The Balcony and The Stage

In business, we often talk about the 'balcony and the stage'. Its an analogy to "thinking big picture" and "getting the job done". We say its wise to bounce back and forth from the balcony to the stage. I've been coached several times that "I can see the big picture really well, I can see over the horizon, its a rare skill, bring it the forefront". As I walked higher and higher up the Cheddar Gorge, I realized that its more like a blimp view that I enjoy, its different from the balcony or the stage. I bounce into the balcony and the stage because its necessary (and sometimes I enjoy it :) ). For example, as I walked higher and higher, the gorge made more and more sense to me and I enjoyed it more and more.

As I approached the top of Cheddar Gorge, I noticed that the climb was getting easier. The huffing and puffing was at the bottom, but the higher you went, the more beautiful it became. Climbing the 274 steps at the beginning was a challenging, detail oriented, step by step process; whereas hiking up the mudpaths filled with rocks was a creative journey. At the very top, you could see over the horizon and everything changed. This reminded me of how it feels at the beginning of all major projects.

Thinking back, at one point, there were stairs and there was a mud path right next to them. I found myself choosing the mud path more than the stairs because it felt better.  The stairs were a nice guide, but the mud path felt creative and empowering. I think the comparison to work is that the stairs are like competency models and career paths; the mud path is like collaboration, innovation and continuous improvement.

There was a young boy singing (quite loud) as he came up the path. What a beautiful thing. At a young age, it would have been easy to whine or complain during the whole hike, but no, he was leading the pack and bringing everyone along joyfully.

Maybe its best to mostly skip the stairs and take the mud path in life. I'm willing to bet the mud path is where most innovation and improvement has happened. Sing while you're doing it, but be careful to sing with contagious passion as opposed to singing with distracting ego. The short term thinkers might ask "what did you accomplish by thinking so long term?" You might say, I accomplished a journey, I was open to enlightenment, and I found an increasing readiness to help others at any second. As I got into the hiking rhythm, I wasn't thinking about each step, I found myself thinking "who else is around and is there anything I can do to help". The steps fell into place and it felt amazing. I think that might be a key piece of the big picture.

All of a sudden the phrase "you alright?" made a lot more sense.