There are many jargons, frameworks and preachers on how to think “big”, “drive continuous improvement”, “deliver consistently”, blah blah blah. You will hear terms like “mental models”, “lattice network” and more blah blah blah. There is an entire industry trying to sell people on how to think– alas, most college educated folks spent 16 years studying and they did not develop those skills in 16 years?
In some big tech companies, thinking “Big” is a core leadership principle. There is a little bit of subjectivity on what is “Big”, “Small”, etc, however there is some general agreement on what might qualify and there is also plenty of abuse of “Think Big” when it comes to the yearly review time.
The onus is always on the individual to understand how they think and use their strengths to be effective in achieving the outcomes. While training/seminars/reading material will expose you to concepts and allow you to explore your curiosity, internalizing the concept and action is squarely on the individual.
Incremental Versus Big
Driving incremental improvements comes from a deep understanding of the end to end process of the functional area– knowing the details allows one to ask the question of what can be better at each step. Incremental changes are typically linear and can have a big impact.
“Think Big” ideas are revolutionary ideas that change the trajectory of the business. An example is AWS– it was not an incremental change, it was a brand new “Big” idea that created a whole new company. The “Big” ideation process is non-linear and most people will likely spend many unproductive hours before coming up with a brilliant new concept. Once the concept is conceived, multiple refinements/pivots might be required before the product gains traction.
Who Cares and Why?
It is hard to say if the idea is “Big” or not in near real time, it is a judgment call. Most people hear only about the “Big” ideas that worked. So, the next time you make an assertion about “Thinking Big”, pause and ask why you are making that assertion and why that assertion is important/relevant. Instead obsess about the problem and the ways to solve the problem.