Zooming In and Out

Vision is not what we make it out to be.

The supposedly Holy Grail of leadership, vision is usually defined as seeing what does not exist. So the visionary possesses a rare, even magical, gift.

But vision is really the capacity to see more of what’s already present.

And because it’s not magic but a habit, vision can be taught.

How do we see more of what’s already here?

We zoom in and we zoom out.

Zooming in: Aakash Kumar and Sahil Mehta see more in what is typically considered one thing: a job. Aakash is founder and CEO and Sahil is vice president of sales for Shiftsmart, an innovative labor management platform. They break down the job into duties and duration. An eight-hour job, for example, might have four duties, each requiring two hours. Four people could take on that job in four shifts.

That’s where Shiftsmart’s platform comes in: It matches a global pool of workers who want flexibility with just these sorts of hourly shifts.

This “fractionalization of labor” can shift power to workers, Aakash says. It can also help companies realize greater productivity and efficiency as well as savings.

So, in this case, disaggregation, or the isolating of component parts, makes a better solution visible.

Can this really be good news for both workers and companies?

You have to zoom in to see it.

Zooming out: A growing number of financial institutions and fintech startups see opportunities in underserved markets.

Esusu, for example, gets rent counted in credit scores for people who need to build credit. This benefits renters as well as landlords.

Underserved individuals and communities who are out of the picture in some calculations of opportunity are now seen in a fuller field. This is occurring in financial services, health and wellness, retail, and other sectors.

Using both the lens of social impact and strategic business, leaders see more of the whole. They recognize the state of relationships that help some and hinder others, and they see the possibility of a stronger ecosystem that sustains everyone.

Can a system really benefit everyone?

You have to zoom out to see it.

Daniel Pryfogle integrates the disciplines of leadership and culture formation, organizational development, and marketing. He is the CMO of CX Effect.