Big projects, tiny pieces

Large overwhelming ideas or projects are a lot easier to handle when we break them down into small pieces. The difficulty resides in our ability to precisely envision all these pieces of the completed puzzle at the single level. It certainly is a lot easier when the task a hand is a concrete one. We can picture its finite elements or more simply, put it on a piece of paper and make sure each of them will fit. It's also easier when the project is something we've already tackled or is similar to a work we've already seen in the past or can observe around us.

When things gets more complicated is when we are treading into some abstract concepts or into undertakings for which we have no per-existing patterns to follow or can get inspired from. We then need to create the sub-elements of an abstraction from scratch and make sure that, as we proceed into our general plans, all the pieces will fit together and won't end up creating a monster instead of the perfect result we want.

That in fact is when things can become interesting; there are moments when the tiny component can take a life of their own, show us new ways or ideas that we never before thought of before and may affect the end-result for the better. What is guaranteed is that – if we apply ourselves and pay great attention – we may end up with a project that is of much superior quality and performance than the rough dream we started from. How should we call that bounty? Synergy or creative abundance?