A Fresh Set of Eyes

It’s in everyone’s best interest for everyone working on a project to be focused on their work, to bear down and pay the closest attention to what they’re doing. It’s how things get done. It’s how people, companies and organizations excel at whatever it is that they’re trying to do. And that’s a good thing.

When you’re not dedicated to your work, when you allow even the slightest distraction, that’s when things go haywire. That’s when mistakes happen. To invoke a sports analogy, bad things happen when you take your eyes off the ball.

Sports. Work. Individual pursuits. They all require attention to detail. But as everyone knows, no one is perfect. Things can and do go wrong. It’s often referred to as Murphy’s Law: whatever can go wrong will, and usually at the worst possible time.

That’s why, depending on the circumstances, it’s important to bring in an outsider. An independent, objective third party to review and inspect what’s going on. There are those who refer to it as bringing in a fresh set of eyes. It’s not a sign of weakness. It’s not a sign of incompetence. It doesn’t mean that you don’t trust or have confidence in your work or your abilities.

In some cases, the more you concentrate on something, the more likely you are to get too close to it. Fresh sets of eyes can see the forest for the trees. Those eyes can see things that you and your team take for granted. It’s not a foible. It’s human nature.

“Ninety percent of this game is half mental.”

— Yogi Berra, an American professional baseball player, manager and coach