Peripheral Vision, Metsuke and Shuchu-Ryoku

My mentor and friend, Mary Texer, shared a wonderful book with me: Peripheral Vision: Detecting the Weak Signals that Will Make or Break Your Company by George S. Day and Paul J. H. Schoemaker.

The business principles in the book are directly applicable to one's study of Aikido.

A concept in the martial arts is Metsuke or "soft-focus;" and is sometimes referred to as "seeing-eye" or the "mind's-eye." It is seeing without focusing on a single point and yet permits awareness of the total field of vision or peripheral vision.

In Yoshinkan Aikido a key principle is "Shuchu-Ryoku" or focused or concentrated power. The development of this power is done through the training and alignment of the body.

Some high-lights below from the book wonderful describe Metsuke and Shuchin-Ryoku in practical real-world examples.

Splatter Vision: Seeing the Forest and the Trees

Some combination of directed and undirected search may be ideal. The FBI, for example, trains its agents to use a scanning approach called “splatter vision.” This involves scanning a crowd for would-be assassins by looking into the distance and not focusing on anyone in particular. Once the agent fixes a general gaze, he or she looks for deviation or change. Is someone restless, looking around too much, slowly putting a hand into a coat pocket? From among hundreds of faces, the agent seeks a lone assassin; suspicious activity then triggers a more intense focus. By balancing directed and undirected scanning, a single agent can spot signs of trouble across a fairly large area. (p. 52)

Guidelines for Scanning
Many parts of the periphery may be important to scan. Once you have identified an area as important, you can then choose among approaches to investigate that zone.

A few general principles can guide this process:
• Actively manage the process. This can help to focus attention and resources on those areas of the periphery that are most important.
• Use multiple methods. The key to active scanning is to avoid overreliance on the methods and information sources that everyone else uses. To gain fresh insights, we must go beyond seeing what others see.
• Treat scanning as an iterative process. The results of your scanning may suggest a larger or lesser scope. Each scan offers new insights that inform the next scan.
The meaning of any weak signal detected at the periphery will depend on the position and strategy of the company viewing it. The diverse signals identified through scanning might fit together into many different coherent pictures. (pgs. 70-72)
The process of making sense is even more complex when it relates to peripheral vision. The images are, by definition, muddied and imprecise. They are distorted like the edges of a fish-eye lens, and there is a high noise-to-signal ratio. In human vision, the periphery lacks detail and color. The mind can easily jump to the wrong conclusions about something that is seen out of the “corner of one’s eye.”
Many times, when it relates to the periphery, we jump to the wrong conclusions about what we are seeing. In other cases, we fail to understand a real threat or opportunity and don’t see it until too late. (p.74)

Conclusion: The Quick and the Dead
Learning quickly and efficiently is vital in responding to the periphery. Organizations [or individuals] that can gain clarity about what is happening before their rivals will be in a better position to act on opportunities in the periphery or respond to threats.

…learning can be improved and accelerated by the following approaches:
• Use scenarios to learn. Scenarios not only help interpret the future but they can also help in probing and learning. They organize signals that may seem to be random noise into a pattern. They show where knowledge and insights are needed…
• Fail fast and cheap to accelerate learning. Experiments can be the best way to learn about the periphery. Keep them as small as possible to extract the most learning with the least risk. While good peripheral vision is important peripheral vision is important in identifying opportunities, the real value of the periphery is to explore mistakes.
• Use real options. One of the best ways to increase the learning-to-risk ratio is to use real options. Options can turn small investments into powerful learning opportunities. They can help to reduce uncertainty before major investments are required. The idea is to keep the upfront investment low while learning and preserving the upside potential. (p. 116)

Focus Attention on Specific Challenges

The problem with a broad periphery is that the organization [or individual] can easily become overwhelmed and its attention can become diffuse. There is a vital need for prioritization and focus to direct attention to specific areas while continuing to promote a broad awareness. (p. 165)

Six Lessons from the Periphery

Lesson 1: Peripheral vision is more about anticipation and alertness than prediction.
One of the overriding principles of effective peripheral vision is that it will always be less clear than focal vision. The periphery is blurry; it is not in color. Weak signals are by definition faint. The future is basically unknowable. Even with these limitations, however, peripheral vision enables two kinds of anticipation: preparing in the face of uncertainty and acting before anyone else can. By the time a clear prediction or forecast can be made, it is probably too late.
Lesson 2: The problem is not a lack of data but a lack of good questions.
…unless one focuses this [information] gathering on expanding the field of vision, no matter how carefully they look, they won’t see opportunities and threats unless their scope is broad enough.
Lesson 3: Scan actively but with an open mind because the periphery won’t always come to you.
Don’t wait for the periphery to come to you; often, you must explore it. While passive scanning plays an important role in peripheral vision, you also must explore the periphery actively through directed hypotheses and undirected journeys into the unknown. Active scanning is not a one-time or annual event. It must be a real-time process that draws on a broad repertoire of techniques and approaches.
Lesson 4: Use triangulation to better understand the periphery.
Just as the eye uses triangulation to provide depth and meaning, multiple perspectives on the periphery are needed to comprehend it. If the periphery is confusing, look at it from different angles. This is most easily done by bringing different people with diverse views into the process and by using multiple methods or techniques. This is especially important because the periphery is inherently blurry and incomplete. The conflicts and differences in viewpoints, as well as multiple hypotheses, can help illuminate different parts of the picture.
Lesson 5: When catching glimpses from the periphery, it is wise to probe before jumping.
Don't always trust what you see out of the corner of eye. It is important not to jump to conclusions but to take time to learn more about the periphery. We must amplify the weak signals with directed probes. We also must act prudently through a portfolio of real options and experiments to maintain flexibility until the uncertainty is more tolerable.
Lesson 6: Balancing peripheral and focal vision is a central leadership challenge.
The resources and attention devoted to the periphery are often taken away from investments in the focal area. Organizations [and individuals] must strike the right balance between focal and peripheral vision. The eye works its wondrous way by combining inputs from the rod cells that are scanning the periphery and the cone cells that are used for focal vision in good lighting conditions. (pgs. 168-170)

Survival of the Most Responsive

All of us have limits-individually and in our organizations-in how far we can see and in our ability to detect and act on weak signals at the periphery. We also must recognize that peripheral vision is different than focal vision. The process of peripheral vision requires different capabilities and approaches than focal vision. Like being aware that a sudden outflow of the tide is a sign of a coming tsunami, recognizing these warning signs early can mean life or death. [Individuals] can recognize and act on opportunities more quickly. [Individuals] can avoid being blindsided by the market, technology, regulations, and competitors. It takes skill to do this well, but as the environment moves more quickly and becomes more uncertain, the payoffs from strong peripheral vision will be greater than ever. As Charles Darwin observed, "It's not the strongest of the species who survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change." (p. 179)