Wilful Blindness

Look for the things you are blind to.  

That may seem like an oxymoron - if I'm blind, how can I see it? 

I've just read Willful Blindness: Why we ignore the obvious at our peril by Margaret Heffernan. Excuse the pun, but it is eye-opening. The ways in which human beings ignore the things they don't want to acknowledge, how long work hours don't produce more productivity, and how our brains work when they are overloaded is fascinating. 

The book made me think about how we can look specifically for those things that we may be missing for whatever reason. A lot of it is about asking questions about the stuff you're not receiving information about. It's about raising your hand and asking that question that no-one wants to hear and not being quiet when you don't get an answer. 

We all have filters and biases, but being aware that we have them can help us to start to overcome them.