I had a friend who told me the story of a pet pigeon he once had who went by the name of Walter. Walter was just an ordinary pigeon…nothing too special. He lived in a typical bird cage on the back porch of their house. His house was pleasant. He even had his very own swing. However, Walter was frequently let out of his domicile to freely wander the house. While Walter was given free reign of the house, they soon began to realize he was not taking advantage of it. It seemed on the surface that Walter Pigeon did not want to leave the safety of his small quarters on the back porch. But upon further research, it was not that Walter did not want to leave…it was that he did not know how.My friend watched Walter one day after he was released and learned an incredible life and leadership principal. Their hypothesis of Walter’s contentment was completely wrong. Walter Pigeon wanted out of his living space…and badly. Upon being let out, Walter would wait until everyone had left and then would make a direct attack on what he thought was the exit. However, he was sadly unsuccessful. He would repeatedly make attempt after attempt to escape…Throwing his body and beak against the thick glass. He would try and try and could never make it out. The sad truth is that his escape was so simple.

The back porch was designed with two exits on either side of a glass window. This created the problem. Walter could see his escape. He could see his freedom. He could see his goal. He could see where he wanted to be. But he could not get there. Yet he would continually fly headfirst into this window trying his best to go where he wanted to go, where he thought he should be able to go. He would try and try until he had no more energy to throw his little body against the window…while all the time he just needed to move a little to the left or right and he would be free.

It sounds like a sad site. A simple creature trying his hardest to go somewhere he can see, yet no matter how hard he tries he just can’t do it. Unfortunately, I have seen this in much larger creatures over and over again. People so fixated on goals, where they think they should be, a vision, that they loose sight of how to get there. They take the Walter Pigeon approach. If you see where you can be, go straight for it. They continue to hit obstacle after obstacle never reaching their desired destination. They try harder and harder. They keep throwing themselves at it with the same fruitless results. This then only fuels the fire more. They begin to put their heads down and keep trying to plow forward. But it takes them nowhere and they are only rewarded with headaches.

What is so sad about situations like Walter Pigeon’s and those that are similar is that the solution is so simple, yet so hard to see. If we would just take a few moments and look around and see the situation in it entirety, then we may notice that if we only would take a few steps to the left then we could achieve our goals. Yet that is not our nature. We just want to keep pressing on, regardless of our success and personal wellbeing. It then becomes more about how we get there then actually getting there.

It is so easy to become fixated on a single goal. Not allowing your eyes to look in any other direction other than straight at your goal. It’s like your peripheral vision is completely turned off, or maybe a better description is tuned out. There are things occurring to your left and right, but you singular focus straight ahead limits what you see…what comes across your field of vision. While going directly from point A to point B may be the quickest, it many times isn’t the wisest or even successful.

I often think about the early explorers and pioneers. I am amazed at their persistence, courage and vision. What would have been discovered if they gave up every time they ran into an obstacle? Would they have stopped every time they hit dry land? Would they have quit every time they ran into a mountain? Would they have turned around every time they ran into a storm on the sea? They didn’t. They had a goal and realized early on that a straight line is not going to get them to our desired goal. They were going to have to take a few steps to the left or a few steps to the right. There just is no other way.

So how do we develop “explorer vision?”…the type of vision that allows us to focus on a goal, yet still see the entire picture. How do we avoid situations like Walter Pigeon’s?

I have read many books written by great leaders all across the profit and not-for-profit world. Many of them are world renown for their success and ability to execute. People buy their books, go and listen to them speak, model their business and leadership after them and adopt their life philosophies. So many people are mistaken if they buy into the myth that these singularly focused forces of nature never bumped their heads into a glass wall. There are accounts after accounts of men and women who had a, or many, Walter Pigeon experiences. But it was their ability to find their way out and reach their goals that separated them from the rest of the leaders around them.

I wish I was about to provide a nugget of truth that would revolutionize your world…something that simply would blow your mind and make you think, Ah ha!”. But the answer is simple. The advice is elementary at best. When you find yourself beating your head against a wall, not being able to go or get where you think you should be, stop, step back and take a look around you. Instead of putting your head down…pull your head up. Did you know your body follows where your eyes are looking? Don’t believe me? Take a walk around a cluttered room. Go for a bike ride. Pay attention on your drive home from work. We go where are eyes are looking.

When we come upon something that seems so insurmountable we need to step back and take in the entire scene. Maybe there is another way that we didn’t see before. Maybe there is a roadblock that we didn’t realize was there. Maybe our primary path wasn’t the best choice. Maybe there is someone who has seen the right path and could help us reach our goal.

Bottom line: Beating your head against the wall will get you no closer to your goal. Take a few moments to step back and survey the entire scene. Usually the answer is there…right in front of you. You may just need to take a few steps to left.

Walter eventually learned that just because going straight at his intended destination looks like the most logical, practical and timely way to get there…many times that is not the way it works. Just changing your path by a few feet can make all the difference in the world.

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