The Gorilla in the Room

There was a great experiment done by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chablis (check out www.theinvisiblegorilla.com) in which participants were asked to count how many times players from one of two teams passed a basketball to one another during a short video.?

You have probably seen this video and know the punch line which is that most participants are so focused on counting the ball passes that they do not notice a man dressed in a gorilla suit walking into the middle of the frame, beating his chest and then walking off.

It is ironic that the more focused we are on a problem, the more likely it is that we will miss something that we do not expect even if it is obvious. It is not a fault or failing, it is just the way our brains are wired.

Knowing that we have this “bug” in how our brains work, it is important that while working on projects, we build in checks to ensure that we are not missing anything that we were not anticipating. This can be as simple as making sure that we always take a moment, step back, and observe the bigger picture.?

No matter your business, one thing that you want to be sure of is that you are not missing the gorilla in the room.