Metaprograms of Information Processing – Chunk Size: Overview - Detail

People have preferences for how they present information and how they want it presented to them. From overview to detail or from detail to overview.

Detail:

These people first talk about the details and, when you need to explain something to them, they are also first interested in the details. They feel particularly comfortable and have a talent for remembering many details. It is rather difficult for them to get the big picture, and the saying that they can't see the forest for the trees applies to them. This also means that it is difficult for these people to set priorities. These people tend to consider overview types as chatterboxes.

Overview:

These people always give you an overview first and also want an overview first before they are interested in details. For them, meaning arises through the "big connections". They think of the big picture in projects and not so much about the individual steps and details. These people often speak at such a high level of abstraction that you may feel they are talking about nothing or just incomprehensible generalities. These people consider the detail type to be a narrow-minded accountant type and are quickly bored by the many details because they cannot place them in a larger context of meaning.

Classifying Questions

• Tell me what you would like.
• What is important to you about your bank?
• I would like to explain something to you: Would you like the big overview first or are you interested in the details first?
• What would you like to know first about this project?
• (General pattern: Listen to the different sentences and pay attention to the ratio of overview to detail.)

Recognize and Identify

Detail: These people will first tell you all the details that seem important to them and will sequentially explain one process after another. In explanations and descriptions, they rarely state the goal and purpose, but rather the sequence of individual steps. If interrupted, they often start over again. Conversely, these people will tend to ask for many details.

Overview: These people always start with the overview without going into details. They describe the situation rather randomly and often jump from one aspect to another without adhering to a specific order. They often use short sentences without presuppositions. If they get too many details, they are easily bored and will ask questions about their meaning in the big picture.

Examples:

Detail: "What is important to me about my bank is that it is within walking distance from the office, that it pays me at least 70% interest on my deposits, and that I can conduct all my banking transactions through it."
"First we met Ed and then we went to the new steakhouse on Main Street, where Peter later joined us, and we all ordered a filet steak with French fries."

Overview: "I want a bank that is nearby and pays high interest."
"We all went out to eat together."

Statistical Distribution

Detail: 15%, Detail and Overview: 25%, Overview: 60%

Patterns in conversation:

Detail speak in sequences, step by step, abundance of modifiers, adverbs, adjectives, proper names for people, places, and objects, if the sequence is interrupted, the person starts again from the beginning or from the point where they were interrupted, seem only aware of the step immediately before or after the step they are currently dealing with. No perception of the big picture.

Overview occasionally present things in a random order, overview, big picture, summaries, concepts, summaries, simple sentences, few modifiers or details.

Language patterns:

Detail: exact, specific, precise, first ... second ... third, then, afterwards, before, logical, consistent.

Overview general, generally, overview, context, framework, in principle, principally