Seeing for Future-Oriented Leadership

What do you see–whether it is really there or not?

What causes you to see what is or is not there? Why does it matter? And what can we do about this?

This is one of the oldest—and most famous—challenges of philosophy. Two and a half millennia ago, in The Republic, Plato challenged us to question how we see what we see—how what we see makes us think. In the allegory of the cave, he asks us to consider how we would see the world with limited information—and how we would respond when we learned more information. The implications of this mind experiment are still radical.

“Seeing” is, of course, not limited to vision. Seeing can be understood, more broadly, as the way we interpret facts and ideas. When we “see” something, we recognize its existence. Once we recognize it, we have to deal with it. Do we stop what we are doing and try to figure it out or act on it. Or do we carry on as if we don’t see it?

Looking Forward