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Constantly my husband tells me, “People don’t think like you.” Sometimes this is not a compliment…like when I have once again totally missed the point of a joke (being the “humor-challenged person” that I am). But most of the time when he says not everyone thinks like I do, it is his way of reminding me that my ability to think holistically is a bit of a skill.
Big picture thinking is the ability to consider how your thoughts, actions and attitudes will impact your life or organization over the long haul. How will the decisions you make today impact others in one year, five years or ten years? If leaders fail to ask these all-important questions, their leadership will likely become shortsighted and somewhat ineffective. As leaders, we must learn to think of both the hear-and-now and the desired future.
So how do you learn to think about the big picture? While I have not mastered this ability, here are a few techniques I naturally use to keep the big picture in mind:
1. Think ahead
Simply taking a few minutes to consider a topic before I am called upon to form a leadership opinion about it allows me the time and space to consider the big picture. When I do this well, I come prepared to offer insight beyond my immediate circumstances. When I fail to think ahead, I am left to offer my gut reaction.
2. Think in terms of perspective
As I think through an issue, I try it out in my mind from multiple angles. If I need to hire an important position, I think through what I need from the position, what type of leader the team needs, what type of person will best fit the organizational culture and what type of person will complement the skills of other team members. Then I think through candidates from these angles (and many others). Perspective allows me to consider obvious and not-so-obvious implications of my decisions. And too, I have found that sometimes the best perspective is found in team discussion or in outside counsel!
3. Think in terms of outcomes
When I think about leadership issues (or life issues), I have learned to think in terms of the most desirable outcome. Sometimes leaders do not think in terms of the big picture, simply because they have not defined what a “win” would look like. When I know what I am trying to accomplish, holistic thought is more tangible and immediate. Clear desired outcomes prevent me from getting bogged down in philosophy and move me to action.
4. Think in terms of consequences
I would venture to say every leader has been in a situation where they have failed to consider the consequences of their decisions. When I have failed to consider the possible negative or positive consequences of an action, I have often found myself in trouble. While none of us can think of everything, we can be attentive to how our actions will impact others. In the best of worlds, my big picture thinking promotes healthy thoughts, actions and attitudes.
What big picture thinking skill do you need to practice today?
Focus is a challenging skill. Have you ever realized what you focus on grows? Focus on food, and your appetite will grow. Focus on making healthy choices and suddenly you realize that lunch entrée was your total daily allotment of 1,500 calories! What you focus on grows. And when you choose to set your sights on something, the outcome is often secured before you have even begun.
Unless…you loose focus.
I suppose you could say that’s what happened to me two years ago. It was April 19, 2010 and a few minutes before 6:00 P.M. Being the master chef that I am, I was about to throw a frozen pizza in the oven for dinner when my ten-year-old son flung open the garage door and crumpled into the couch. Sobbing and heaving, he finally managed to get out a few words. A rock had been thrown into the side of his head. That’s when he started throwing up.
Then it was 911. An ambulance to the nearest hospital. Emergency CT scans. And a depressed skull fracture. A doctor quickly telling me Scott needed to be transferred to a higher level of care and that a helicopter was on its way. The helicopter EMT pausing and turning to me, blades whirring a few paces down the walkway, asking me to give Scott a kiss goodbye. Wait, did he mean goodbye for now or a more permanent goodbye?
Two years ago, someone hit a HUGE pause button on the life I expected. And my focus was interrupted in multiple ways. A large rock thrown by another 10-year-old boy. An accidental injury. Combine that with my daughter’s chronic illness, and you will understand why for these last two years caregiving has been my center of attention.
Interrupted or not, I have been reminded of the power of focus. Here is what I have learned so far:
1. Focus requires intentionality.
We live in a world filled with randomness and uncertainty. It will never be easy to keep your focus. Gaining and maintaining focus requires daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly pause points, where you look up and make sure you are still headed in the right direction.
2. Focus creates momentum.
When you and I determine to pursue a goal and then focus our activities around that goal, we create movement. Movement eventually leads to momentum. Dave Ramsey’s Momentum Theorem states, “Focused intensity over time multiplied by God creates momentum.” Now, that is a powerful truth!
3. Focus relieves pain.
Ever find yourself concerned about too many things? When you feel pain, it is a signal! The agonizing ache you sense when you are overcommitted or overwhelmed is not meant to be ignored. Focus allows you to let go of the unimportant in favor of the most important things. When you trim your life or ministry down to those things that really deserve your attention, you feel less pain…which means you find more joy.
For the record, Scott is doing well, despite the lasting effects of the injury. He has quite a few medical complications, but he does well in school and is enjoying being a middle-schooler. And me...I am learning a focus on the truly important things is not really a loss of focus at all.
What deserves your personal or leadership focus today?
"As much as we long for external signs that point the way to the future, we must settle for inner signals that alert us to the proximity of new beginnings." - William Bridges
Despite Bridges' elegant description of the hint of a realized future, his words can't begin to describe the tension-filled climate of one seeking positive change who is unable to either see it or have it neatly offered up. The complexity of our human existence often lends itself to messy ends, waiting periods and new starts. Rarely is a new beginning crisply and cleverly packaged. More often it's a mish mosh. Some things ending, others beginning and a few things stuck in neutral.
What I find so profound about Bridges' thought is the fact that in the muddle of our misshapen lives, we can count on the new rising up in us. We can learn to lean into those subtle internal signals that point us correctly in the direction of a better future. I believe in the best of circumstances these are God-inspired moments, His signals of prompted change.
So my question to you is this: what God-inspired internal signals are rising up in you? And what should you do about them? Or better yet, what will you do?
