"I don't see it"

We all tend to get lost in our day to day activities - personal or professional - and forget to look at the big picture. When I joined my current organization, I was in a customer support role responsible for fixing bugs. We were responsible for delivering solutions to customer issues in a specific functional area in a mobile solution. So when an issue came to us, we focused on fixing the issue and not on how customers used the solution in an end to end process. The full picture got lost in trying to find a solution for the issue at hand.

I learnt to look at the full puzzle board after years of effort and training. Initially, I just couldn't see it. I could see the pieces but could not see how they all fit together. But as I learnt to step back, it opened my eyes. The interlocking pieces coming together made a lot of sense.

In my current role, I am responsible for being a trusted advisor for customers and I guide them through strategic decisions. Guiding the customer through their day to day struggles and issues is important but what is more important is to step back and look. It is not easy but once you see the full canvas, you will appreciate the customer's viewpoints better. It opens up opportunities for innovative solutions which were never in focus before.

My recommendation would be to concentrate on the smaller tasks at hand. But take time to step back and look at the big picture. I can assure you that you will see things which you never saw before.