Ill-effects of ‘FOCUS’ – HR message from animal world

Every corporate very magnanimously and generously advice the employees to have sharp focus when they do their job. The above advice will be available in most corporate in abundance and will be available mostly as free as air the people breathe. Have focus will be the common phrase used frequently by both the so called very successful persons as well as the one who think that he/she has not achieved anything.

Is the word focus or the meaning of the word is that important or in other words, do people need so sharp a focus to achieve success in corporate? In truth, having sharp focus is good as well it has some disastrous consequences. The corporate and its employees should know when and how they should apply focus and how not to gets into the trap of being a focused person.

Also one needs to know how to focus the central point or the focal point and also the periphery too. Animal world is the best example and that would testify the fact of how the focus shall be useful and simultaneously how it could go useless to life.

In general, the only distinction the term ‘focus’ makes in human life from the animal life is that it directly helps the animals to achieve the desired results for themselves, whereas the ‘focus’ of the corporate employees helps the corporate to achieve the results directly. The employees only derive indirect benefits out of their focus in most corporate.

In general, all direct beneficiaries in nature have to remain dependent, relatively primitive and less evolved whereas the indirect beneficiaries grow fast, relatively self reliant and are more evolved.

Most animals on earth have to focus only a few businesses in their life. Food gathering, having a mate and protection are the only major needs they have to battle in life. They are extremely sharp in their focus on the above needs. Since they are highly focused only on certain things, their ability to see the space around the core focus is poor and hence have gone underdeveloped. Most animals know to protect them when they encounter the danger directly. When the danger comes as surprise, they fail to defend. This is the disastrous side effects of focus.

If animals had developed the ability of multiple focus or multiple desire or needs, they would have been more successful than the human being.

Man with his multiple focus and desires only could evolve successfully and rule the planet. Being sharply focused and having mono-focus means you are reducing yourselves to the level of a machine, certainly a perfect biological machine. The corporate employees must validate the fact as whether they are like a biological machine performing the job with great focus or are living like human being with multiple focus and desires. Every corporate employee must ask the question of whether they are operating from the level of an animal with mono-focus and limited basic desires or as a biological machine despite having evolved as human being?

Have focus means, do the job with focus. It does not mean that you should never develop multiple focuses. Only when you develop multiple focus, your capability in doing many things become sharp and you become a very assertive than mere active.

Be cautious of the fact that if your boss wishes you to have sharp focus and preferably be in one area of work means, he/she want you to be an instrument for his/her own success and not you as his/her team mate. You may even feel thrilled when you are appreciated for your focus. But remember they do so more for their own interest and not for your sake. Have multiple desires and learn to focus the periphery as well if you want to achieve anything big in your life.

Dr S Ranganathan