Anyone in any field will benefit from big-picture thinking. When a company's CEO advises staff that the customer's long-term relationship is more important than the selling of a single product, he's reminding them of the big picture. When two parents are upset with potty training, bad grades, or fender-benders, and one reminds the other that the current rough season is only temporary, they benefit from thinking big picture. Big-picture thinking gives a person's thinking a sense of completeness and maturity. It gives you a different viewpoint. It's like enlarging the frame of a shot, which expands not just what you can see but also what you can do. If you spend enough time with big-picture thinkers, you'll note that they:
Listen attentively
Listening to someone who has expertise in a field where you lack it is an excellent way to expand your understanding.
It's beneficial to have an agenda while meeting with people so that you can understand. It's a fantastic way to collaborate with people who can help you with stuff you can't. Big-picture thinkers are aware that they lack a wide range of knowledge. They also ask probing questions in order to expand their awareness and thought. Become a strong listener if you want to improve your big-picture thinking.
Look expansively
Humans are prone to seeing their own universe first. When people arrive at a leadership conference hosted by an organization, they want to know where they'll park, if they'll be able to get a good (and comfortable) seat, if the speaker will be "on," and if the breaks will be evenly spaced. When the speaker arrive at the same conference to talk, He want to know that the lighting is adequate, that the sound equipment is working properly, that the speaker's platform will be near enough to the audience, and so on. What you see—and how you think—is determined by who you are. Big-picture thinkers understand that there is a world outside of their own, and they make an attempt to venture outside of themselves and see the lives of others through their eyes. While within the frame, it's difficult to see the image. To understand how others see things, you must first understand how they think. It definitely helps to become a good listener. Moving over your own agenda and attempting to see it from the other person's point of view also helps.
Live completely
The meaning of life is determined by how we use our days; a man can live a long life while doing very little.” The reality is that you can live your life however you want, but you only get one chance to do so. Becoming a big-picture thinker will assist you in living a life of wholeness and fulfillment. People who see the big picture widen their horizons and therefore their experience. As a result, they achieve more than those who are narrow-minded. They often have less unpleasant surprises because they are more likely to notice all of the variables at play in any given situation, including problems, people, relationships, timing, and values. As a result, they are generally more accepting of other people and their viewpoints.
WHY YOU SHOULD RECEIVE THE WISDOM OF BIG-PICTURE THINKING
Big-picture thinking is possibly helpful to you intuitively. Few people want to be dogmatic. Nobody sets out to be like that. However, if you're still not persuaded, consider the following reasons why you should make an effort to improve your big-picture thinking:
Big-Picture Thinking Allows You to Lead
You can find many big-picture thinkers who aren’t leaders, but you will find few leaders who are not big-picture thinkers. Leaders must be able to do many important things for their people:
See the vision before their people do
Size up situations, taking into account many variables.
Sketch a picture of where the team is going, including any potential challenges or obstacles.
Show how the future connects with the past to make the journey more meaningful.
Seize the moment when the timing is right.
Whether building roads, planning a trip, or moving in leadership, big-picture thinking allows you to enjoy more success. People who are constantly looking at the whole picture have the best chance of succeeding in any endeavor.
Big-Picture Thinking Keeps You on Target
To get things done, you need focus. However, to get the right things done, you also need to consider the big picture. Only by putting your daily activities in the context of the big picture will you be able to stay on target.
Big-Picture Thinking Allows You to See What Others See
One of the most important skills you can develop in human relations is the ability to see things from the other person’s point of view. It’s one of the keys to working with clients, satisfying customers, maintaining a marriage, rearing children, helping those who are less fortunate, etc. All human interactions are enhanced by the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes. How? Look beyond yourself, your own interests, and your own world. When you work to consider an issue from every possible angle, examine it in the light of another’s history, discover the interests and concerns of others, and try to set aside your own agenda, you begin to see what others see. And that is a powerful thing.
Big-Picture Thinking Promotes Teamwork
If you participate in any kind of team activity, then you know how important it is that team members see the whole picture, not just their own part. Anytime a person doesn’t know how his work fits with that of his teammates, then the whole team is in trouble. The better the grasp team members have of the big picture, the greater their potential to work together as a team.
Big-Picture Thinking Keeps You from Being Caught Up in the Mundane
Let’s face it: some aspects of everyday life are absolutely necessary but thoroughly uninteresting. Big-picture thinkers don’t let the grind get to them, because they don’t lose sight of the all-important overview. They know that the person who forgets the ultimate is a slave to the immediate.
Big-Picture Thinking Helps You to Chart Uncharted Territory
Have you ever heard the expression, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it”? That phrase undoubtedly was coined by someone who had trouble seeing the big picture. The world was built by people who “crossed bridges” in their minds long before anyone else did. The only way to break new ground or move into uncharted territory is to look beyond the immediate and see the big picture.
HOW TO ACQUIRE THE WISDOM OF BIG-PICTURE THINKING
If you desire to seize new opportunities and open new horizons, then you need to add big-picture thinking to your abilities. To become a good thinker better able to see the big picture, keep in mind the following suggestions:
Don’t Strive for Certainty
Big-picture thinkers are comfortable with ambiguity. They don’t try to force every observation or piece of data into pre-formulated mental cubby holes. They think broadly and can juggle many seemingly contradictory thoughts in their minds. If you want to cultivate the ability to think big picture, then you must get used to embracing and dealing with complex and diverse ideas.
Learn from Every Experience
Big-picture thinkers broaden their outlook by striving to learn from every experience. They don’t rest on their successes, they learn from them. More importantly, they learn from their failures. They can do that because they remain teachable. Varied experiences—both positive and negative—help you see the big picture. The greater the variety of experience and success, the more potential to learn you have. If you desire to be a big-picture thinker, then get out there and try a lot of things, take a lot of chances, and take time to learn after every victory or defeat.
Gain Insight from a Variety of People
Big-picture thinkers learn from their experiences. But they also learn from experiences they don’t have. That is, they learn by receiving insight from others—from customers, employees, colleagues, and leaders. If you desire to broaden your thinking and see more of the big picture, then seek out counselors to help you. But be wise in whom you ask for advice. Gaining insight from a variety of people doesn’t mean stopping anyone and everyone in hallways and grocery store lines and asking what they think about a given subject. Be selective. Talk to people who know and care about you, who know their field, and who bring experience deeper and broader than your own.
Give Yourself Permission to Expand Your World
If you want to be a big-picture thinker, you will have to go against the flow of the world. Society wants to keep people in boxes. Most people are married mentally to the status quo. They want what was, not what can be. They seek safety and simple answers. To think big-picture, you need to give yourself permission to go a different way, to break new ground, to find new worlds to conquer. And when your world does get bigger, you need to celebrate. Never forget there is more out there in the world than what you’ve experienced.
Keep learning, keep growing, and keep looking at the big picture! If you desire to be a good thinker, that’s what you need to do.
