Detail or big picture?

Some of us are detail people, some of us are big picture people. Some fall between those extremes – it’s a continuum, not an either/or. Have you ever thought about the implications of this?

The detail

I saw some beautiful artwork today. Here’s an example, delightful flowers and leaves, hand painted. You may notice some drops of water on the surface of the artwork and also some scratches in the lower right, I’ll explain that in a moment. But water and scratches don’t diminish the quality of the underlying artwork. Look at the use of carefully chosen colours, various shades of pink for the petals, the delicate brush strokes; all these details are significant and give a sense of light and shade, solidity, fragility of the petals, strength of the stems.

But what about the big picture? Is this a fragment from a large canvas? Or is it part of a Roman wall painting from a villa in Herculaneum or a town house in Pompeii? Let’s look at the big picture.

Does the big picture make a difference? What is the purpose of the painting? Why is it wet and scratched? Can we date the work, or attribute it to a known artist?

Scroll on down and take a look.

.
.
.
.

The big picture…

Things may not be as we expected, seeing the big picture can change the way we think about things.

The artwork was on the surface of a three dimensional structure, a statue of a hare. It’s wet because it’s been raining, and the scratches are from bumps and interactions with other objects in the environment.

The big picture and the detail both have their place.

We need an overview and we need a closer look

This is true in almost all real-life situations. If we only see the detail it’s difficult to fit those details into a wider understanding. And if we only see the big picture, we miss out on some of the fascinating, astonishing details.

What we need in any situation is a chance to see things at as many levels as possible. It’s the only way to get the full picture. Sometimes we say someone is a ‘big picture’ person, or a ‘detail’ person. Both of them may be missing out one way or the other. Helpful to have both in a team!