Finding & Achieving The Totality Of Your Vision.

My 19 year stint in the ad agency business was not without its share of sabbaticals. I worked for seven different agencies during that period. Sometimes I would change jobs within a few months. Other times it would take longer.

Doug Fisher: Crazy Like A Fox

Doug Fisher is a photographer. He is half native Canadian. Chippewa I believe, and one of the most amazing people I ever called a friend. His energy level was off the charts, which made him well suited for all kinds of difficult to shoot things like sports, car racing and heavy duty industrial interiors which he did a lot of.

In one of my in between agency periods, Doug generously took me on as an assistant. And a big part of my learning about photography came from his constant narrative about everything he was doing and why he was doing it to get the shots that he wanted.

And one of the key things he taught me, I have come to believe, has real application in all areas of business.

Capturing The Totality Of Your Vision

One day, Doug, and his assistant (me) were photographing a furniture factory downtown.Taking a break, we were sitting on a shaded bench directly across from the the building. Doug had a camera with him. He always did. Across the street one of the workers in the factory we were shooting was sitting on the sill of a large window with a bottle of water.

I saw that as a beautiful shot that could add some dimension to the shoot Doug was doing. So he quickly shot it. Then he told me, yeah, that was a nice shot and we can probably use it, but that there was a real photograph on the way. Then he pointed to his right, and down the street we saw an extremely attractive woman walking toward the building.

He shot a sequence of images of the woman entering the frame on the right, and continuing to walk past the window. A heartbeat after the guy in the window noticed the woman, his reaction was palpable. And also captured forever by Doug. One of the best urban life photos I had seen up to that point.

You look around. You see something you want to photograph and in your mind’s eye you take the picture. Then you figure out how to create whatever you saw in your mind. Doug saw the guy in the window and he saw the woman walking down the street. And he saw what that could become in terms of a great photograph.

Doug saw the picture, and all he had to do was wait to take it.

The Wider Application of Doug’s Idea

The ‘totality of your vision’ concept isn’t just a photography thing. It’s actually a good technique for anyone facing a challenge in any area of business.

You could call it visualizing, but I believe it’s actually higher up the actualization chain than that. Maybe you could call it idealizing.

Imagining the best possible outcome, then taking that vision apart to see what it is needed to make it happen.

What did you see? Who do you see helping you get there? What do they have to do? What you have to do? How long could it take. How much could it cost? How valuable a vision is it in the first place?

The totality you are trying to achieve is the best possible result. And this breakdown exercise is simply a tool that helps you realize that vision.

The Learning

No matter what are doing in life it’s always good to understand what defines the totality of your vision.

Where exactly you want to go and what it will take to get there.

Since I had it explained to me I have used this methodology in my writing, my photography and my design. It’s not something you can learn overnight. It took Doug a few years to figure it out and it to me a few years to do the same in different media.

Truth be told, this is quite a commonly used technique in professional sports, especially team sports like football and soccer, where the variables are quite linear and the obstructions well known.

In business it’s a little different, because it’s not linear and the obstructions can surprise you and set you back.

But one thing is certain. By clearly identifying the totality of your vision, you have the best roadmap possible for achieving it.

Jim Murray is an experienced advertising and marketing professional and amateur photographer. He has run his own business (Onwords & Upwords), since 1989 after a 20 year career in Toronto as a senior creative person in major Canadian & international advertising agencies. He is a communication strategist, writer, art director, broadcast producer, mildly opinionated op/ed blogger & beBee Brand Ambassador.

Jim lives in St Catharines Ontario (AKA The Quiet Side Of The Lake) and is currently a partner at Bullet Proof Consulting. www.bulletproofconsulting.ca

You can follow Jim

On beBee: https://www.bebee.com/bee/jim-murray

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-murray-b8a3a4/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jimbobmur

On Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/y97gxro4