Dance floor and balcony, which one are you missing?

The dance floor is like a spotlight, focusing on the details in front of you; the balcony represents a global, macro and strategic thinking mode. These two types of thinking represent everyone's situation, and few people can really combine the two. So how can we switch flexibly? How to do it specifically? Let's take a look at the author's analysis.

If you don’t do art, you probably won’t be able to look at paintings.

However, I like to read stories from paintings and see what an author wants to express. I was particularly impressed by a painting called "Dancer" by the impressionist painter Edgar Degas.

What are you drawing?

A dancer, with a graceful posture, completely immersed in the dance, the scene is like a dream. But the angle of the painting is very special, "there are staff and people waiting backstage next to her."

It is not like the dancer looking in the mirror, nor is it a simple bird's-eye view. It seems that he is standing in a relatively high position, overlooking the entire stage, and observing everything as if from the "dance floor".

This three-dimensional perspective is particularly good. Later, after looking up information, I found that Ronald Heifetz of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government called it a "theory" in his book "Leading in the Line of Fire".

01

What is a dance floor? It is like a spotlight, focusing on the details in front of us, allowing us to experience and deal with the affairs in front of us immersively.

When you are in the "dance floor" state, you will devote great enthusiasm to the work at hand and focus on every detail. This concentration can help you quickly discover and solve problems and help enhance communication and cooperation with others.

For example:

Wang Lei is a marketing manager of a company. Not long ago, his boss gave him a new project, "organizing a new product launch conference." If he did a good job on this event, he would have a chance of promotion.

Wang Lei is full of passion and determination. In order to ensure perfection in every link, he decides to organize the team and assign tasks personally.

Not only does he provide clear guidance, he also organizes frequent team meetings to discuss every detail with members, listens humbly, and provides them with support and encouragement.

Under the leadership of Wang Lei, every post by the new media team is carefully considered, with both pictures and texts, which attracts a large number of users.

The public relations team also did an excellent job. Every press release issued received high attention from the media and brought a lot of praise to the product launch.

The secret to Wang Lei's success lies in his attention to details while knowing how to delegate power and trust the team, allowing everyone to play to their strengths and fully mobilize everyone's enthusiasm.

What is a balcony? It is like standing on a tall building and looking at the hustle and bustle of traffic and people coming and going below; it represents a global, macro and strategic thinking mode.

Standing on the "balcony", you can see not only the small piece in front of you, but the bigger picture. This perspective can help you find real opportunities and see possible problems early on.

For example:

Lao Zhang worked in an e-commerce company for 7 years. He resigned a while ago and hasn’t found a job yet, so he wanted to try being a UP host.

At the beginning, he was not like other newbies who blindly followed the trend. He thought further and went to the "balcony" to see what everyone liked, where other UP hosts did well, and where there were opportunities.

He discovered a specific field that other UP hosts had not involved much, but everyone was actually very interested in. He quickly started making videos with fresh and interesting content, which quickly became popular with everyone and the number of fans began to grow exponentially.

He was very happy because he used the perspective of the "balcony" to find a unique path of his own and successfully established himself in the field of UP master.

Understand both, and you will also understand the difference between the dance floor and the balcony.

However, in real life, people do not transition between states as smoothly as they imagine; sometimes, being too immersed in the "dance floor" and fussing over every detail may lead to missing the overall picture; while some people are used to standing on the "stage", paying too much attention to the overall situation and ignoring the details.

02

In the past two days, I have come into contact with many friends who are working or in the process of transition in the workplace. I was deeply touched and found that their situations are very similar to those in the scenario. They are either trapped on the dance floor or on the balcony, which is very embarrassing.

A friend of mine who works in a 4A company has been in charge of many large projects and received high praise from clients and colleagues. He feels that with so many years of experience accumulated, he can definitely go solo.

Later he resigned and started his own business.

Not long after registering the company, he found that the situation was not as he expected. His connection with many major clients was not as close as when he was in the company. Many clients preferred to choose large consulting firms rather than a single consulting firm.

It turned out that in the consulting firm, he benefited from the company's strong platform and resources, which gave him great help in terms of customer resources, team support, tools and methods.

After coming out on my own, these are no longer available.

He told me that he recently realized that the company not only provides a position and salary, but also a huge platform, team and visibility.

Although I do have strong personal abilities, many companies prefer to work with consulting firms that have a fixed team and a certain scale.

I realized that I had been standing on the "balcony" and seeing the opportunities and resources brought to me by the entire company. Only after I really jumped into the "dance floor" did I find that every detail was related to my survival and development.

I have another friend who is exactly the opposite of him.

When I saw him, I thought of my past self. What exactly was he like?

He especially likes shooting short videos and spends a lot of time on it every day, trying to find ways to shoot better. His videos are quite popular on the Internet, and some have received less than 100,000 hits. He also likes to share his experience in shooting videos with others.

When I chatted with him recently, I asked him how much money he made from making videos. He was a little embarrassed and said, "I am very sad about commercialization."

I have tried brand cooperation and knowledge payment, but in fact, I didn’t make much money. The total amount I earned in the last three months is not as much as an ordinary person’s monthly salary.

Isn’t it surprising that the typical “jump into the dance floor” can’t extricate itself, getting in close contact with every detail, but may lack the overall and strategic thinking of standing on the “balcony”, leading to difficulties in commercialization.

03

It’s okay, it will be fine after a while. But it’s not that easy. Why? There are three reasons:

1. Solidification of thinking patterns

Judging from the dance floor thinking trap, some people are particularly good at handling the work at hand and have excellent execution of details and tasks at hand.

When you give this kind of person a trivial task, they can quickly find a solution and are almost omnipotent. But this also has a side effect, because they are always focused on the "now", so they are a little unfamiliar with long-term planning and strategic thinking.

It is not difficult to find that people who are usually busy with the details of daily work do not pay much attention to future plans and intentions, such as designers, front-end developers, testers, production line operators, maintenance technicians...

From the perspective of the balcony thinking trap, it takes time and experience to cultivate a big picture perspective. This far-sighted perspective is often based on strategic analysis and long-term planning.

There are many positions involved, such as integrated marketing, market research, investment and mergers and acquisitions, public relations, supply chain management, risk and compliance...

Forced to be at the strategic and macro level for a long time, these people always like to consider the problem from a holistic perspective and look for the best strategy.

However, this also means that they may lose close contact with the actual operational level and are less able to truly feel the difficulties and pressures faced by front-line employees. This is also their "occupational disease."

2. Capacity and resource limitations

Everyone has their own areas of expertise and knowledge boundaries, just like athletes, a long-distance runner may not be suitable for short-distance running. Similarly, the "dance floor" and "balcony" at work each require a different set of abilities and resources.

Some people start to develop a "skill" since college. Take me as an example, a liberal arts student. If you ask me to study science suddenly, it will be difficult to do.

Similarly, if a person who has been working in the marketing department is suddenly transferred to manage a production line, he will face many unfamiliar problems and challenges. Although he may be an expert in marketing, he has to start from scratch in terms of production line operation, employee management, and technical problem solving.

In other words, everyone has a "comfort zone". When forced to leave the comfort zone, one not only needs to have relevant knowledge and skills, but also needs sufficient adaptability and learning ability.

3. Emotional and Mental Factors

I have observed that people who work on the dance floor (doing specific things) are often experts in a certain skill or knowledge field. Their in-depth research and long-term practice in this field have given them deep confidence in the professional skills they have mastered.

At the same time, due to being at the execution level for a long time, this group of people may not have fully developed their sensitivity and thinking ability towards macro-strategies.

When they are pushed into situations that require a global perspective or are asked to participate in high-level strategic decisions, they may feel uncomfortable or lack confidence because they are worried that they will make wrong decisions or suggestions due to their insufficient knowledge and experience in this area.

Similarly, those who have been on the balcony for a long time (the ones who make plans) will feel unfamiliar when they suddenly have to execute. This is not because of inability, but because they have become accustomed to the top-down guidance and decision-making model.

As for specific operations and unexpected situations that may occur in actual work, they lack sufficient preparation and experience to deal with them. In addition to these three points, there are other factors, such as "risk tolerance training from childhood to adulthood"; people with dance floor thinking are more sensitive to small mistakes, while people with balcony thinking are more inclined to long-term investment and are willing to take some risks in exchange for long-term benefits.

04

You can compare the four situations and see which subject you are biased towards.

First, look at work habits.

Do you like to solve problems immediately when you encounter them, delve into every little detail, find out the problem and fix it quickly? You are highly alert to every little problem, want to get results immediately, and see that your efforts can produce clear results.

Simply put, I like doing the task at hand, and when I finish it, I can get a clear sense of satisfaction of "OK, done!"

But if you are the kind of person who likes to look at problems from a higher perspective and likes to think "what's going on behind this?", then you may prefer to analyze the bigger picture of the problem and want to see longer-term trends and patterns.

You are not only satisfied with the small achievements in front of you, but also pay more attention to long-term goals. Even if you can't see obvious results now, you are willing to work hard for the big goals in the future.

Secondly, look at communicating with people.

Think about it, do you prefer to chat with colleagues who often "get their hands dirty" at work? For example, to discuss a specific problem or how to complete a task more efficiently?

Such communication is often specific and clear. You can delve into the details together, find the crux of the problem, and then find the answer together.

But if you prefer to talk with colleagues who often need to "think", such as leaders or management teams, then the topic may be more inclined towards "big direction".

You will discuss team management, or how a project should be planned and developed. Such communication is more about finding and establishing a long-term perspective to ensure that everyone is working in the same direction.

Simply put, do you prefer to discuss "what should we do now?" or "where should we go in the future?"? Both communication methods are important, and the key is which one you prefer.

Secondly, look at the learning method.

Are you the kind of person who likes to hone in on a particular skill? For example, a designer will continue to perfect his or her design skills until he or she reaches the top level in the industry.

The advantage of this way of learning is that you can become a true expert in a certain field, and when others have related problems, they will think of you for help first.

Some people are not like this, they are more like "generalists". Such people like to dabble in a wide range of fields and are not satisfied with just going deep into one field. They may know a little about design, some marketing strategies, and can also master project management methods.

This way of learning allows you to have a certain understanding in multiple fields, becoming a generalist, and often providing different perspectives and suggestions in the team.

Finally, look at your interests.

Some people watch short videos and read the news, and they prefer major global events, such as national economic policies and major events happening in certain places. These people like to have a holistic grasp of the overall situation. They are interested in macro and market dynamics and want to know where the big trends are.

Another type of people prefer to study new technologies in a certain niche, new art styles, or news about a specific industry.

For example, they will spend a lot of time studying the latest photography techniques, an artist's exhibition, and digging deep into a new technological principle. These people have deep feelings and interests in a particular field and explore the essence of it.

Would you rather know about the "big events" in the world or the "small circles" in certain fields?

I prefer the latter. After answering these questions, you can have a clearer understanding of whether you prefer the "dance floor" or the "balcony"; of course, people's professional roles and interests will change with time and experience.

To put it bluntly, the balcony and the dance floor are about seeing the big picture and the details of things. Imagine dancing in a ballroom. You only care about the music and your partner, and the people around you dance with you. Your feeling is: "The music is great, and everyone is dancing!" But standing on the balcony, you will see something different. When the music is fast, there are more people; when the music is slow, there are fewer people. Some people keep walking around, and some people are chatting.

05

Therefore, no matter which side you lean towards, you should be aware of your own limitations and switch flexibly. How to do it specifically?

1. Integration and withdrawal

We are busy every day, but have you ever thought about what we are busy with? Why did we choose this job?

The dance floor and the balcony remind us to learn to stop occasionally, look at what we are doing from a higher place, think about what we really want, whether what we are doing now is right, and even how doing so will help in the future.

Imagine if everyone in a band only cares about their own rhythm and doesn't cooperate with each other, can the music be good? So, although daily trivialities are important, don't let them make us forget our original intention.

Just like my friend who makes short videos, the content is better but the commercialization is weaker. He should think about whether there are new and better methods to try to ensure that he is always moving in the ideal direction.

2. Participation and Observation

In 2021, I read a report about Zuo Hui in Entrepreneur magazine, "Zuo Hui's Legacy: A Dialogue with Myself Today Five Years Later." It said that Zuo Hui was like constantly shuttling between the dance floor and the balcony.

He would take a walk in the middle of the night and call the management immediately if he found any problems in the store. For example: Why is the sign light of this store not on? Why is the phone number on the door very small?

But he would also jump onto the balcony and start thinking deeply: "Where is the real competition in the residential industry?" Is it a genetic war? What is a gene? How can we lead the entire industry?

If you want to truly influence what’s happening, you have to get back on the dance floor. Being a “spectator” on the balcony is useless, which is the same as not considering the overall situation in the first place.

This is not a one-time task, but requires constant shuttling back and forth between the dance floor and the balcony, sometimes taking measures, sometimes observing the effects, and then adjusting strategies based on observations.

It's like you are dancing on the dance floor while observing the entire dance floor and even yourself from the balcony. The most difficult thing is probably to stand on the balcony and look at yourself and your behavior objectively.

3. Practice and absorption

After discovering your own shortcomings, the best way is to engage in practice. People have two major systems: one focuses on creating value for customers, which is called "value creation"; the other focuses on self-growth, which is called "growth system."

Just like small cells in an organization, we not only contribute to the market, but also constantly strengthen ourselves and grow our capabilities in our work.

Do you often reflect on your behavior? The original intention of this reflection is to see if you have made progress. Compared with yesterday, what have changed about yourself today? How did these changes come about?

For example, every night before going to bed, stand on the balcony, review the day on the dance floor, find out what can be improved, and then practice it the next day.

This awareness of continuous self-improvement needs to be actively cultivated. In this ever-changing world, if you only use the old methods, you will definitely not be able to face new challenges. The three methods can be continuously cycled, and perhaps your operating system can be updated.

In general: What part are you missing?

If you handle the relationship between the two well, you will be able to talk to yourself from the perspective of the future, and you will be more confident about things that you think are difficult but correct.

Author: Wang Zhiyuan, public account: Wang Zhiyuan