Target Focus

Target Focus is a good and a bad thing. Target Focus is when you concentrate on a target and shooting that target with great intensity. This is good because you tend to hit the target more often. This is bad because you tend to ignore things that seem obvious otherwise. Target focus is what Cheney blamed when he shot his friend while hunting.  I had a friend once follow a deer through is scope and when he fired, he was hit with a bunch of splinters. It turns out he could see the deer, but the barrel of the gun was blocked by part of the blind he was sitting in.

People in weapon training learn to control their target focus. That is why we train. Recently, a highly trained counter terrorists military troop accidentally used live ammo on a training exhibition and injured sixteen people. The man was arrested, but it looks like it was a mistake, not an intended attack.

I just watched an episode of 'The Unit' where one of the members grazed another because of target focus. It turned out the grazed member of the team was also out of position, so it was really both their faults. That's the reason we train.

I've noticed myself having the same trouble. I focus on one goal so much that I miss another goal. I have to force myself to stop and look at the larger picture. This reminds me of another training and experience issue called the two hundredth hour. That is where you know enough, and get cocky enough to get yourself in trouble. This is a rookie mistake made by a seasoned professional. This is why doctors in the U. S. will have to go through a verbal check list before, during and after surgeries from now on.

I've also noticed work projects exhibiting target focus in a bad way.  Then there is focusing on scope creep more than the original target. And loss of focus all together. All of these things add up to common loss of guidance. It happens on the best of project. It happens to the best of leadership. Well, maybe it doesn't. =]