The Power of Oscillation

How to make rapid progress on the right path.

The human mind processes information within a framework that can be summed up as: 

General to Specific.

We learn broad, basic concepts at first, then we build on them with higher level of detail. Like a blurry image becoming slowly more focused, we gain clarity and understanding with each step. 

This process applies to creativity, problem-solving, and learning. We utilize it to first grow to particular a level of sufficiency: We have enough information to solve the problem, create something new, or learn enough to understand the core concepts. From there, we grow to whatever level of detail (i.e., expertise) we desire.

This is a relatively easy concept to understand. Yet, there’s a powerful secret tucked away in this concept that is not so obvious.

First, a thought experiment.

Imagine sitting down to paint a realistic painting of the Grand Canyon. You begin with larger brushes, roughing in the blue sky above and the red rocks below. Next, you use a slightly smaller brush to generally rough in shadows and highlights. This process continues as you use smaller brushes and more colors to work up the details of the painting. We all love watching those timelapses of paintings, where we get to see that process unfold quickly.

As you work on the painting, your mind literally shifts the way it perceives the canyon. At first, you broadly observe the canyon, seeking the bold, obvious divisions between colors, shades, and natural features. After the broad areas are locked down to the canvas, they provide foundational context for the next level of detail. The composition, the proportions, the base colors, the angle of light - these are already solved for you, and now it’s a matter of observing more closely as you work. You continue with the tree to the right, the clouds in the sky, the ridge halfway down the canyon catching light. Layer by layer, you work on more detail, until you’re eventually using the smallest brushes to work on the leaves of the tree, the hawk gliding above, the glimmer of the sunlight on the water below.

Imagine attempting to do the reverse, starting with the finest details of the entire scene. You would mentally shut down before dipping the tiny brush into the paint. You would be overwhelmed by a lack of context for the entire scene. Where are the limbs to attach the leaves? Where does the tree attach to the cliffside? What about the proportions of everything else? Why start with the details of this tree, rather than the details of the cactus, the rocks, the sand, or any of the other hundreds of possible details?

Before, you only had to consider a few broad elements for the initial steps. It was easy to lock those down so you could move forward. By trying to start with the details, however, you’ll immediately notice there are thousands of them, all screaming for equal importance. How could you confidently choose one? You would sit in frustration, staring at a blank canvas.

Fortunately, you’re a pro. You know that working from the general to specific is an effective mental framework, so you get to work and make quick progress. Soon, you’ve captured the main elements of the scene. Any passerby would be able to see that it was generally a painting of a canyon landscape. Now, you could continue like this, looking back and forth between the scene and the painting. But, you have one more trick up your sleeve that makes the difference between an OK painting and a truly great one.

Periodically, as you work, you take a few steps back so you can observe the painting from afar. 

Suddenly, the context of the entire painting is clear to you again. You just finished working up some details of the cliff. Now, standing back, those details blend into the broader scene and have a much different context than when your eyes were inches from the canvas. You’re broadening your perspective again, taking a step away from the specific and back toward the general.

In other words: You’re oscillating between the general and the specific.

This is the crown jewel of your process. See, when you first started roughing in the scene, you were truly starting from scratch. You had no experience with the painting itself. It didn’t exist at all. As your work unfolds, you build up a foundation that will impact the later details. By taking a step back to evaluate the overall scene, you can immediately see things you couldn’t see when close to the work. Hmm, the proportion of that ridge to the horizon line is off. That shadow doesn’t continue to the canyon floor. The blue of the horizon now needs a bit more red in it.

This critical step allows you to make corrections to the previous actions before building up details on top of them. If you just kept working, these unfixed mistakes would create a deeper and deeper hole for you later. You would inevitably step back and find that the painting simply wasn’t working how you originally wanted. Only now, you have all that paint and time committed. What would have been an easy adjustment earlier now feels impossible. 

The whole painting feels wrong, and there’s no simple fix.

What a terrible place to be. 

Again, though, you’re a pro. So, you step back to clearly see what’s working and what isn’t. You walk back to the painting and fix the issues before moving on. You protect yourself from being tied to earlier mistakes, where sunk-cost fallacy kicks in and tells you to just keep building.

In addition to avoiding all these horrible scenarios, you experience a powerful byproduct of this method: 

You can more confidently take bold moves with each step.

By knowing that you can always revert back to where you were a short time ago, this allows you more freedom to explore. In keeping with our canyon scene, it’s like when rock climbers use safety clips. As they climb, they progressively clip to new points on the rock face. If they fall, they only fall a few feet, rather than to their death. Think about the amount of confidence this provides to an otherwise terrifying outcome. Without the safety of the clip, playing it safe would be the name of the game. In life, that’s not going to lead to much excitement.

By now, I hope you realize this isn’t an article about painting the Grand Canyon. It’s about understanding and utilizing the secret of oscillation that’s tucked away in the more obvious General to Specific framework. Sure, it applies to painting, but it also applies to everything else: your projects, your career, your health, your relationships...

We often get caught up in the details of life. Like the painter working backwards, we’re paralyzed by the minutiae of the day-to-day, unable to get out of the mess of granular information being force-fed to us non-stop. 

Before long, we forget what we were trying to paint in the first place.

We remain in this paralyzed state until a massive event like divorce or the death of a loved one shakes us to the fundamental core. We’re ripped out of our tunnel-vision, forced to step back and finally observe the very foundational brush strokes of our lives, only to find that the painting doesn’t look anything like we imagined it.

Take the steps now. List out the primary elements of your life: health, relationships, career, finances, activities, how you spend your time. Force yourself to zoom out and to consider the full view of each of the below. How do you feel about: 

• Your body?

• Your energy levels?

• Your ability to focus?

• Your relationship with your partner?

• Your relationship with your family?

• The excitement or lack of excitement in your work?

• Your opportunities for growth?

• The amount of money you have?

• Being able to do the things you really want to do?

• Your emotional state? Do you feel at ease or anxious?

• Your control over your time. Do you have control, or are you constantly reacting?

Instead of wasting time on some meaningless activities this week, break out your journal and explore these topics. This will give you an opportunity to log where you’re at and to assess your path. If you continue to neglect this, each step could get more difficult to correct later. It may be challenging to accept that you’re on the wrong path, but what’s your alternative? Stubbornly keep hacking away at the jungle until you reach the cliff? And, if you’re on the right path, you’ll figure out ways to leveragethis for more progress.

One final secret:

Find someone who has already done the work and sees the details when your vision is still blurry. They’re going to leverage their experience and expertise to offer advice on how to get the most out of your efforts. Step back with them and assess the work together. On your journey, you don’t know what you don’t know. But, other people who have already walked the path do know. Leverage them. Ask them to assess your progress and listen to them. 

It’s like taking a shortcut to your destination.

By unlocking the power of Oscillation, you can continue to perfect your actions and confidently take each step forward in your path. Knowing that you can always go back to where you were before, you can boldly build your projects and, ultimately, the life you want. 

Are you ready to zoom out?