# Middle-distance gaze I've been thinking a bit more about this idea of a "middle-distance gaze." At a certain point in everyone's career, they feel this natural pull toward being more "strategic." It's a trap, of course. Everything you do can and should be strategic, what you actually mean is you want to get out of day-to-day execution, which is an appealing idea on the surface. It's not realistic, though. Every path you choose requires graft. In uncertain times, I'm finding this advice to be useful. If you're naturally disposed to the long view, uncertainty creates anxiety. And movement cures anxiety. But movement without purpose is an empty panacea. I'm thinking a lot more about mastering the middle-distance these days. I'm developing my "middle-distance gaze." Looking only far enough ahead to know where I'm going. --- Watching my beloved Liverpool FC capitulate in a game over the weekend, I heard Stephen Warnock—commentator and one-time LFC player—mention that "one or two heads are dropping amongst the Liverpool backline." In this case he's talking about mindset, and attitude, and how that's expressed in body language. But it's also about mechanics. In team sports, high performers adopt an expansive posture. Keeping your head up means you can see the field, you can see your teammates and opponents, and you can move and think ahead. When your head drops, you're no longer playing the same game. I think every athlete can relate on some level. Suddenly you're thinking too much about what *you're* doing. Everything gets harder. In football you might stop seeing the runs or passes, or suddenly you start missing tap-ins in front of goal. Hell, even if you're just a runner, when your head drops and you start watching the ground in front of you, your stride shortens, you get slower, and suddenly the course starts to feel very long indeed. Business can feel a lot like that, sometimes, too. The first management book I borrowed off of my dad's bookshelf what Tom Peter's "Thriving on Chaos," the central thesis of which is only more true today: In a world of constant and accelerating change, the only sustainable advantage is the ability to adapt quickly and relentlessly.