Introduction: The Art of Seeing in a 24/7 World
The art of seeing starts with a simple question. What if some of the most important things in your life are right in front of you, and you do not see them?
We spend our days on screens, in meetings, and moving from one task to the next. Each day brings more information than ever, yet we still overlook what matters. Looking at something is not the same as seeing it.
In August 2009, I wrote about two photography books that taught me to pay closer attention. They were How to Look at Everything by David Finn and The Zen of Photography: How to Take Pictures with Your Mind's Camera by Paul Lester. Neither one is a typical photography manual because both are about observation, awareness, and how we experience the world.
Since then, another book has stretched my thinking. The Power of Noticing: What the Best Leaders See by Max Bazerman explains why smart people miss what is in front of them. Photography teaches us to look more carefully, and Bazerman shows us what gets in the way.
What Photography Taught Me About Seeing
Years ago, I went to an event at the Toronto Camera Club. Richard Lautens, a Toronto Star photojournalist, was the speaker. He said that taking the picture is easy, and setting up the shot is the hard part.
Before you click, ask yourself one question.
“What's going on here and how do I feel about it?”
That advice changed how I think about photography. A good photo is more than a record of what sits in front of the camera. It can carry an emotion, tell a story, or show something others miss.
So why limit that skill to photography? Imagine bringing the same curiosity to your conversations, your business problems, and new situations. What might you notice that you now overlook?
How to Look at Everything by David Finn
David Finn's book is about experiencing the world instead of rushing through it. He describes how artists see their subjects. Henri Matisse told his students that the feeling a subject stirred in them mattered more than its physical appearance.
That idea applies to more than painting. Think about a walk through your neighborhood. Do you rush to your destination, or do you notice the buildings, trees, people, and sounds around you?
Finn even writes about waiting for a traffic light to change. Most of us treat that wait as wasted time. He invites us to use it to look around instead.
You do not need to travel somewhere exotic to see something interesting. Sometimes. you only need to look at familiar places in a new way.
The Zen of Photography by Paul Lester
Paul Lester's book takes a reflective approach to photography. It holds 100 Zen sayings, and many of them apply far beyond the camera. When I first wrote about it, I picked ten sayings that stood out to me.
Here are those ten ideas in my own words. Read them slowly and pick one to think about each day.
- Be present. The past offers lessons, and the future offers possibilities. We live our lives in the present.
- Listen to people's stories. Everyone has an experience that can teach us something.
- Recognize our shared humanity. Our backgrounds differ, but our emotions are much the same.
- Practice with intent. Any skill improves with attention and repetition.
- Be ready to learn. Information does little when we are not open to it.
- Keep technology in its place. Tools should support our lives, not pull our attention away from them.
- Be yourself. Comparing your life with someone else's distracts you from what matters to you.
- Question your ego. The need to be right can hide another point of view.
- Learn from everyone. A teacher can learn from a student. Wisdom does not depend on a title.
- Ask better questions. The best teachers help you find the right question instead of handing you answers.
The Power of Noticing: Why We Miss What is in Front of Us
Max Bazerman's book explores how people overlook important information and what that costs them. I notice more than the average person. Still, the book showed me where I can improve.
Bazerman calls one barrier bounded awareness. It is the predictable way we fail to see or seek information that is available to us. One kind of information we often miss is what did not happen.
His advice is simple. “Learn to think about what normally will occur and notice when that does not take place.”
The Gorilla Experiment
Years ago, I watched a video of people passing basketballs. Viewers were asked to count the passes. Partway through, a person in a gorilla suit walks across the screen.
Many viewers never see the gorilla because they focus so hard on counting the passes. I spotted it, and I did so before I knew the results of the experiment.
Psychologists call this inattentional blindness. When we focus on one task, we can miss something unexpected that is right in front of us.
Think about how this plays out at work. A business owner chases sales and misses signs that loyal customers are unhappy. Managers focused on deadlines can overlook employees who are struggling. Even readers who rush to finish a book can miss the one idea that would solve their problem.
Motivated Blindness and What Is Missing
Bazerman also writes about motivated blindness. We fail to notice unethical behavior when noticing it goes against our interests.
His example is steroid use in Major League Baseball. The results some players achieved pointed to performance-enhancing drugs. Managers and coaches looked away because they were focused on winning.
Picture a leader whose top performer behaves badly. The leader may overlook it because the results are so strong. Ignoring a problem does not make it go away.
This raises an uncomfortable question. What are you choosing not to see because seeing it would force you to change?
Noticing What Is Missing
My biggest takeaway from the book is a habit of asking two questions. Bazerman suggests asking, “What do I wish I knew?” and “What additional information would help inform my decision?” These questions push you past the information in the room.
Picture a meeting where everyone agrees on a plan. The slides are convincing, the numbers look good, and nobody objects.
A first-class noticer asks different questions. Which assumptions are we making? What evidence have we not looked at? Whose view is missing?
This brings me back to photography. A photographer chooses what goes inside the frame, but what sits outside the frame can matter just as much.
Why the Art of Seeing Matters in Leadership
Bazerman shows what failing to notice can cost. Before the Challenger launch, some NASA engineers worried about launching in cold weather. Decision makers paid attention to the wrong data, and all seven crew members died.
Hurricane Katrina was what Bazerman calls a predictable surprise. In 2001, FEMA ranked a disaster in New Orleans among the three likeliest catastrophes facing the country. Governments failed to act on information that was widely available, and many people lost their lives in 2005.
The BP oil spill in 2010 killed 11 people and devastated Gulf communities. Afterward, CEO Tony Hayward said, “I'd like my life back.” He never considered how his words would sound to the victims, and he lost his job.
Leaders who see well look beyond what is presented to them. They question assumptions, investigate odd patterns, and invite an outsider's view. People close to a problem treat it as unique, while an outsider can spot the pattern.
I see a link here to intersection thinking. A photographer can teach you about perspective, and a psychologist can help you spot your biases. Artists show you how to observe detail. Any leader who draws on all three will approach a hard decision differently.
That is one reason I encourage people to read widely. A book does not have to be about leadership to teach you how to lead.
Five Ways to Practice the Art of Seeing
The art of seeing is a skill you can build. Try these five exercises, and pick the ones that apply to you.
- Look at something familiar in a new way. Choose a park, a street, or a room in your home. Spend five minutes there without your phone, and find five things you have never noticed.
- Ask what is missing. Before an important decision, list what you know and what you still need to learn. Then ask yourself, “What do I wish I knew?”
- Invite an outsider. Talk through a problem with someone who has different experiences from you . Ask them to challenge your assumptions, not confirm them.
- Listen without interrupting. In your next conversation, focus on the other person's words, tone, and questions. Do not plan your reply while they speak.
- Turn an observation into action. Pick one thing you noticed and decide what to do about it. If a problem keeps coming up at work, test one fix and watch for results.
Noticing is only the beginning. The goal is to use what you see to make better decisions.
What I Have Learned Since 2009
When I first wrote this post, I was thinking about how photography helps us slow down and experience life more fully. I still believe that. My reading since then has added another layer.
Seeing also means questioning what we think we know. Our assumptions, interests, and habits shape what we notice. Sometimes they block us from seeing what matters most.
I started with two books about photography. Years later, a book about leadership and decision making brought me back to the same questions. How do we notice more, what stops us, and what do we do with what we find?
Final Thoughts on the Art of Seeing
Photography taught me to pay attention to what I see. Bazerman's book taught me to ask what I might be missing. Both lessons matter in a 24/7 world.
Here is a challenge for you. Sometime today, stop and look closely at your surroundings. Notice one thing you usually overlook, and ask yourself why you missed it before.
The art of seeing grows with practice. What might change in your life if you chose to see more deliberately?
Books Mentioned
- How to Look at Everything by David Finn
- The Zen of Photography: How to Take Pictures with Your Mind's Camera by Paul Lester
- The Power of Noticing: What the Best Leaders See by Max Bazerman
This post contains affiliate links and The Invisible Mentor® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details, see here. Thank you so much for your support! Originally published in August 2009. Updated in November 2026.
