Create teams that push these folks to work together. Find your holistic and specific thinkers, and those rare folks who seem to be a bit of both. Listen to how your team members approach a problem, how they resolve conflict, even what details they notice on a project. You need to identify and recognize the thinking types on a team, and you need to validate the contributions of both. To successfully create a cross-functional team of holistic and specific thinkers, you need to do two things first. Now that we’ve established that both types of thinkers are equally valuable, how do you get them to see eye-to-eye when they view the world so differently? The secret to micro and macro thinkers working together And you need the macros to plan strategy, continually innovate, and drive growth. You need your micro thinkers to help the macros track time, manage projects, maintain budgets, and organize workflows and system processes. You need both types of thinkers in order to come up with the big ideas that will move the needle for your company and make sure those big ideas are implemented correctly and efficiently. This can lead some folks to think that macro-thinking must be the goal, and that micro-thinking is something to be corrected. It sounds like small thinking, or focusing too much on superfluous details. Like “micro-manager,” the term micro-thinker can carry a negative connotation. Why do teams need both micro and macro thinkers?

They may also have a tendency toward goal-completion, which can make them excellent managers and motivators. Because they’re laser-focused on the specifics they can identify potential gaps or pitfalls in a new process or plan. They’re experts in efficiency, processes, and systems. Micro, or specific, thinkers tend to focus on the how of a problem.

Their passion and vision can inspire affinity and motivation in their team They tend to think outside the box, and their ability to make connections across two or more seemingly disparate concepts can result in surprising solutions and creative campaigns. Macro, or holistic, thinkers like to look at the big picture: at longterm goals and overall structures. If we use the terms “holistic thinkers” and “specific thinkers” we start to see the benefit that both types of brains bring to an organization. That’s why it’s vital to understand how both macro and micro thinking contribute to an organization’s success. Chances are, your company wouldn’t either. Whether you’re naturally a “big idea” person or you’re a stickler for the details, as a business owner you know the importance of seeing the whole picture.Īt Big Sea, we believe taking a broad view of the marketplace helps us identify opportunities for growth and improvement and set a vision for the company that helps us achieve our clients’ goals through an agile digital marketing strategy.īut we wouldn’t accomplish half of what we envision without the detail-oriented, nitty-gritty, micro thinkers we depend on.

Macro vs micro detail definition