For those who are guided by principles it is a good thing that they use perspective when looking at a particular situation. Perspective is spiritual. It is a way of viewing things. If things are not put into perspective, the result will be an over or an under emphasis upon the matter at hand. Balance can only be obtained by putting things into their proper perspective. Perspective requires being able to mentally assemble all the pieces and putting them into a whole. Perspective is thus, thinking in terms of unity and plurality.
Views of things can either be clearly seen or they can be obstructed. Much more can be seen from a mountaintop than from a valley. From the mountaintop, one can view more territory because the perspective is greater. The view from the valley is limited because the perspective is limited. Thus, if one wants to gain a greater perspective, he would want to go to the mountaintop to gain his perspective rather than the valley.
Yet, most people are content to get their perspective from the valley rather than the mountaintop. This is because climbing the mountain requires effort and the valley dweller is content with his present view. The risk for the valley dweller is too great. He deals only in safety and security. The man on the mountaintop is not satisfied with the view the valley gives him, so he scales the mountain.
Much has been made of what is called the Peter Principle which basically assets that an individual will rise to his level of incompetence. I have read this book and to my knowledge the author does not state the reason for this eventual incompetence. All tasks are comprised of unity and plurality. Unity has to do with the purpose of a task and plurality is the details associated with bringing about the unity.
What happens is that some people are good with details. They excel in mastering detail. They make excellent workers. They get tasks done and done correctly. They must be kept in these positions without promoting them. When these same individuals are put into a supervisory capacity, they cannot function because they do not have the proper perspective. They are used to viewing things from the valley and now they are asked to have a mountaintop view. Disaster awaits. They are so lost in detail that they do not understand the purpose of their function. They excel in plurality and lack in unity.
How about those who are unity oriented to the exclusion of plurality? This is where many owners of companies fail. They more than anyone understand the purpose of their business. However, when the details i.e. numbers do not add up, they seek to ignore the objective results of their operations and focus solely upon the mission of the company rather than attending to the details. The ship must be kept afloat despite the evidence of the gaping hole in the side. The objective evidence of the details must be dealt with for the unity to continue.
The perspective that is needed at all times and in all places is the big picture. The big picture does not get lost in either the ditch of unity or the ditch of plurality exclusively. The big picture encompasses the necessity of both unity and plurality. Each balances out the other. When someone loses perspective of an issue, they are focusing narrowly and getting lost. They then keep getting more entangled by continuing to struggle in the same direction.
What is required is getting outside the situation to gain some perspective. It is a time of stepping back and seeking to get the big picture. Big picture economics is sticking with what works. What works is work. Investing our time in productive enterprises is where we can gain the biggest return. Many want to make money in a supposedly easy way i.e., without effort or due diligence on their part.
Seeing the big picture is the key to all supervisory positions. Those who have this perspective should be promoted. This is where companies have failed. They do not understand the principle of unity and plurality when it comes to the workplace. Thus, those who were competent at one level are overwhelmed at the next and rendered incompetent. Seeing the big picture is spiritual and is necessary to promotion in any and every endeavor.
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