Ways to distinguish yourself #129 Stop treading in the "blind spots" of others

I can safely assume that each one of you know about blind spots. Usually “blind spot” is talked about in the context of driving. It is an area of the road that disappears from your vision when you are looking at your rear view mirror. It is dangerous for a driver to not know about this concept as it can easily lead to an accident.

It is also dangerous to the person who is driving his car that at a location that is at a “blind spot” for the driver in the next car. If the driver in the next car forgets about the blind spot and makes a mistake, both parties pay. One for his mistake and the other for just being in the “blind spot” of the person making the mistake.

Accidents, as you all know, can sometimes be harmless. They can also be fatal.

The same thing can happen in your career and in your life. People have blind spots and they are walking around knowing that they have blindspots but that information is only in the background. Philosophers Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela (in their groundbreaking book “The Tree of Knowledge“) put this beautifully – sometimes we just don’t see that we don’t see.

When you are hurt by someone else, there is a 50-50 chance that it was unintentional. The person who hurt you never had the intention of hurting you in the first place. But it does not matter. If someone stabs you unintentionally, it still HURTS! Rather than blaming circumstances or the other person, you can start taking some additional care. Therefore, it is in your best interest to ensure that you are not in the “blind spots” of other people. You will avoid getting hurt unnecessarily.