Recent Articles From My Weekly Column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler”

Published in the Business Section of The Northwest Indiana Times every Sunday since November 2001

Front Lines 347  August 7, 2008

Trees, forests, and other points of view

When driving in a scenic area there are occasional road signs announcing a “vista” or “scenic overview” ahead. Cars pull over; people get out and gaze at the fetching scene. But we don't all see the same thing. When looking at a landscape some people see a forest, others see trees. It's the same thing in business.

When looking at a problem, a challenge, an opportunity, or a conflict some people see the overview, the “grand strategy,” or the big picture while others see details. Some people are conceptual thinkers. They reach conclusions quickly because their thought processes skip intermediate steps with a “We'll figure that out when we get there” attitude. Others are linear thinkers and methodically proceed step-to-step taking a task to its conclusion but can slow a project into a quagmire of meticulous effort. Both the conceptual and linear thinker may, but certainly not always, arrive at the same conclusion but they will get there by following very separate paths. A business needs both the conceptual view (the forest) and the detail view (the trees) in order to thrive.

Very few people are both conceptual thinkers and detail thinkers so it is important to know and understand the thought processes of the people you work with. It is especially important when creating work teams to have both conceptual and detail thinkers working together so that your projects with be conceptually sound and have the details done correctly so no steps are forgotten but there is a problem: conceptuals and detailers hate working together.

Big Picture folks feel that detailers bog them down in the morass of inconsequential minutia while detail oriented people feel the conceptuals overlook or bypass important steps so managing an activity to completion often requires walking a tightrope of negotiation between both camps and building consensus to keep a project moving forward without overlooking potential problems.

That “scenic overview” is beautiful because of every tree, shrub, weed, rock, pebble, and butterfly. When these detail elements are assembled into a forest, it becomes a grand vision. Try and do the same with all your projects.

Front Lines 348 - August 14, 2008

Of Big Mac's, Economics, and Us

Economists deal with economic systems in both local and global environments. They work to predict the future and explain the past. The work economists do impacts all of us but, like many technological and academic disciplines it is difficult to explain their work in terms understandable to those who are not in their field.

Seeking to make Exchange Rate Theory and the concept of Purchasing Power Parity digestible by comparing the buying power of world currencies “The Economist” magazine created an index listing the price of McDonald's Big Mac hamburger in U.S. dollars around the world. They picked this iconic sandwich as their common denominator because it is the same product all over the globe so the easily comparable price takes into account land values, construction costs, labor rates, energy costs, and the price of ingredients including, of course, that special sauce. It turns out that a Big Mac in Norway costs $7.73, $3.57 in the United States , and $1.68 in Malaysia . OK, you may not understand all there is to know about Exchange Rate Theory and Purchasing Power Parity but you now understand something about it.

 Using “The Big Mac Index” complex economic concepts are easily understood, even by a dolt like me. This is “Creative Metrification” in its most elegant form. They have taken complex comparatives and demonstrated the measurements in terms just about everyone can understand and relate to.

In business we have all sorts of measurements. As an example, consider all the ratios that a banker calculates when looking at a balance sheet. How many of their customers know and understand those critical measures of a businesses financial health. Imagine if the banker were to explain those ratios and other measurement tools in terms the non-financially educated person could easily understand.

Consider using the concept of the “Big Mac Index” when explaining what your business does to a new hire, a customer interested in your process, an investor, a lender, or a prospect. Instead of concentrating hard to “get it” and often not “getting it”, creative metrification will make your message easily understood by all

I can coach you to Business Success! Call Larry at 800-326-7087 for your complimentary 30 minute coaching session now. It works for many others… it will work for you.

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