What is the "SIZE" of Your Thoughts? And Does it Matter?
No, I'm not talking about whether or not you have "big dreams," this is something a little different.
What we're talking about here is more about thinking "style" which leads to communication style.
The Analogy of Painting the House
Let's use the analogy of painting your house.
Springtime!
Do you think of that task simply as "painting the house," or does that seem like an overwhelming proposition to you?
Or would you be more comfortable looking at "painting the house" through a description called "Painting the kitchen, painting the bathroom, painting the living room, panting the bedroom, painting the study?"
In life, we all tend to use different approaches to thinking; some of us are global thinkers (we see the forest); some of us are detail thinkers (we see individual trees before we realize there is a forest).
Thought Size... and Troubles at Work
Lilacs in bloom
Just based on my personal experience, many of the troubles we encounter in work situations are less about actual disagreements than they are about mis-matched thinking styles.
How often have you seen a group of workers — all with a common objective — get in a disagreement because one person seems "stuck" on some minor detail, while another can only think in "generalities?"
It happens a lot.
Which is why understanding the underlying psychology of how we think can be a very important skill to have.
Thought Size, Memory and ADHD
What actually got me to thinking about this issue is that I tend to have a lousy memory. It seems to have little to do with "getting older" as it has been an issue for me since I was a kid.
Pagoda lantern in the sun
In my case, I tend to be somewhat afflicted with "Inattentive ADHD" which is basically fancy psychobabble for having a head full of swirling "idea bits" all the time, but very limited capacity to "sort and index" them in a meaningful way.
Hence I use lots of little bits of paper to write everything down, as I wrote about in a post a couple of days ago. Without that, I would be pretty lost.
Mrs. Denmarkguy sometimes thinks I am "not paying attention" to her when I forget things like "go to the grocery" and I end up with the wrong things unless I have a list.
In my brain, "go to the grocery" is not a thing; the "thing" is actually "buy milk + buy bananas + buy bread + buy cheese + buy flour + buy broccoli."
Life is Easier when you Know Your Thinking Style!
Apple blossoms in our garden
Maybe this seems like "so much psychobabble" to some of you, but life really IS easier when we understand our thinking style, and remain mindful of how differing thinking styles often lie behind conflicts.
If you recognize and understand that the person who just doesn't seem to "get" you is actually thinking about the same thing — just on a very different scale — you'll find it becomes much easier to find common ground.
How about YOU? Are you aware of your thinking style? Are you generally more of a "forest" or a "trees" thinker? Do you find it frustrating to interact with someone who approaches problems from a very different angle than you? How do you usually find common ground? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
Animated banner created by @zord189
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180501 13:01 PDT
I'm put in mind of several things.
Robert Heinlein is known to have written, "Specialization is for insects."
An old adage says, "The devil is in the details."
I tend to think of it as, "getting lost in the weeds.", which means to get too far off the beaten path to make useful progress.
The opposite of this is expressed by the statement, "Don't Try to Boil the Ocean", which means to try to do too much all at once.
Ideally, it would behoove an individual to be mindful of both the microcosm and the macrocosm within the parameters of the overall goal.
When it comes to getting work accomplished, micromanagement can be as stifling as uninvolved, inattentive management of time and focus is unproductive, the end being a lack of positive result.
The best place to find a tree is in a forest, but try not to cut them all down at once.
The flower is very beautiful indeed its distinctive color
Well done, my friend
I can see the big picture, but alas, on a daily basis, I get very task oriented- well, I'm good at it I suppose :0) So the details are where my head is.
/ᐠ.｡.ᐟ\
I am a detail guy in work, in play not so much. In work I want to inspect every tree, in this I am then able to see the forest. It does not take me long though and generally I see where things are going rather quickly. I do get frustrated with plodders, the ones who overly inspect and analyze. It is strange, I do respect the analytical mind and process, for me it is a task for times of solitude not collaboration. Thus, in my solo endeavors I am mr. slo mo. Perhaps I do not know or fully understand my thinking process. hmm now I have more to think on! Common Ground is found in patience, that or hiding my frustration! Really though I tend to ask questions of my collaborator, what are the expected outcomes, why they think a certain approach is best. It took me years to learn this. Am I manipulative in how I phrase the questions to get my desired action? That is an entirely different can of worms! I always question myself after the fact, in solitude,
how did I get what I wanted so easily?!! Truth is all parties involved can get what they want/need, it just takes to darn long.
It's weird sometimes I have a style of thinking in "details". Other times I have more of a "forest" view of thinking. About things like Life and the World around me.
So maybe a little from each. But probably more included to the "forest " type thinking as it relates to really big issues like our existence and human behavior , human interaction etc..etc..
Thanks for this post @denmarkguy
An interesting perspective, sir.
I'm definitely, annoyingly, frustratingly, a 'forest' type of person.
(i.e. I'm lazy)
Using this analogy, there are no forests. They don't exist. Only lots of trees.
A forest is a concept.
As I get older, I realize the importance of only looking at the trees - to get things done, and to make the best job you can of something.
(but it is a bloody hard habit to break after decades)
Seeing the forest does have it's advantages - but I would say, on balance, in a day to day time scale - looking at the trees wins hands down.
I don't care about thinking other people :)))