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The "big picture" is the wider context surrounding the task at hand.
People have a natural tendency to focus on the job they are doing at the time. This is basically a good thing, because it helps with a successful completion of the task. However, like most good things, too much of it (i.e. the focus) is a bad thing, because excessive focus on the task itself can mean forgetting about the context and purpose of the task.
Here is an example. A company is intending to expand, fairly rapidly. A particular role is to be filled by a new hire, and the shortlist is two good candidates. There is insufficient budget to hire both. One is more experienced at the actual job itself, and somebody on the interview panel says, "this guy knows how to do the job, let's just hire him". But then somebody else says, "Hang on, let's look at the big picture here. The other candidate has a stronger education and some management training and experience, even though this isn't a management job. Sure, he won't be as strong at this job on day1 or even for a couple of months, but in a year's time we're hoping to turn this one job into a team of three or four. This guy could manage that team while the first candidate probably isn't suitable for management. Let's hire the second guy."
When doing a futures study you must limit the scope or you will never complete the project. While you should focus on the most relevant topics to your own needs, it is useful to understand the "big picture" - that is, what is the overall context that your study must relate to.
One way of gaining this context is to diagram the key activities that should be addressed and then learn enough about each so you do not have any inconsistencies or big gaps in your study. You also need to consider uncertainty and trends that are so strong they are likely to continue as well as those trends that are more vulnerable to change. Finally, since there are no single right answers, you need to look at alternative futures (or scenarios) to help open your mind and allow your some room to present real options that may differ significantly from each other.
I fully agree with the answer been added by MR Duncan Robertson ..................Thanks
