175 – Don’t miss the big picture
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We risk losing sight of the bigger picture when we focus on one detail. Listen to hear how a recent participant in one of Mark’s coaching calls used a personal experience to make a strong business point.
Welcome back to another episode of Anecdotally Speaking!
This week, Mark shares a story that was told to him in a recent coaching call. It illustrates how we can miss the big picture when we focus on one detail, but you could also use it to encourage that person in your life to read the instructions!
As this story comes from a current Anecdote client, we have changed some details to deidentify the company.
For your story bank
Tags: big picture, detail, focus, personal stories
This story starts at 01:35
A big company Mark is currently working with is organised by country. In Scandinavia, Ingrid*, the country’s Legal Counsel, is great at her job. She’s in her early 40s, and she has lots of experience. She’s known as a bit of a perfectionist and is a keen DIYer.
When she set out to paint the interior of her house, she knew exactly what colour she wanted—a particular shade of sage.
So she visited several hardware stores. But she couldn’t find the colour. Until she eventually did.
She purchased two large cans of paint, went home, and started painting her house.
She painted half of the rooms in her house, and it was going well. She did it very carefully and took her time.
She finished one can and went to open the second, stopping to read the instructions to check she hadn’t missed anything.
She was surprised to read, “EXTERIOR USE ONLY. Under no circumstances is this paint to be used indoors. It includes an insect repellent hazardous to human health when used indoors.”
Ingrid and her kids had to move out of their house, and a professional had to strip back the walls.
She was so focused on getting the right shade of sage that the big picture slipped by her.
*Name has been changed.
Anecdote International is a global training and consulting company, specialising in utilising storytelling to bring humanity back to the workforce. Anecdote is now unique in having a global network of over 60 partners in 28 countries, with their learning programs translated into 11 languages, and customers who incorporate these programs into their leadership and sales enablement activities.