Think about an iris on the aperture of a light, like a torch. The more you close the iris, the light is more focused, more intense: it can become laser focused. Open the iris, and the light will be less intense, broader focused and you’ll be able to see more things in the dispersed light.
Most people in the modern world operate with a version of dispersed light. We try to be focused but point our torches in lots of different directions. Picture being in a dark cave, trying to point your torch towards what you think is the exit, but you’re afraid that something’s over there, so you point it over there and then you hear something over there, so you point it over there and keep doing that until you get out. We do the same in life with distractions, passion projects, annoyances. We’re both focused and broad, a version of dispersed light that soon leads us to feel ineffective and out of control.
Instant relief can be found by being empowered to be laser-focused. It’s not a bad thing, many situations benefit from laser focus. But it does exclude everything else. We are consciously overlooking the wider environment, interdependencies, opportunities.
Part of leadership and part of wisdom is accepting both. It helps sometimes when our attention is focused, beaming light with intensity to see every detail of a grain of sand. And it helps sometimes when our attention is dispersed, broadening our light to take in the whole solar system.
Maybe it’s helpful to hold these ideas that look like competing demands and be able to, with some level of agility, zoom in and out.