{"id":14735,"date":"2024-06-14T13:15:36","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T13:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pumble.com\/blog\/?p=14735"},"modified":"2026-03-24T14:41:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:41:38","slug":"tunnel-vision-team-dynamic-communication-caveats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pumble.com\/blog\/tunnel-vision-team-dynamic-communication-caveats\/","title":{"rendered":"How Tunnel Vision Can Ruin Your Team Dynamic and Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I first entered the workforce, I thought I had the secret key to the door of success \u2014 my ability to focus on a task with unrelenting vigor. I could get things done (and well, might I add) even when under immense time pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little did I know that what I considered to be my superpower would eventually (almost) be my downfall.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how, while focusing on the tasks ahead, I developed tunnel vision and forgot to look at the big picture \u2014 and why it cost me so much. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tunnel vision 101 \u2014 The creepy crawler that sweeps you up quickly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The path to success and the road to nowhere have an intersection and it\u2019s called tunnel vision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tunnel vision is the tendency to strongly focus on one solution, plan, or way of thinking while neglecting all other ideas or resolutions<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also something I never thought could happen to me. What can I say \u2014 I was young.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Unbearably<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

But, the worst thing about tunnel vision is that it creeps up on you. You don\u2019t go from the most open-minded person to someone overly task-oriented in the blink of an eye. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, it\u2019s much more subtle than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I got my first promotion in a start-up company I used to work for and became the manager of a team of 15 people, I was ecstatic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company was a small business that provided digital services to clients and my team was the operational force behind the brand. My job was to play the middleman between the staff, the clients, and the upper management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back, I understand that I was a glorified juggler, but at the time, I thought that my job was vital for the success of the company<\/strong> \u2014 my decisions on how the tasks are distributed as well as my efforts to get new clients and appease the existing ones were, in my eyes, crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I took it really<\/em> seriously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company and its profits depended on finding clients. It was a start-up, struggling to stay afloat in the economy determined to sink it. That\u2019s why, when a whale of a client practically fell in my lap, I did everything I could to keep him there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n \n \n \"Illustration\"\n <\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\n\n\n

Narrowing the focus (down to a tunnel)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whales \u2014 clients who frequently ordered our product in big batches \u2014 were few and far between, but, as a struggling start-up, landing one meant we wouldn\u2019t have to worry about staying in business for at least a few months. Landing a few meant we could grow our business \u2014 which was the ultimate goal, of course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent days wooing this potential golden goose, negotiating our rates, turnaround times, and the level of service he was interested in. I emailed back and forth with him for days, and, when email was no longer effective<\/a>, switched to real-time communication via communication apps \u2014 all in the hopes of swaying him our way as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sense of urgency was almost unbearable, as I constantly felt the client would slip through my fingers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, he agreed to a trial order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was bigger than all previous trial orders we received, which only confirmed the importance of maintaining a long-term business relationship with him<\/strong>. He was clearly ready to spend a lot of money on our product, provided he liked it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I talked to my team and explained just how crucial it was to execute this order perfectly. I figured communication was important<\/strong><\/a> because I needed everyone on board, working together to make this happen<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an effort to get the order done in record time \u2014 and paint ourselves in the best light \u2014 I pulled people from other tasks. This was an all-hands-on-deck<\/em> situation and I figured we could afford to focus on it completely (at least for a little while).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To my absolute joy (and relief), it worked! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The client was happy with what we produced and he placed a massive order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I won\u2019t lie \u2014 this was my first big client that I landed and I was in 7th heaven for a few days. I felt like the best manager<\/a> in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I wanted to keep that title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Out of the tunnel and into\u2026 another tunnel?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Landing the client was amazing, but keeping him and scaling up his orders would be even better \u2014 I knew we couldn\u2019t drop the ball now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stakes were too high, so the sense of urgency never subsided<\/strong>. I figured if we could get him to place more orders, he alone could keep us in business, allowing us to use the profits from other clients to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We agreed to send out his order in batches and, in hindsight, the turnaround time for each batch was just a bit too tight<\/strong>. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem \u2014 we\u2019d all push to make it happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I adopted a pacesetting leadership style<\/a> to, as the name suggests, set the pace for my entire team<\/strong>. If we pushed just a little bit harder, we could send out all batches in the agreed times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I distributed tasks for each batch as it arrived for production and took on some of the operational work myself \u2014 I figured that we\u2019d be done more quickly that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick turnarounds were vital \u2014 something I tried to convey to <\/strong>everyone<\/em><\/strong>, frequently and somewhat aggressively.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also important to maintain a specific level of quality, so I also took it upon myself to go over everyone\u2019s work. In my mind, this was a logical move \u2014 if we set a standard in the trial order and the first batch of product, we\u2019ll have no trouble maintaining quality as we\u2019ll have a reference point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or so I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overworking and underperforming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first order went out and the client was quite pleased. However, he was shifty \u2014 constantly coming up with new demands and requesting shorter turnaround times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I reasoned with him and thought it a victory that I managed to talk him down to maintaining the pace we established with the first order.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pace in question was attainable \u2014 barely, but attainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I quickly discovered that even the best-laid plans can fail \u2014 2 of my best workers took long vacations at the same time and I had 3 people on sick leave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly, my \u201clet\u2019s just push and we\u2019ll make it happen\u201d<\/em> strategy was full of holes \u2014 it only worked if everyone was putting their best foot forward.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In hindsight, this was something I should have calculated into my turnover time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also ran into another problem \u2014 even when taking into account the impact that 5 missing people would have on our output, my team still wasn\u2019t producing as much as I thought they would.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were working quite hard, but they weren\u2019t performing at an expected level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, this would be a massive red flag for me. If a team is overworking but underperforming<\/a>, I\u2019d do my best to pin down the causes and resolve them as quickly as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, back then, I didn\u2019t have that knowledge. I thought my carefully mapped-out plan was more than feasible \u2014 everyone just needed to work a bit harder.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Oprah<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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I decided to switch things up by changing my communication style<\/a>. I didn\u2019t waste time on dilly-dallying but straightforwardly communicated what needed to be done, when, and by whom. It was, in my mind, the best way to convey the importance of executing these orders on time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ignored the fact that the underperformance was due to my decisions and actions and told people in no uncertain terms that we would stick to the plan at all costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n
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\n \n \n \"Illustration\"\n <\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\n\n\n

Efficiency vs Effectiveness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt all costs\u201d<\/em> meant that a lot of other things suffered<\/strong> due to my drive to make the orders for this particular client go out at agreed times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pulled even more people from other tasks to get them to focus on this order and went over their work in detail to ensure a quality standard we set in the beginning \u2014 thus getting dangerously close to micromanaging territory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By doing that, I achieved 2 things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n