Are you Big Picture or a Detail Person?

I recently had jury duty, and during the selection process, one of the attorneys asked us this question: “Are you a big-picture person or a detail person?”  

I'll ask the same question of you, dear blog reader.  Are you a big-picture person or a detail person?

I'd not given the question much thought, but it spurred me to think more about it and to post this blog.

My answer is:  I’m a big-picture guy.  I try to look at how individual components fit into the whole situation.  I have no statistical evidence, but I'd guess that most (but not all) business owners are big-picture people.  

Seeing the big-picture is a strength, but there is also potential for great weakness.  Why? Sometimes big-picture folks can't deliver on the details.  Their intentions may be good, but their delivery isn't.  Calling someone an "Idea Man" is a critical term for someone who is too much into the big-picture, but can't deliver the details. 

On the other hand, Detail people deliver accurate results.  They are likely the people who set up systems that deliver consistent output for the company.  The weakness of detail people is that they can get caught up in the very systems they create. They tend to get bogged down in rules and accuracy and lose sight of the big-picture.  The expression "can't see the forest for the trees" is a critique of folks who are too much into details. 

Point of clarification:  These two terms, Big-Picture vs Detail,  are two ends of a spectrum.  Most people fall somewhere in between but lean toward one side or the other.

The secret is to respect both types of people and have a balance of big-picture and detail people in your company.  You've got to have both for an organization to thrive.  I was fortunate, because in my early business life, I realized that I needed detail people.  I was fortunate to hire Ginger, Roman, and Judy.  Their detail work enabled our company to grow.  Otherwise, I would have bogged down badly.

Big-Picture vs Detail are not the only two qualities that need to be balanced.

Consider these:

Sales Skills vs Production Skills:  The ability for people to communicate with others to promote a product or service, balanced by people who can build things,  use equipment or technology, and output what has been sold.  

Financial Stewardship vs Human Relations:  An organization needs both, or things can fly off the rails quickly.  No healthy organization exists without some balance between these two.

Entrepreneurial Leadership vs Organizational Leadership:  It takes Entrepreneurial leadership to envision how meeting customer needs can be sold in the marketplace profitably.  It takes Organizational Leadership to set up a system to make it happen.

Very few people strongly possess all of these qualities.  A good business manager understands what kind of qualities are needed in their operation. (The answer is probably a bit of all of them.)  Managers also know what skills they bring to the table.  

A common mistake of poor managers is that they undervalue the qualities they lack. They tend to think if everyone was exactly like them, everything would work out great.  In reality, you need diverse qualities and skills for a company to thrive.  

The Greek Philosopher Socrates said, “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom”.   He was a smart guy.  

Little did Socrates know that he was talking to you, Mr or Ms Manager of the 21st Century.  He's telling you to think about the qualities that will help your team thrive. Understand the qualities you bring to the table, and respect other qualities your team needs.  Do this, and you'll have a very strong team.