Learn to see the BIG picture
By: Sean Amster
Tags: Leadership Skills, Leadership Development, Leadership, Personal Development, Business

Learn to see the BIG picture

Seeing the big picture is critical to success. Understanding the big picture helps you focus on organizational goals instead of just task completions. It helps you to develop empathy for others which promotes greater teamwork. Thinking big will also help you avoid pitfalls and roadblocks. Elevating your thinking makes you more competent in the work by getting a more complete understanding of your problem.

Big picture thinking is the difference between the trivial task of merely building a wall to the greater calling of building a cathedral. It’s the difference between simply sending an email and communicating valuable information to clients.

In his book, How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, John Maxwell talks about how leaders and other successful individuals learn to “think big”. Here are some of my key takeaways for developing a mindset of big-picture thinking:

Be comfortable with uncertainty. Rigid walls and political lanes provide a sense of security and a sense of control, but when walls are broken and lanes have crossed this lack of control can cause a lot of distress.

Big picture thinking is comfortable with blurry edges. Instead of building up walls, allow for more freeing guidelines. Doing this will allow you to be able to adjust and adapt to new challenges and opportunities. Learn from every experience. Every situation provides an opportunity for learning. Whether a disappointing failure or an exuberant triumph, both events provide experiences that an attentive person can learn from. As you learn and grow from a variety of experiences you become more adept at comprehending new situations that may come up. Gain diverse perspectives. When you only have one paradigm, your own, your ability to see the big picture or solve problems is limited. Seek input and advice from different and diverse groups of people. It helps you see a more complete view of situations and circumstances. Evaluate alternate options. The mindset of “there’s only one way of doing something” can be very caustic. Learn and study how other people address different situations.

Learn to focus on the end result and what method will drive the desired outcome. It’s generally always best to use a hammer to drive in a nail. Sometimes though you might not have a hammer and you have to use a screwdriver. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Seek unique abilities. It is easy to get in a rut in life as we plow through personal and professional routines and rituals. Learning unique skills and trades will help you gain additional perspectives and paradigms as well. Whether learning a new instrument or working on your yard, these experiences will additionally start to shape who you are and how you think about the work you do if you allow them to.

“Big-picture thinkers realize there is a world out there besides their own, and they make an effort to get outside of themselves and see other people’s worlds through their eyes. It’s hard to see the picture while inside the frame.” — John Maxwell

Simon Sinek said, “The big picture doesn’t just come from distance; it also comes from time.” Seeing the big picture is not an overnight ability you develop. I believe it is something everyone can grow in and develop a better ability to see the big picture.