| As a side effect in my life long study of human | | | | who are only comfortable with "small chunk thinking" |
| excellence, genius and creativity, I have discovered | | | | and will turn immediately to chunking down EVEN |
| ONE particular thinking pattern that makes ALL THE | | | | FURTHER in moments of crisis, because that |
| DIFFERENCE in: | | | | movement is THE ONLY movement they know and |
| - understanding the world | | | | are familiar with, make great soldiers, factory |
| - problem solving | | | | workers, low level clerics - great ants, in other words. |
| - innovation and creativity | | | | But the fact is that to "think in the opposite |
| - and even inner harmony. | | | | direction", to zoom out to see the bigger picture, is a |
| This is a meta filter which people LEARN, they are | | | | simple as a child's game - we just need to reverse it. |
| NOT born "that way", and it is a really profound one | | | | Instead of playing endless versions of, "What's the |
| that makes the difference between a great thinker | | | | difference?" we start asking instead, "What's the |
| and someone who isn't, at the end of the day. | | | | SAME?" |
| This filter is about whether a person sorts all manner | | | | It is then the meta patterns become revealed and |
| of incoming information by difference, or by similarity. | | | | the MOVEMENT OUT towards the "bigger picture" |
| Fascinatingly, across the board, children's games are | | | | begins to occur naturally. |
| games of "difference". | | | | This is such a simple, and yet such an INCREDIBLE |
| Spot the difference; Sesame Street's "One of these | | | | thing. |
| things just doesn't belong here ..."; and many, MANY | | | | Consider this. |
| other strategies across the board and all the | | | | We may ask, "What's THE SAME about a black boy, |
| educational modalities reward this "sorting by | | | | and a white boy?" and the answer is ready and clear |
| differences". | | | | - "They're both boys!" |
| The side effect of sorting by difference is to | | | | We may ask, "What's the SAME about a little boy |
| compartmentalise the world into ever smaller blocks | | | | and a little girl?" and we may receive the answer, |
| of detail; this leads directly, and I mean directly, in | | | | "They're both human beings." |
| completely logical cause and effect fashion to losing | | | | EVERY person needs to be able to ZOOM BOTH |
| the ability to "see the big picture". | | | | WAYS - into the details, and out to biggest possible |
| In neuro-linguistic terms, the movement from a | | | | picture, and back again. |
| normal sized picture into more and more detail is | | | | EVERY person CAN do that - it is just a question of |
| called "chunking down". | | | | encouraging the neglected and secret "bigger picture" |
| This is when we stop looking at the car, and instead | | | | movement from an early age, and THAT in itself is |
| focus on a single wheel, and then the hub of a single | | | | as simple as to say to a child, "What's THE SAME |
| wheel, and the the screw with the hub, and then a | | | | about your teddy and your doll?" |
| single turn of the screw, and deeper and deeper into | | | | For any adult who seeks to really re-connect to their |
| the details of the thing, until we're in quarks and | | | | own creativity and POWER TO DETECT THE META |
| neutrons territory and no-one knows or cares that | | | | PATTERNS of our lives and our environments, it is |
| we ever started with a bright red motor car. | | | | the same game. |
| Now, there is nothing wrong per se with "chunking | | | | "What's THE SAME about the last five movies you've |
| down" into details of a thing; where it becomes | | | | watched? What's THE SAME about the last 15 |
| immensely DANGEROUS for a person, and for many | | | | successful advertising campaigns the competitors |
| people in their collective societies, is when | | | | ran? What's THE SAME about me and other people?" |
| EVERYBODY thinks like that - apart from a few | | | | There is a structural re-connection that is astonishing |
| "visionaries" that is, of course, who will become the | | | | which occurs so naturally as a by product of asking |
| leaders. | | | | that simple question, which is indeed profound, and |
| Aha! | | | | profoundly healing. |
| A general MUST be able to see the bigger picture; a | | | | I do believe that the answers lie in the meta |
| king must; an industry leader; ANY leader MUST have | | | | patterns, and in our ability to PERCEIVE THEM |
| the magical ability to zoom out and perceive huge | | | | CLEARLY. |
| arrays of objects IN PERSPECTIVE in order to | | | | If we get, as individuals AND as societies, those |
| discover the meta patterns that make up the | | | | meta patterns right, then the details will NATURALLY |
| WHOLE situation. | | | | take care of themselves - that's the way it works. |
| In the education systems the world over, children are | | | | "They" say that the devil lies in the detail - it could |
| not raised and trained to become LEADERS. That | | | | well be so that salvation can be found indeed, in all of |
| explains why the "downchunk movement" into detail | | | | us starting to pay much more attention to "the |
| is being taught and fostered at every turn; people | | | | bigger picture". |