We’ve been noticing how hard “big picture thinking” can be for nonprofit people who so commonly are too busy getting things done to pause and consider the larger landscape. In this episode, Nancy and Sarah explain what “big picture thinking” is, why it matters, and how your organization can expand how you think about your work. You’ll finish listening with a few strategies to put to work within your organization to change the questions you ask and engage more people in key conversations.
Question to reflect on before you listen:
How often does your board talk about the context in which your work happens?
Discussion questions:
- What resonated with you about this conversation? What would you like to take back to your organization?
- What is the role of your organization within the larger context of your community or the issue you are working on?
- Which of these questions would be most helpful for your organization to answer
- What are all of our alternatives?
- What are the decisions we need to make?
- What problem are we trying to solve? How do we know?
- What perspectives would help us think about this issue?
4. How might you bring this question into the life of your organization?
Word of the week: Big picture
How do you think about the idea of the “big picture” related to your organization?