I couldn’t think of a more original title.  The longer I thought about the title, the further I got away from what I really wanted to say.

I have been trained to look at the details.  When you’re working on research, you look at an idea that’s an inch wide and a mile deep.  It seems that most of my education had to do with taking apart something and looking at the details closely.  Remember diagramming sentences or taking a look at a microscope.  We get down to the details to “learn” something.

The more that I learn – and there is so much more to learn – I realized that you can look at the details to learn more, but you can learn equally as much when you pan out and take a look at the bigger picture.  I am not so sure that I was ever taught how to do that well.

We’ve all heard the phrase that has to do with focusing on the forest or the trees.  Lately, I have found myself learning and reading from teachers and authors that are forest/big picture people.  There is just as much to learn when you take the 30,000 ft view.  It just puts it all in perspective.

Have you ever interacted with someone who was so focused on their perspective that they just came across as intolerant, myopic, or just plan lame – trees people.  I have come to realize that I am a tree person that is slowly learning how to be a forest person.  The best perspective is neither forest or trees, but the ability to see both.

I should have titled this post Forest or Trees.