The Big Picture

How often have we been told to look at the big picture? 

The good part is, no one will admit to not seeing one for the fear of being brandished as not too smart. After all, it is the realm of visionary leadership trait. Details are often relegated to the poor foot soldiers to deal with. After all, Leadership is all about showing the Big Picture is it not? Besides, if we just focus on the small details, we will never get the big picture. That is a good excuse to avoid details and paint your version of the big story. Do you agree?

Having done a few canvas paintings over the past 3 years, I wanted to transition to the larger versions. Or in other words, I wanted to paint a big picture. A very big one at that. The fun part of painting on canvas is that you create your magical world and live in it.  Maybe not forever but at least as long as you are painting it. It’s a different matter that I have never figured out why these paintings always looked better in my head than on the canvas I have painted in.   Well, that is a challenge for another day. 

Armed with paints, brushes a blank wall, and more importantly the permission to paint the wall, I was all set. I even had a reference photo so that took care of the problem of my ‘creative- challenged’ mind. And, before I knew it,  I was staring at the huge blank wall in front of me - A proverbial blank canvas that I could paint my world in. I felt like God. 

But then there was this small question that posed a big challenge. Where do I start? The harsh reality of the magnitude of the task ahead erased every hazy detail of the image I had in mind. (Ok, in the laptop screen).  Did I say, I felt like God? An overwhelmed clueless God, I must admit. 

But don’t little things matter? Don’t these small details make big things happen? I  decided to tackle the challenge by focussing on the details and started painting one little detail at a time. One tiny brushstroke at a time. I chose to ignore the big picture and looked at everything close-up.  I was no longer trying to create a Master Piece but focussed on the smallest of details. Slowly but steadily from the blank emptiness of the wall emerged a serene forest.  25 hours later when I stepped back from the wall, there it was, my version of the big picture. Click here for the video to see the details up close.

Not everyone is a gifted visionary. Ordinary mortals like my self, may not be able to paint a big story that inspires the world. But that does not mean, we cannot get there. We simply have to take a different route. We can reach that big picture, with one tiny brushstroke at a time. Layer after layer, detail after detail, element after element we can build our picture up without feeling overwhelmed at not seeing the big picture. 

Close Up Pictures of the painting to show details

Small details are not the enemy of the big picture. They are not mutually exclusive traits of leadership too. So do not bother about figuring out if you are a big picture person or the details person. You can be both. You need to be both. There is no shame in paying attention to details. 

We can be that foot soldier who takes care of the details that help emerge the big picture. One tiny detail at a time creates a large forest. Nature has been doing it successfully for billions of years. So why can't we?