You’ve likely encountered a problem you’d call “not seeing the forest for the trees.” When you’re so focused on the minutiae of a situation, you miss the bigger context that needs addressing.
Put that way, it feels like a one-way problem. Like all you need to do is zoom out a bit, and then everything will work.
And as long as you remember to keep your eyes on the bigger picture next time, nothing will sneak up on you. Everything will be fine.
But that’s not true.
Because then you’ll have the opposite situation. One where you’re not seeing the trees for the forest.
You’ll be missing small, nuanced problems that could have large ramifications.
Plus, if (as is often the case) those “trees” are people, you’ll probably end up lacking empathy. Toward your employees, contractors, customers – or all three.
To fully address things takes a tree doctor and a forest steward.
And when it comes to your business, you need to be both. (Or to have both, if you’re more than a company of one, each empowered to influence change.)
I’m sure the originator of that saying didn’t mean to oversimplify things. They weren’t out to normalize one way of saying it at the expense of the other. (Benefit of the doubt!)
But I think it’s time we started normalizing both. We need trees, and we need forests, and without either, we lose both.
Happy forest hugging,
James
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Branch-level tree-seeing out our front window! |
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