Andrew,
I agree with you completely. My use of the phrase "eye for the big
picture" certainly leaves room for interpretation! Let me try to go
further in light of your observation.
We on this list easily use words like vision, focus, mental model. The
reader generates an image, and speaking simplistically, we communicate if
not on the same page, then at least in the same verse, chapter or tome.
Following this thought in relation to "eye for the big picture" and your
own thoughts, Andrew, I'd say that the the eye discerns the big picture by
becoming sensitive to the power of "peripheral vision". I think someone
else on the list may have used that phrase already. A leader's role is
enhanced by becoming aware of that ability most of us naturally have to
take into account and juggle in our random access memory myriad pieces of
information from the many side shows surrounding our presence. I have
always been impressed by leaders who could make connections between
ostensibly disparate elements, synthesizing them into something fresh,
insightful and evocative.
While this trait may not be essential in a leader, it certainly does help.
Leaders can draw back the many veils which we naturally accumulate over
years and through experience. Someone said on the list that if the only
tool we have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. Yup. So
how do we maintain a full kit? Peripheral vision--the eye for the greater
picture.
Rumi wrote 700 years ago:
Begin as creation, become a creator.
Never wait at a barrier.
In this kitchen stocked with fresh food,
why sit content with a cup of warm water?
-- Barry Mallis bmallis@markem.com