The Wall Street Journal this morning has a page 1 article describing visual experiments with "change blindness", "This Isn't Candid Camera, It's a Science Project." In the experiments a stranger asks a person for directions. An object comes between them, such as a door being moved, briefly hiding the stranger from view. After it passes the person continues to give the stranger directions failing to notice the stranger is now a different person. Change blindness occurs when we fail to notice changes.
The WSJ article did not contrast change blindness and inattentional blindness, an equally important concept. With inattentional blindness we fail to perceive things that are there. Here is an excellent video from NOVA explaining these differences.
While the videos and WSJ article are discussing vision, both of these concepts are also useful in understanding organizational decision making. Sometimes we fail to notice changes around us. Businesses must be vigilant. Corporate IBM in the early 1980s was still in a big mainframe mode even while some of its employees were doing pioneering work on the personal PC. The change was coming but not really seen. Case studies indicate it took Microsoft and Intel to get IBM's attention. Change blindness.
On the other hand, inattentional blindness occurs when information is staring you in the face and you just don't see it. You are losing customers steadily but you write it off as a fluke. What you think you see -- or what you fail to see -- can impact you on many levels, in your organizational life and your personal life.
The WSJ article did not contrast change blindness and inattentional blindness, an equally important concept. With inattentional blindness we fail to perceive things that are there. Here is an excellent video from NOVA explaining these differences.
While the videos and WSJ article are discussing vision, both of these concepts are also useful in understanding organizational decision making. Sometimes we fail to notice changes around us. Businesses must be vigilant. Corporate IBM in the early 1980s was still in a big mainframe mode even while some of its employees were doing pioneering work on the personal PC. The change was coming but not really seen. Case studies indicate it took Microsoft and Intel to get IBM's attention. Change blindness.
On the other hand, inattentional blindness occurs when information is staring you in the face and you just don't see it. You are losing customers steadily but you write it off as a fluke. What you think you see -- or what you fail to see -- can impact you on many levels, in your organizational life and your personal life.
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