What is the thing?
Why does it matter?
Zoom in on something concrete.
Zoom out to make an abstraction.
Zoom in on a specific example.
Zoom out to draw a broader conclusion.
Design, innovation and entrepreneurship require the ability to do both. To focus intensely on getting something done, but also to imagine the future.
Zooming in and out is a helpful lens no matter what challenge you are faced with. If you’re having a bad day, you might be fixated on a little thing that went wrong. Zoom out. Does it really matter in the big picture?
At any given time, it’s good to know how zoomed in or out you are. It’s a natural technique many people use, but making it explicit can help you recognize when you need to get unstuck.