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read, which meetings I will attend—I note where I am most likely to learn something. Then I mentally cue myself remains only an idea doesn’t make a great impact. The real power of an idea comes when it goes from picture thinkers don’t let the grind get to them, because they don’t lose sight of the all-important overview.
Read books, review trade magazines, listen to CDs, and spend time with good thinkers. And when something intrigues you-whether it’s someone else’s idea or the seed of an idea that you’ve come up with yourself-keep it in front of you. Put it in writing and keep it somewhere in a favorite place to stimulate your thinking. Either option is going to bring better use of your time than doing both. The decision you make comes from considering what you’re undertaking the activity that will serve your highest priorities and delegating those which don’t. When you do what’s most important to you, you’ll not only do it highly effective, you’ll also enjoy doing it. Find ways and move toward letting go of what’s tedious for you, where you can and you’ll move faster and more enjoyable toward reaching your goal milestones. 9. Learn To Teach Only by putting your daily activities in the context of the big picture will you be able to stay on target. AsAlvin Toffler says, “You’ve got to think about ‘big things’while you’re doing small things, so that all the smallthings go in the right direction.”3. 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 theother person’s point of view. It’s one of the keys to working with clients, satisfying customers, maintaining amarriage, rearing children, helping those who are less fortunate, etc. All human interactions are enhancedby the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes. How? Look beyond yourself, your own interests, andyour own world. When you work to consider an issue from every possible angle, examine it in the light ofanother’s history, discover the interests and concerns of others, and try to set aside your own agenda, youbegin to see what others see. And that is a powerful thing.4. Big-Picture Thinking Promotes Teamwork If you participate in any kind of team activity, then you knowhowimportant it is that team members seethe whole picture, not just their own part. Anytime a person doesn’t knowhowhis work fits with that of histeammates, 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.5. Big-Picture Thinking Keeps You from BeingCaught Up in theMundane 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 knowthat the person who forgets the ultimate is a slave to the immediate.6. 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 phraseundoubtedly was coined by someone who had trouble seeing the big picture. The world was built by peoplewho “crossed bridges” in their minds long before anyone else did. The only way to break newground ormove 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 newopportunities and open newhorizons, then you need to add big-picturethinking to your abilities. To become a good thinker better able to see the big picture, keep in mind thefollowing suggestions:1. Don’t Strive for Certainty Big-picture thinkers are comfortable with ambiguity. They don’t try to force every observation or piece ofdata into pre-formulated mental cubby holes. They think broadly and can juggle many seeminglycontradictory thoughts in their minds. If you want to cultivate the ability to think big picture, then you mustget used to embracing and dealing with complex and diverse ideas.2. Learn from Every Experience If I’m going to learn and grow,” I replied, “I must know what questions to ask and know how to apply the More research is demonstrating the power of harnessing an absent-mindedly applied skill we use every day: daydreaming. [2] According to Harvard Medical School’s Assistant Professor in psychiatry, Dr. Srini Pillay, our mind is aimlessly wandering for approximately 46.9% of our waking day.
move into uncharted territory is to look beyond the immediate and see the big picture. HOW TO ACQUIRE THE WISDOM OF BIG-PICTURE THINKING who “crossed bridges” in their minds long before anyone else did. The only way to break new ground or then get out there and try a lot of things, take a lot of chances, and take time to learn after every victory or
characteristics of vision that he showed me, and I’ll never forget it, is look for the good in what other people are doing and apply it. It doesn’t take a genius IQ or twenty years of experience to find the possibility in every situation. All it takes is the right attitude, and anybody can cultivate that.4. Dream One Size Bigger One of the best ways to cultivate a possibility mind-set is to prompt yourself to dream one size bigger thanyou normally do. Let’s face it: most people dream too small. They don’t think big enough. Henry Curtis advises,“Make your plans as fantastic as you like, because twenty-five years from now, they will seem mediocre. Makeyour plans ten times as great as you first planned, and twenty-five years from now you will wonder why you didnot make them fifty times as great.” If you push yourself to dream more expansively, to imagine your organization one size bigger, to make yourgoals at least a step beyond what makes you comfortable, you will be forced to grow. And it will set you up tobelieve in greater possibilities.5. Question the Status Quo Most people want their lives to keep improving, yet they value peace and stability at the same time. Peopleoften forget that you can’t improve and still stay the same. Growth means change. Change requires challengingthe status quo. If you want greater possibilities, you can’t settle for what you have now. When you become apossibility thinker, you will face many people who will want you to give up your dreams and embrace the statusquo. Achievers refuse to accept the status quo. As you begin to explore greater possibilities for yourself, your organization, or your family—and otherschallenge you for it—take comfort in knowing that right now as you read this, other possibility thinkers acrossthe country and around the world are thinking about curing cancer, developing new energy sources, feedinghungry people, and improving quality of life. They are challenging the status quo against the odds—and youshould, too.6. Find Inspiration from Great Achievers You can learn a lot about possibility thinking by studying great achievers. I mentioned George Lucas in thischapter. Perhaps he doesn’t appeal to you, or you don’t like the movie industry. (Personally, I’m not a bigscience fiction fan, but I admire Lucas as a thinker, creative visionary, and businessperson.) Find someachievers you admire and study them. Look for people with the attitude of Robert F. Kennedy, who popularizedGeorge Bernard Shaw’s stirring statement: “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream ofthings that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” I know possibility thinking isn’t in style with many people. So call it what you like: the will to succeed, belief in yourself, confidence in your ability, faith. It’s really true: people who believe they can’t, don’t. But if you believe you can, you can! That’s the power of possibility thinking. Thinking Question Am I unleashing the enthusiasm of possibility thinking to find solutions for even seemingly impossible situations?You often hear someone say that a colleague or friend is a “good thinker,” but that phrase means something If you are trying to learn how to be successful in life, consider what you can do to nurture these key traits:
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