I took my 11 year old neice Tilly to London for a couple of days earlier this week – we had a lovely time doing all the ‘Tommy Tourist’ stuff you do, visiting things that I thought an 11 year old would want to see. Tilly specifically wanted to go to The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square particularly to see George Stubbs’  ‘Whistlejacket’ (she loves art and horses!), so we went. The National Gallery was amazing! I’d never been.

I go to London regularly, often ‘dashing in and out’, but even when I go ‘visiting’ I’ve never considered the National Gallery. I’m not a particularly ‘arty’ person and have never thought it would be for me - I was blown away with the place – some of the paintings in there are absolutely inspiring! Can’t wait to go back.

And my point is? A fresh pair of eyes showed me something I’d never considered – something I’ve walked past regularly and ignored consistently (more fool me!). I’m convinced most of us are guilty of that running our buisnesses and doing our jobs – perhaps we’re on ’automatic pilot’ a bit too much? Do you always do what you’ve always done?

So why not get ‘a fresh pair of eyes’? Ask a member of your team (maybe a ‘junior’, a ‘newcomer’, or someone who doesn’t do your job), what they think about how you do a specific job, ask a customer to point out something they think you could do better, ask ‘anyone’ to make a suggestion about a website you should look at, a book you should read, a place you should visit.

It could be that they point out something you used to do, watch or visit, but for whatever reason, you’ve stopped. My Godson, Sam asked me to play Mastermind with him the other day – I’ve not played that for about 30 odd years! It’s a great game and we had great fun. Again, a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ – this time reminding me about something I already know but had ‘forgotten’. 

What I’m saying is that ‘a fresh pair of eyes’ can highlight ‘new’ stuff to you and can ‘remind’ you about stuff that you know, but haven’t done / seen for a while.

So, in the spirit of providing a ‘fresh pair of eyes’, here are some things to look at:

First of all, a couple of reminders about ‘old ones’:

Tom Peters – Been doing it for years, but still doing it

Seth Godin – Obvious to anyone who reads my stuff, but always worth ’reminding you about’

Here are a couple of ‘newer ones’:

Fresh Networks - great stuff and ideas on Social Media

John Lyle – thought provoking ideas on Branding

And finally, to get consistently ‘fresh pairs of eyes’, visit TED for 18 minute ’bursts’ of innovation, stimulation and motivation from some of the greatest business thinkers in the world.

Suggestions Please! Do let me know what you think I should be looking at – the more eyes that are looking, the more we’ll all see!

Bookmarks: