Expand your vision for better results

Jappreet Sethi

Internet has connected the world like never before. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter not only enable people to communicate with each other, but also express their opinions. We are now truly a ‘glocalised’ world.

Everything has become interdependent and interconnected. This has a profound impact on companies and their employees. Employers and workforce can no longer take decisions without looking at the bigger picture. To become an active part of globalisation, one has to think beyond one’s immediate area of expertise and take decisions that benefit everyone around. It is important to give respect to the system as a whole. Curiosity, clarity, compassion, and courage are the critical building blocks of a global thinker.

A task for all

Global thinking focuses on the future and integrates components and systems into a holistic framework. It’s developing a long-term approach. To think that only senior management is responsible for the key decisions and their outcome in an organisation will be a disservice to an organisation. If everyone in an office is working towards a common goal  — thinking about the company’s growth — it will progress and increase its turnover much faster than its competitors.

Make the goal common

To become adept in global thinking, you need to shift your mindset from linear to circular. You should also know that every decision made has a ripple effect. In an organisation, people who grow faster than others realise in time that their contribution to decision-making is for the larger good. The second significant shift in mindset is to move from isolated analysis to synthesis. In synthesis, we combine two or more things to create something new. So, start thinking how can you combine seemingly different parts to build a new solution to existing problems. 

Global thinking enables you to visualise situations with a broader perspective. If you are trained at thinking big, it’s also important that you don’t miss out on the minute details and links of a project. When thinking ‘globally’, you will have to choose from unlimited possibilities and visualise implications beyond the current situation. You should be logical to arrive at a decision. Creative thinking is put to use while conceptualising. At the same time, logical thinking helps check long-term consequences of 

the plan. As a global thinker, you attune yourself to treat a situation holistically, acknowledge that tasks are interrelated and comprehend that there are often multiple interpretations of a problem.

Route to become a global thinker

• What are the long-term effects and consequences of the decision that you are planning to take?
• What parts of the system will be involved?
• What are the long-term goals of the company?
• Are your current actions moving your company towards the long-term goals?
• Are your actions aligned to the company’s long-term goals?
• How will the company progress?

— The writer is an HR & Strategy consultant