How can companies accelerate growth? One way is to see opportunities that others miss. But how do organizations develop the capacity to see emerging opportunities at the edges of their field of vision? We recently spoke with Paul Schoemaker, who is on the faculty of a forthcoming executive education program, Accelerating Growth: Strategies for Driving Innovation and Profit. He discussed his recent work with Professor George Day on "peripheral vision," the subject of their forthcoming book, Peripheral Vision: Seven Steps to Seeing Business Opportunities Sooner (Harvard Business School Press, 2006).

Q: What is peripheral vision?

We used the metaphor of "peripheral vision" to examine the complex mechanisms underlying an organization's capability to see what lies outside of its central focus. As with human and animal vision, the periphery is the fuzzy zone outside the area of primary focus. Focal vision helps us concentrate on the current task, while peripheral vision helps us see threats sneaking up on us or opportunities emerging.

How does peripheral vision contribute to growth?

Some of the most significant opportunities for growth, for example, may come from the periphery of our business. These might be an emerging technology that could change the nature or structure of our business, as Amazon and eBay recognized with the Internet or pharmaceutical companies are recognizing with genomics. Opportunities might also emerge as a result of a market shift, such as the rise of low-carb diets or the more rapid maturation of children. For example, MGA Entertainment recognized and capitalized on "age compression" when it created its more sophisticated Bratz dolls. Their market share has grown rapidly at the expense of Barbie, creating serious problems for Mattel. Recognizing and acting on this shift in the market allowed Bratz to find a huge growth opportunity.

In both these cases, the incumbents were not the first to recognize these possibilities for growth because they were focused on running their successful businesses. This is why peripheral vision is so important to cultivate more deliberately.

Q: Do organizations have enough peripheral vision?

Most of them don't. In developing our book, we created a "strategic eye exam" to ask senior managers to assess the capability for peripheral vision for their specific environment. More than 80 percent of the global executives who took the exam felt that their capacity for peripheral vision would not meet their need. These executives, when they stopped to consider, realized that their peripheral vision was insufficient to meet the changes and complexity of the environment they faced. They needed to improve their peripheral vision.

Q: How can organizations improve their peripheral vision? Or is good peripheral vision something you are "born with"?

Most of our book examines the ways that organizations can improve their peripheral vision. We found that leadership is vital. As might be expected, a leader with broad peripheral vision will encourage the entire organization to look more broadly. A leader with narrow peripheral vision can place blinders on the entire organization. Organizations with peripheral vision take specific approaches to a set of processes for learning: scoping (where to look), scanning (how to look), interpreting (what it means), probing (looking more closely), and acting (what to do). Moreover, these organizations have developed certain capabilities and, as noted, the right leadership.

While some organizations have inherent strengths in peripheral vision, just as some athletes are born with such gifts, they can also develop and improve their peripheral vision through exercise and attention. U.S. Senator and basketball star Bill Bradley, who had a highly developed capability for peripheral vision on the basketball court, used to practice looking at objects from the corner of his eye as he walked down the street as a child. Organizations can, in effect, do the same thing, working to cultivate and strengthen their peripheral vision.

How do I know if the peripheral vision of my own organization is up to the task?

We have our "strategic eye exam" online, so you can take the test yourself, or even have a group of managers do so. For a more visceral test, ask yourself: How many times have you been surprised by high-impact events in the past 5 years? If you've had three or more surprises, you are not alone. A survey of 140 corporate strategists found that fully two-thirds admitted that their organizations had been surprised by as many as three high-impact competitive events in the past 5 years. Moreover, 97 percent of the respondents said their companies lacked any early warning system to prevent such future surprises. To avoid future surprises — and recognize opportunities for growth — you need to begin strengthening your organizational capacity for peripheral vision.

Related Courses

• Accelerating Growth: Strategies for Driving Innovation and Profit

• Wharton Executive Education
  
  
• The Wharton School

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