It seems odd, doesn’t it, that people should find this balance, or this ability to maintain mutually informing contact with both concentration and context, so hard to achieve? But you’re right, it comes up often.

The antidote to indecisive and endless information gathering need not be refusal consider evidence as to how one’s focus is playing out in the real world.

Thanks for stopping in, and for your always valuable thoughts.

I would guess that about 50% of my consulting engagements touch on this at some point along the way. It’s fascinating–especially in Western culture–how over-emphasis on achieving a single goal can lead to ignoring new information and danger signs. In business, once a manager presents and commits to a goal, it can be seen as disloyal to come forward with any data that would imply the goal is no longer achievable or even desirable.

The space shuttle Challenger is one such example. While there were multiple elements to the cause of the disaster, plenty of danger signs were fed to the launch team up until lift-off. Singleness of purpose without context and perspective turned out to be fatal.

Great post!