It’s easy to get lost in the weeds at work.
How can you take a step back and look at the big picture?
This post originally appeared onFast Company.
Here are five strategies I’ve found helpful:
1.
Allocate Time to Thinking
This might sound obvious, but it’s amazing how infrequently we actually do this.
Block off time on your calendarbased on when you’re most creative(morning, afternoon, evening).
If they do, decompose them into smaller pieces until each one feels doable.
Identify a problem and several solutions.
For example: How can I help the designers who report to me be as effective as possible?
Solutions: Establish a mentorship program or a process for critique.
Next, I will read them.
Next, I’ll make a list of potential features, then group those features into themes.
Then, I’ll ensure there’s a specific deliverable and audience for the proposals.
The steps to get there can sometimes become more obvious when you start vividly imagining the desired outcome.
even though other people had been trying to solve the problem for years withmuch more complex solutions.
Counsel of heroes:Imagine sitting in a room with the people you most admire throughout history.
Ask each one: how would you approach the problem?
Removing assumptions:What assumptions are you and your team implicitly making about the problem?
For each assumption, ask yourself: what would happen if we removed it?
Removing assumptions can free up your mind to see the bigger picture.
Your unique perspective:Every team has some unique perspective that they bring to how they solve problems.
How can your team’s lens shape the solution to this problem?
What are the big opportunities you’re actually able to tackle?
Thinking big occupies a divergent brainstorming spacean alternate reality where there are no wrong answers.
Be realistic about what options are actionable, and then take next steps.
This is the convergent phase.
Asana’s software helps teams work together more easily, without the headache of email.
Prior to Asana, he led product and engineering initiatives at Google and Facebook.
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