Last week we talked about Iron Man who uses technology and armor to set himself up for success.  This week we’ll think about viewing the world from a new perspective by looking at the lessons we can learn from Daredevil, a blind superhero (Yes, you read that sentence correctly.)

If you don’t know the story of Daredevil you might be wondering how someone who is blind ends up ever becoming a superhero.  Matt Murdock (Daredevil) was born perfectly healthy.  When he was a young kid he was involved in an accident where his eyes were covered in toxic materials causing his blindness.  Although the accident caused him to go blind it also heightened all of his other senses to superhuman levels.  Imagine being able to hear the faintest of noises from blocks away.  Imagine smelling something and being able to trace its location.  Imagine being able to feel the changes in the air temperature to estimate how many people were entering a room.  Daredevil may not be able to see, but his combined super senses give him a unique way to see the world around him and fight crime.  As Matt grows up he witnesses a series of tragedies in his home of Hell’s Kitchen in New York City, and he vows to fight injustice by day as an attorney and by night as Daredevil. 

What does a blind vigilante superhero have to do with anything?  Daredevil shows us how much we can miss by becoming overly reliant on our eyes and our first impressions.  Daredevil is unable to see, so he has to piece together the world around him with the context he acquires through his other senses and intuition. 

Think about work for a moment.  How reliant are we on our eyes and the first things that we see?  Maybe this is the first impression of someone.  Maybe this is an action committed by someone that leads us to make a snap judgment.  Maybe this is the first time hearing an idea.  How often do we make snap decisions after taking a glance at something or someone?  How often do we take the time to try to piece things together using other data sources and perspectives from other people in the same way Daredevil uses his senses to create a radar perspective of the world around him?

The challenge: You can use your eyes to see the world or you can use your whole being to truly comprehend and experience the world.  What are you doing?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry