Monday, December 21, 2015

Vision vs. Insight

A vision is a future state of being, and an insight is the perception of the inner nature of things.

As businesses and the world move deeper and deeper into the digital world of VUCA -volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, one of the most desired traits for leaders is VISION, because leadership is all about direction, it shows people where to go; and the other equally important leadership trait is INSIGHT, because it brings up the big WHY - why do you go where you are going and how to get there. So more specifically, what are apple to apple comparisons between vision vs. insight?   

A vision is a future state of being, and an insight is the perception of the inner nature of things. Vision is a foresight with a proactive understanding of cause and effect, not reactive seeing. It is a clear choice among future scenarios that advocates future trends and promotes certain behavior. The "aha" vision is an "entrepreneurial" attribute; the ability to envision a solution to a perceived or not-yet-perceived need. Insight is the vision through ‘mind's eyes,’ the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of seeing intuitively in Greek called noesis. When you learn to create inner space of clarity, calmness in the storming mind of thoughts emotions, sensations, dreams and imagination, insights can be perceived.


Vision is something you see, others don’t. And insight is thinking into the box after thinking out of the box. Vision is something you see, others don't, and a visionary mind is able to and not afraid to leverage contrarian views to shape a holistic picture. While insight takes both creativity and reasoning, intuition and logic, the power of acute observation and deduction, questioning, connection, penetration, discernment, perception called intellection or noesis. The most important thing is that you believe in your vision and many follow your vision. A vision re-conceptualizes the future, connects the previously unconnected dream. It fires the imagination and opens the mind to new concepts and ideas. Insight is the understanding of a specific cause and effect in a specific context. Insight is being able to identify the root cause of a problem or the core issues of a situation which leads to understanding and resolution. Too often people may take the easy path, think and work at a superficial level rather than spend the time to understand what is going on underneath. Insight is an understanding of cause and effect based on the identification of relationships and behaviors within a model, context, or scenario.


A visionary mind has the ability to think the past, perceive what is now and foresee the future. Insight is the ability to perceive clearly or deep penetration.  Vision is about shaping an idea that comes with a commitment to push it through - personal dynamics and guts, determination and single-mindedness. The vision if understood in this perspective becomes an achievable reality and a comprehensible dream beyond words. Insight is about penetrating and often sudden understanding, as of a complex situation or problem. The insight of the situation requires in-depth understanding. It’s about the understanding of one´s possibilities, adversaries, environments effects and other stakeholders’ behavior. The more complex the situation is, the more different approaches and role gaming is needed to reach for understanding. A collective insight is superior - If a team clicks it may reach shared insight of situation which is always better than individual belief.

So vision inspires you to move forward, and insight enables you to dig deeper; vision zooms into the future as if it were closer, and insight penetrates to gain an in-depth understanding of what's going on; vision makes you feel passionate about what is going to happen - the opportunities, and insight keeps you calm down about the potential risks; vision is the great work via both mind and heart orchestration; and insight is an excellent job via left brain and right brain’s connection and collaboration. So the very essence of leadership is to point out the destination via vision; and craft a good strategy via insight, to lead change with confidence and effectiveness.

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