Strategic Thinking

Play the game while observing it as a whole.

Business leaders are like athletes in that they play the game while simultaneously observing it as a whole.

This is akin to holding two conflicting ideas in one’s head at the same time. F. Scott Fitzgerald recognized how difficult that task is and how much cognitive power it takes.

It is challenging to maintain perspective and see the big picture while not getting lost in the action. The good news is its learnable.

Its only really problematic is we aren’t aware that is what we are tasked with doing. We need to be able to toggle between the macro and the micro without getting stuck.