Looking at the bigger picture1/28/2024 It helps you see the big picture by making you zoom out beyond the day-to-day. The “What if?” question has a different, much more expansive energy, no? “What can I do in these next three months of furlough to make the best of it?”.“What if being on furlough for the next three months is the best thing to happen to me in 2020?”.It urges you to come up with a more innovative approach, instead of sticking to the tried and tested.Ĭonsider the difference between these two questions: When it comes to finding a way forward, you then force yourself to think outside of any previous solutions that may have worked in the past. ![]() It encourages our mind to look beyond all earlier data and experiences. That’s why a targeted “What if?” question can really help you get unstuck. But the trouble is that our assumptions are often either wrong or incomplete. They help simplify the world, which makes decision-making easier. Those assumptions can be helpful some of the time. I use it as a reminder that our perspective is always coloured by the assumptions we run in our mind. I know, it took me a minute to get it too. I ASSUME = I make an ASS out of U and ME. Eventually, we need a tractor (or a coach!) to come to the rescue.īelow, I’ll suggest five simple questions you can answer whenever you feel the need to zoom out. But instead, we drive so much deeper into the swamp that our wheels get stuck. Deep down, we know we should be hovering above our problems with a helicopter. When we’re in survival mode, decisions about the future often seem impossible to navigate. And that might lead us to miss some vital clues on how to improve our situation. But while focusing on the nitty-gritty might give us the illusion that we’re in control, it also makes us lose sight of the broader context. Of course, taking action isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Instead of thinking our way out of a problem and then act, we’re prone to act first and then think. Pressure and anxiety instinctively draw us into a type of emergency mode - one where we’re more likely to get stuck into the delivery of immediate tasks than looking at the bigger picture. Regardless of your preference, most of us revert to zooming in whenever we’re stressed. Four questions to help you see the big picture As students, they’re often easy to recognise because they highlight absolutely everything in their notes, sensing that all of it is important. On the flip side, they’re also prone to over-thinking and prefer to tweak and edit rather than starting something from scratch. ![]() Unlike big picture thinkers, they enjoy the nitty-gritty. Indeed, micro-thinkers love details and executing plans. ![]() They’ll always prefer to leave the implementation of their ideas over to others instead. Most big picture thinkers love brainstorming and coming up with ideas, but what they don’t like is getting bogged down in detail. Macro-thinking is essential in business and entrepreneurship, where seeing opportunities and thinking strategically is critical. You’ll recognise a big picture thinker when they use phrases like: “Give me the gist of it”, or “Just a few bullet points”. In organisational leadership, someone who thinks big picture is defined as a macro-motivated person. We’re either big picture thinkers, or we’re detail thinkers. Big picture thinking vs detail thinkingĪlthough everyone can easily flip between zooming in and zooming out, most of us have a preference for one or the other. Most importantly, zooming out encourages you to think strategically and helps you scan beyond the horizon - an essential life skill in times of great stress. You look at things at a grander scale and across a longer timeline, which makes them fuzzier and a little more abstract. Just like the camera on your phone, it shifts the focus from portrait to landscape, which makes you enjoy a broader perspective. Notice what happened there? I got you to gently shift your imagination from a general example to a more specific one. Or, when you’re savouring that gooey taste of the delicious Belgian chocolate you just put in your mouth. An excellent example of zooming in is following up on your to-do list. ![]() As if you’re staring down a microscope, it reduces your perspective, allowing you to centre your attention on a smaller detail and with greater clarity. You simply wouldn’t be able to zoom in or zoom out. Without it, big picture thinking wouldn’t be possible. The fact that you’re able to read these words means you were blessed with the gift of perspective.
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