SEEING THE INVISIBLE

This is part of an occasional series on "Skills for the
21st Century." A while back we looked at Extreme
Selfishness and Positive Self-Projection. The next skill to
"survive and thrive" in this brave new world is the ability
to "See the Invisible."
We hear that we are living in the "information age" and
that more and more of us are valued for our ability to
process vast amounts of data and crunch numbers. In some
ways, that's obvious and will continue but I doubt it will
be your key to major success.
The truth is, we are swamped with information! We are over-
whelmed and stressed, even paralyzed with information. Our
mailboxes are full of junk mail, our inboxes are full of
spam. We have hundreds of television channels, with a dozen
of them giving us "news" 24-7. And if there aren't too many
stations already, podcasts and satellite radio promise us
hundreds more! It's too much!
We are looking for SOLUTIONS, not more information.
Fortunately, human beings have an amazing ability to cut
through the clutter, identify the KEY piece in a world of
random data, and take action.
In his book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell calls this "thin
slicing." Others have called it intuition or instinct.
Personally, I think it's a skill. It's the ability to know
instantly that something is "right" or "wrong" for us. When
we take an instant liking to someone, we are "thin
slicing." We simply KNOW, and we are seldom wrong.
In the 21st century, peak performers will understand and
hone this skill to a razor's edge.
Peak performers will be just as swamped with information
and "special" offers as the rest of us. They will have just
as much paperwork, feel just as much pressure, and they,
too, will have to get their kids to soccer and ballet and
band practice. Peak performers will have to cope all of it.
How will they do it?
By Seeing the Invisible.
We all know the feeling when someone is lying to us. We all
know "that look" when our kids are fibbing. And we either
USE that "knowing" or we ignore it. Sometimes we prefer not
to know that someone is lying or that a business deal is "a
bit off." It's called denial and we all do it, but winners
do much less of it.
There was a time when you could do your "due diligence"
before signing a contract, and fortunately, we have great
resources to help us investigate situations and decide if
they're right or not.
But increasingly, there's no time. Increasingly, the
attempt to do our "due diligence" generates such a flood of
data that we literally cannot make sense of it all. That's
when top achievers trust their ability to "thin slice."
Through all the clutter and data, they can "see the
invisible." They "get a feeling" or "just know" that
something is right or wrong for them.
Call it intuition or call it instinct. Call it "thin
slicing" or a "gift," but we all have it and in the 21st
century, winners will hone and rely on it. A thousand years
ago, our ancestors could look at the sky and predict the
weather, or track an animal through the forest. Today, the
winners in life still use their "inner knowing" to create
the life they truly want.
In the 21st century, the advantage will go to those who see
the invisible. The edge will go to those who "know" and
trust themselves and their instincts to make winning
decisions and develop winning relationships.