??3 Causes of a Team's Tunnel Vision & 1 Way Out (plus a course to learn how to stay out)

I have 2 examples in my past life - as a consultant and as an entrepreneur pitching for investment- where I got confronted with tunnel vision around the table. As a trusting person by default, it felt sobering to realise I was stuck in a tunnel with other people not listening, with no opportunity to get out and understand the other team members were not aware they were stuck in a tunnel too…

Sounds familiar?

Tunnel Vision is the tendency to focus too narrowly on a single approach or solution and neglect alternative ideas or even consider underlying assumptions. It happens to all of us at work and in life.

Here are the top three causes:

1- Confirmation Bias

Team members lean towards information that confirms their existing ideas and discount anything that contradicts them. For instance: Imagine a marketing team, that championed a new video feature in an app, and focused on positive feedback and anecdotes about users enjoying the feature. They downplay or dismiss negative feedback like comments about the feature feeling unoriginal or poorly integrated with the existing platform, and stop exploring further. You will hear: “This is working great, see? We know exactly how this will pan out so let’s deploy this now.

2- Groupthink

Team members are tired (afraid?) of conflict, crave harmony and peace and are therefore reluctant to challenge the most dominant viewpoint (A CEO, the person who holds power? The most extrovert manager? Your investors? You?).

For instance, we’ll follow the charismatic well-spoken leader, the one who always brings the money, or with the most “friends”. We’ll fall for the illusion of unanimity, the smokescreen of early adoption…

3- Time Pressure

When time is up and you’ve got to deliver, teams might prioritize speed over thoroughness and drown in denial. We assume pausing to reflect is a luxury we can’t afford. We might overlook the potential flaws in an initial approach or the negation of entirely new ways of tackling the problem.

The consequences?

• Missed opportunities for better solutions
• Increased risk of project failure
• Lower team morale due to unheard ideas
• Wasted resources
• Mental distress
• Political conflicts (yes that is how they get triggered)

One way out of the tunnel

Pause and take 3 minutes to tap into your imagination.

Recall a recent meeting with “Tunnel Vision” you might have attended in your work.

Imagine how different things could have turned out if, on that day, people in the room had felt:

1- A genuine sense that people in the room were considered equal

2- Encouraged to share their authentic thoughts, knowing they are genuinely contributing to a collaborative conclusion. This should be done in a way that allows for co-creativity, not co-reactivity.

3- The time to explore their thinking in the company of a group that gives their most generative attention, and doesn’t judge nor interrupt them

If you find it important and want to strengthen your way out of the tunnel, join my next #TimeToThink Foundation course on October 17 and 18 (Online - 9:30 am – 4:00 pm UK BST). ?

We’ll explore the ten components that turn a team into a #ThinkingEnvironment.

We’ll bring these ten components to life through 8 applications you can use in work or life meetings to foster dignified collective thinking.

If you knew that you could dilute the tunnel and fuel your team with exquisite attention, generating true, liberating assumptions, what would change for you?

More info about the course here and to book https://servanemouazan.co.uk/time-to-think-foundation-course

#TeamLeadership #socialImpact