20,000 Feet vs 2 Feet

One of the keys to problem solving is stepping back and analyzing the problem/situation at hand. There are basically two ways we look at problems, from 2ft and from 20,000ft.

A 2ft viewpoint seems to be the view of choice when we embark on any problem solving missions, yet it doesn't always give us the entire picture. Let's illustrate this:

Grab a piece of paper, write "the black ant went over to the yellow ladybug" in the middle of the page, reaching from the left side of the paper over to the right side of the paper.

Now grab another piece of paper roll it up just like a telescope. Sitting down place the piece of paper on your table or desk and look through your telescope. Keeping your telescope fixed on the middle of the page, can you see the whole sentence? Can you tell me where the black ant is going?

Now stand up and look through your telescope, fixed on the middle of your page.

Now you can tell me the whole story of the ant and the ladybug. And a captivating story it is.... :)

When making decisions do you find that people never stand up? Do you find yourself sitting to much?

Successful marketers/business-owners/entrepreneurs will tell you that it is impossible to make a well-informed decision without first standing up and taking a 20,000ft view. How could you? You can't even see all the information!

As investors we can find ourselves getting sucked into sitting too much. Therefore we look at things only from a 2ft vantage point. What is the outcome? Well every once in awhile you might guess that the ant is going to see the ladybug but the rest of the time you don't see that that ant is getting burned by a magnifying glass.

Stand up, it's good for you.

Have a great week!

Matthew George