Seeing the forest for the trees

Some people based on their aptitude for project management and level of experience intuitively see the things others don't see or recognize are even factors of (or for) consideration.

For example, there are critical and chaotic situations where an existing team member, lead or manager that for one reason or another wants or feels the need to do something before they know if that action will make the situation no better and sometimes make things worse. This is the scenario of being busy for the sake of being busy, and is analogous to why doctors hate patients that go on-line and prescribe for / diagnose themselves using some web site (e.g. WebMD).

Now there is a subtle difference between crisis and chaos that sometimes gets blurred in the heat of the moment. Crisis in the context here meaning that there is a real or imagined urgency and need for immediate action. Chaos may or may not come about as the result of a crisis. Chaos in contrast is when people are attempting to do something ... anything to avert further disorder or confusion (sometimes insistently and with great fervor and determination), and it can be made better or worse by actions taken. Thus, I believe likewise that a difference exist between reacting and responding to a certain stimuli -- e.g. an angry customer call. I'll leave that for another post though.

In either case, you need to decide whether you have a crisis or chaos. That might also mean you need to go first to where they are mentally and emotionally and prod them along with you to enable them to see the forest for the trees. Also recognizing some people have gotten themselves deeper into those proverbial woods than others by the time you get to them. Thus, it will require more time and effort on your part to get them to where they need to be.

In all interactions with others (to paraphrase the Dalai Lama) it is important to 'seek to understand before offering one's understanding' and provide a level of respect you would most certainly expect for yourself. Because they didn't understand the question or the situation does not preclude you from doing the same. I recently witnessed a public interaction where I thought one of the two people was about to say "no, duh!" and even though neither did it wouldn't have surprised me if that happened.