“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Andre Gide
Now that the rugby season is over, we won’t be seeing this sign reminding parents on a weekly basis that they’re not watching the World Cup. Over the months, the sign became a healthy anchor to help serve as a sometimes necessary reminder about what it’s really all about. It was enough to mention ‘kids’ for some of the adults to regain perspective.
Sometimes it’s not that obvious however.
In the absence of a sign, a linguistic technique that can help you regain perspective is one that switches your level of thinking from specific to abstract.
Thinking at an abstract level helps you see the bigger picture, and helps to connect the dots in strategic thinking. For anyone or any team that cannot see beyond their role or their speciality, it allows their thinking to open up and see where they fit in to the overall structure or purpose of the organisation.
Thinking at an abstract level can also help with critical thinking and with not losing perspective, that is, not being consumed with something that has become bigger than it actually is. You may have experienced that sense of powerlessness when you’re swamped with something that is consuming you, yet you know deep down it’s wasted energy.
At the other end of the scale, thinking specifically can help with establishing the steps that need to be followed. Without the abstract however, it can be easy to get bogged down in the detail.
Switching your thinking helps you to train yourself to conceptualise at different levels. By asking yourself “What’s the higher purpose or intention of this” as many times as you need to until you can’t answer it anymore, you’ll find your thinking will shoot up into the abstract.
A lot of energy is lost on the sidelines, or in the workplace over things that aren’t worthy of that much neural activity. Regaining perspective helps you keep sight of what is important, and helps you save your energy for the bigger stuff.