Have you ever seen the master score an orchestra conductor uses? 

It is an overwhelming document that contains the music for every instrument in the orchestra and is usually covered in handwritten notes.

It’s the conductor’s job to know the inner workings of every part being played and to fully understand how they interact as the piece unfolds.

This is very different from the score handed out to an oboist, a trumpeter, or a percussionist.

These focused parts detail only what that specific musician needs to play.

Providing each musician with the master score would be overwhelming and require them to turn an infinity of pages throughout the performance, so it’s up to the conductor to share their vision for the piece, helping each player to understand how they fit into the whole.

In high school, our conductor would introduce a new piece by playing a recording first. It gave everyone context about how their part should be played, and how it interrelated with all the other parts being played.

With that context, we would each focus on our own part, but the result would be dozens of musicians working in concert to create one unified performance.

Your people don’t need to carry every detail of every project to do great work. In fact, trying to carry every detail will make it less likely for them to do that great work.

What they need is a clear understanding of the desired outcome, how the part they play will contribute to that outcome, and how their work will interact with the work of others.

Give them clarity about how it all fits together and then free them to focus on their unique contribution.

OPPORTUNITY FOR ACTION: Ask your people if they have clarity about how the work they are doing relates to the goals of your organization. Do they know what song you are playing and how to play their part?