Can’t see the forest for the trees!.

This is a pretty common expression, almost a cliché observing that the pressure of the detail overcomes the view of the whole.

However, a tree is a part of the foundation of the forest, in the same way a single challenge or task is a part of a whole project, and it plays a role in the “fabric” of the whole.

The challenge is to see both the forest and the tree, the forest offering the context, the tree offering the vital details and relationships between the details, at the same time.

Failure to see both, and manage ambidextrously, will compromise both.