The Big Picture

I was talking to my son’s eye doctor, Dr. Gary Etting. He treats eyes as a system that works with your brain and so rather than just ratchet up your prescription he suggests other things you can do to help reduce nearsighted-ness. These include simple exercises such as relaxing your eyes when you are walking as part of his vision therapy to improve eyesight. My son asked why so many doctors are so quick to up the lens prescription when these other therapy options are available? Upping the prescription is an easier and faster solution for the immediate problem but one that exacerbates the problem for the future. Is he an eye doctor or a lens prescriber? I am glad we go to an eye doctor.

Fast-forward a few hours, and I was reading an article that asked: how can architects help design the space beyond the building? This year, let’s resolve to look at our businesses as a part of a bigger system that interacts with areas adjacent to our specialties. Let’s ask bigger questions that result in a truly better solution. We must not see such a stark end to our impact and instead look at the opportunity that a “systems approach” would yield. This will press us to be true collaborators that can sort through issues and allow the give and take that goes along with it. That shows forward thinking and a skill level that surpasses the commoditized approach, yields more influence, better client relationships and a more successful business.