DIAMOND EYES

Just a short time ago, while flying back to the United States from Singapore and Malaysia, I watched a movie on the plane that was based upon the book Dive by Eto Mori. The movie was about The Mizuki Diving Club and its desire to overcome financial hardship and to have one or more of its divers make the Olympic swim team. In the movie there is a young diver trying to make the team and one of his coaches told him that he had the potential to be great he had Diamond Eyes.

In the movie, this term meant the young diver had the ability to envision the complete dive – all the way through the rotations and entry – and into the water. He had the vision to see his future.

You might be wondering what this has to do with business and strategy. Those who have the ability to see through the issues and the short-term economic cycles and see the business environment in the future with Diamond Eyes will likely be the one who becomes the industry leader.

Are there any examples of individuals how have Diamond Eyes? I’m not sure but I see some examples of individuals who have made some business decisions that may be a result of Diamond Eyes. Warren Buffett quickly determined that the dot com was being drive by non-traditional business practices and not likely to last. He made the strategic decision to not participate in the dot com companies. He proved to be right. Most recently, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, saw that the sub-prime mortgage industry was about to collapse and he immediately exited that risky line of business – nearly 18 months before the collapse while he could still get a return on the portfolio.

I know it is easy to become engaged in the day-to-day issues facing organizations, particularly if the business is trying to survive; however, those who have Diamond Eyes have a better chance of not only surviving, but becoming a market leader.

If you don’t have someone with Diamond Eyes on your team – find someone.