Break Through The Noise

When data invades at a bewildering pace, dynamic focus becomes an imperative in the business space. And no better way to learn it than from the Blue Angels.

- John Foley

When you are a Blue Angel pilot flying in formation, with a mere 36 inches between 21-million-dollar jets, you have to bring your A game. But that is only the beginning. During the year, through 270 days on the road and countless hours of heart-pounding, intensely physical air show flying, Blue Angel pilots improve, and the distance between jets whittles down to just 18 inches.

Flying like this in close formation—100 feet off the ground, upside down, with the world streaking below at 500 mph—requires a special tool I call dynamic focus.

Dynamic focus: sharpening your mind

Dynamic focus is the ability to shift between the task at hand and the overall situation in fractions of a second. It is like opening up a radar scope; for a brief moment, you assess everything that is coming at you, and then quickly focus your mind like a laser on what is essential, both opportunities and threats. This kind of dual mindset is what sets apart elite athletes, innovators, and—at an extreme level—Blue Angel pilots.

In today’s digital business world, dynamic focus is critically important. There is so much information coming at us, such vast amounts of data available for analysis, that we need to quickly identify the important things first. Allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed by the constant flow of information turns into a distraction that compounds over time. Dynamic focus slows the flow down and spotlights the critical elements of any situation.