I think systemically but act systematically. I see connections everywhere, macro and micro systems, subsystems… how A interacts with B and C but not D or Z, unless D and Z join forces then A folds and B reconsiders.

The whole is more important than the sum of the parts, to me. I live by this principle and operate accordingly. For example, Claflin University is bigger than all its faculty, staff, students, and alumni combined, albeit we are all important pieces of what makes Claflin a centenary institution and a great place to work for.

I’ve seen a lot of the following in my life…Constituents in the workforce often inflate their importance by overemphasizing the self in order to justify their own biases and sometimes unrealistic ideologies, instead of thinking corporate and advancing the whole.

The moment that professionals think broader and look at output developed collectively instead of focusing on individual insecurities, the system grows as well as its parts. It’s better for everybody, I argue.

One of my goals as a department chair in higher education is to facilitate conversations with my peers about the need to think macro but act systematically, like doing a curriculum revision, instead of discussing individual pursuits.

This philosophy of thinking macro and executing step-by-step solutions works well when implemented strategically. I’ve seen evidence of it in multiple systems.