Perspective is Everything
What Florence, Leonardo and holidays teach us about strategy
Originally written in 2017, this reflection on the value of distance, rest and reframing remains just as relevant today. In an era where strategic planning is increasingly reactive, the reminder to step back, reset and regain perspective is both timely and necessary.
Returning from a month in Italy, I looked forward to starting work with a fresh perspective. It was a month of rest, relaxation and more than a few indulgences in the Italian ways of fine food, wine and art. Viva la vita.
Our last stop was Florence, home of the Renaissance, the Medici and the development of perspective in art.
The Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci, seen above at the Uffizi Gallery, offers a masterful lesson in perspective. Commissioned for a monastery, it was to be hung two metres above the floor and on a wall to the right as a person entered the room.
At first glance – or rather, from a standard 90-degree viewing angle – the painting seems off. Gabriel’s face appears flat. The cornerstones on the wall are not to scale. Critics were vocal in their disappointment.
But da Vinci was no amateur. Viewed from the intended height and right-hand side, the illusion resolves. The composition becomes perfectly balanced. What initially seemed flawed is revealed as genius – if only we adjust our perspective.
The same is true for strategic thinking.
In the flurry of day-to-day operations, we can become so absorbed in immediate tasks that we lose sight of the broader landscape. For strategists, this is especially perilous. Strategy requires wide-angle thinking – scanning context, anticipating change, choosing between competing paths. But when staring directly at a challenge, we risk falling into “strategic tunnel vision”.
Kenichi Ohmae coined this term in The Mind of the Strategist, describing organisations that failed not due to a lack of options, but a failure to see them. Under pressure, vision narrows. Just when a broader outlook is most needed, it becomes least accessible.
Taking a break from relentless focus is one way to expand our field of view. It allows space for insight, unforced creativity and fresh connection-making. As one client’s CEO observed in a strategy workshop, “You know, we each have our best ideas when we come back from holidays.” He could point to several significant breakthroughs – all sparked not in the boardroom, but after a good break.
Like The Annunciation, the solution may already exist – but you need to stand in the right spot to see it clearly.
Try stepping away. Don’t try to solve the problem. Just let your thinking idle. Trust that, when you return, your brain – like a good bottle of Italian red – will have opened up beautifully.
This post is part of Notes from the Intersection - a series exploring the crossroads of technology, creativity and meaning