blindness” ultimately slows or stalls business growth that prompts owner burnout, overwhelm, and despair.
- Join an entrepreneur cohort, engage a strategic business coach, or learn to retrain your brain to break out of your concealed silo existence.
. . .
Sight Unseen: It’s Monkey Business
But what about the gorilla? In the book, The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us, professors Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons explore the inner workings of our minds. As a result, they uncover how we miss things right in front of us.
Their groundbreaking experiment, known as “The Monkey Business Illusion,” reveals a great deal about our focus, attention, and perceptions — key elements that elevate a business to the next level or keep it plateaued.
Watch “The Monkey Business Illusion” video. And, experience for yourself how critical pieces of information can be, shall we say, “invisible”.
The Invisible Impact on Business Growth
As Simons points out in the video, “When you’re looking for a gorilla, you often miss other unexpected events.” So it is with business.
When we are so intensely focused on a particular aspect of the business, such as juggling cash flow or delivering value to clients, we often miss the most impactful aspects of business growth. Yet, they are right in front of us.
This is called “inattentional blindness.” “Inattentional blindness” refers to devoting one’s attention to a particular activity and unintentionally missing other critical information.
When Chabris and Simons speak of “inattentional blindness,” they might as well be speaking about our experience as an entrepreneur.
What does it mean to miss cricital pieces of information to grow your business? Here are a few “inattentional blindness” fallouts:
- loss of relevance and market competitiveness
- high client turnover
- slimming profit margins
- cash flow on life support
- talent not growing with the organization
- sluggish or stagnant growth
- owner burnout and despair
Retrain Your Brain to See the Invisible
Whether your attention is focused on a single aspect of your business or diverted to a multitude of activities, objectivity allows us to identify the opportunities and obstacles we’re missing. For instance, to avoid missing critical information, here are a few solutions to consider:
- Join a Mastermind Group of like-minded business owners. Others often see what we are missing. As a result, the insight is priceless for discovering and implementing the right solution.
- Engage a strategic business coach. A trained strategic business coach is well-equipped to see the “invisible gorilla” in your business.
- Train your mind to think differently. See the “gorilla” for yourself to recognize the opportunities and strategies to grow your business. In fact, consider reading Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant. It’s eyeopening! ?
Look around. As a result of this new information, are you seeing any “invisible gorillas” in the midst of your business?
