but the forest IS made of trees!

“All politics is local”

“You don’t see the big picture”

“Won the battle but lost the war”

All phrases meant to explain our disconnect from viewing situations without respect to scale.  To one degree or another we are all guilty of this at some point in our lives.  We sometimes obsess so much on a particular detail or we look at the overall picture and forget to address  particular details and suddenly everything goes wrong.

Some examples?

Back when I used to be in production I would sometimes become so obsessed with some part of a map.  I would go over and over and over it so many times that I would lose track of time and suddenly I would find myself behind schedule.

And of course the opposite is also true.  You can create the best possible product and do your utmost to create something fantastic and suddenly one little hiccup and one little wrong or missing detail destroys days, weeks, or even months of precious work.

So how to balance this out?  I don’t think it’s so much  matter of striking a balance between being detail oriented and being aware of the broader perspective.  Neither of these is really a negative quality to have in your work.  Being detailed oriented makes your work precise and comprehensive.  Having a broader perspective let’s you keep an eye on what you are trying to accomplish.

Rather, I think it’s a matter of doing both but adding a third dimension to your work.  An independent arbiter in your mind that will look at the project objectively and step in when needed to make the necessary adjustments.  Quality control is often derided as a fussy and unproductive part of the work cycle and it is never appreciated until it’s missing in the final product.

A good dose of quality control will be an important facet of your work in the long run and give you a reputation among your peers as someone who can handle highly complex projects on time and with an eye for meticulous detail.