Business Field Trips, Reframed
What I Learned From David Lynch About Business Immersion
The room was dark. A group of film students sat in silence as the projector hummed to life. But before the screening began, their professor gave each one a task: you, study the editing; you, the sound; you, the music. Each student received a single lens through which to watch the entire film.
I wondered if we do the same in business - send teams into the world without a lens to see through. Have you ever returned from a field trip full of impressions, ideas, or inspiration but unsure what, exactly, you were supposed to notice?
Companies I work with use field trips - also called site visits or knowledge immersions - as a common practice. Many are eager to make them more focused, reflective, and creatively useful. Because the intention is good: send teams into the market to learn from customers, competitors, or parallel industries. But too often, the outcome is vague inspiration. Energy without clarity. Insight without language (that’s a topic I help them tackle in my Creative Catalyst online course).
But the main reason these trips often fall short of their potential?
Because we haven’t trained ourselves to see.
What David Lynch's Professor Knew About Seeing
“Every writer is obliged to ask himself: what will the audience leave the movie theatre with?... They’ll think what they want, but feeling is something that is in your hands.”
-Frank Daniel
That line stayed with me. Because if art is ultimately about evoking emotion, isn’t that what we also aim to do in business? Create experiences customers not only understand, but feel?
That’s when I thought back to David Lynch.
In interviews, Lynch often describes an exercise from his student days at the American Film Institute, in a course taught by Frank Daniel. Before each screening, Daniel would assign every student a creative responsibility - editing, sound, music, costume, performance - and instruct them to watch the entire film through that specific lens. Afterward, they would analyze what they observed from that focused perspective. What first appeared to be one cohesive narrative suddenly revealed itself as a layered composition - each element a deliberate choice shaping the audience’s experience.
“This wasn’t film school,” I thought. “This was attention school.”
That’s when it clicked - this wasn’t just about filmmaking. It was another reminder that business has so much to learn from the arts, especially when our goal is to shape how people feel.
Why Dividing the Roles Works
By assigning these roles, Daniel was teaching his students how to see.
His method had real structure. First, each student received a distinct lens - editing, sound, music, costume, performance. They would watch the film with that responsibility in mind. What followed was a layered deconstruction, scene by scene. Every element - lighting, pacing, gesture, silence - was discussed as a deliberate contributor to the emotional arc.
It wasn't just about the movie’s plot. It was about storytelling through every tool available.
Then, the students rotated. Next screening, you might get sound. Or costume. Over time, something powerful happened: the class began to see the machinery behind the magic. Editing wasn’t just cutting footage. Music wasn’t background. Costumes weren’t decoration. Each was a storytelling decision as important as dialogue or plot.
The result? A cohort that not only developed sharper individual perception, but also deeper mutual respect. Writers began to understand sound mixers. Directors began to appreciate costume design. The process cultivated creative sensitivity - and it did so together.
Seeing all that this method unlocked - focus, empathy, collaboration - I began to wonder: what if we brought that same intentionality into business? What if field trips weren’t just experiences, but designed acts of observation?
The Director’s Method for Business Leaders
Too often, business field trips turn into surface-level tours. Everyone walks through the same space, sees the same things - and leaves with different, disconnected takeaways. One person comments on the store layout. Another fixates on employee behavior. A third brings up pricing.
The insights scatter like light through a prism - colorful, but unfocused.
When everyone observes everything, no one sees anything in depth. The richness of the experience gets lost in the noise of general impressions.
Now, field trips aren’t cheap. In 2025, U.S. business travel spending is projected at around $350 billion1, with large corporations averaging over $2,000 per person per trip. For senior leaders, the cost climbs higher - not just in dollars, but in time. The opportunity cost of pulling highly compensated talent away from strategic work adds a hidden premium few companies track.
And yet, many of these trips fail to deliver clear value.
Research shows that most companies fall into the same traps: vague objectives, poor preparation, no structured data collection, and little post-trip follow-up. They fly teams across the world with the hope of insight - but no method for seeing.
The result? Scattershot impressions. Missed learning. And sometimes, wasted opportunity.
It’s not that field trips don’t work. It’s that they’re rarely designed to.
That’s why curated observation matters. It turns travel from a cost center into a creative tool—one that helps teams return not just energized, but equipped to act.
What We Discovered at Trader Joe’s
You know what’s the beauty? You can try it yourself.
Every time I visit Trader Joe’s, I give myself a new lens (Highly recommend listening to the podcast, Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s?)
One visit, I focused only on how employees handle customer complaints. Another, I tuned into the soundscape - what music was playing, how loud the conversations were. Once, I traced the spatial choreography - where people paused, where they clustered.
Each trip revealed something new.
I learned that the music shifts throughout the day to manage energy. That employee interactions aren’t just friendly - they’re choreographed for emotional connection. A regular grocery run became an observation lab.
And you already see it, no? This approach isn’t just for one person. It works in teams.
What if we treated field trips this way - assigning each person a lens? Not just to look, but to see—sharply, together.
Each person with a specific lens - just like those film students. That’s when I began experimenting with what I now call curated observation.
Instead of saying, “We’re visiting X company to get inspired,” I began giving each participant a focused role:
You, track how employees handle customer complaints.
You, listen to the soundscape - music, ambient noise, conversations.
You, map how physical space directs attention.
You, follow one product’s journey from shelf to checkout.
Why This Changes Everything
Frank Daniel taught that you may not control what people think - but you can shape what they feel.
The best leaders aren’t just experience seekers. They’re experience designers. They understand that attention can be crafted, that clarity isn’t a matter of luck - it’s a function of focus.
Insight doesn’t come from seeing more alone. It comes from learning how to see better. And better attention can be designed.
Start by yourself. Take one meaningful move this week. Next time you visit your favorite coffee shop, restaurant, or supermarket, focus on just one layer - sound, layout, employee behavior. Notice what changes when you narrow your lens.
And before your next field trip, take a director’s approach. Assign each team member a specific focus - customer interaction, signage, flow, sound. Then debrief together. What did each person see that others didn’t?
The insights won’t just be more detailed. They’ll be more useful.
Because great experiences - like great films - are never accidents. They are crafted, one deliberate choice at a time.
Have a great week,
Nir
This approach is now part of our updated Creative Catalyst program. If your team is planning a field visit or cultural immersion, we can help you structure it like a masterclass in attention.
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