Extrapolating the Scrambled Words Experiment

“The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid - aoccdrnig to a rsecearh at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy - is taht it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it and urnetdansd it. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.”

If you can read and understand the above paragraph you just proved the point that our brain develops understanding of notions not based on details or sequence of events but based on the big picture. In understanding a written word what it counts is that the first and last letters are correct and that the number of letters – the length of the word - is accurate. The order in which the letters are written seems to have a much lesser importance than initially thought. The humans are capable of figuring out the rest.

The same seems to be true in relation to management practices. When leaders provide an objective assessment of the current stage (the frame of reference) a clear articulation of the final objective (vision or goal) and a strategic direction that links the two in a credible manner, the employees are able to carry on the action without the need for step by step instructions. Next time when you need to formulate a plan of action make sure that the initial and final stages are clear and the generic strategy is explained, and you may not need to spend too much time in documenting all the details. People will be able to fill up the gaps and connect the dots by themselves.