I would not discount big picture thinking, that skill on the right team is invaluable. Taming the beast is the challenge. Regarding being overwhelmed, there a

I would not discount big picture thinking, that skill on the right team is invaluable. Taming the beast is the challenge. Regarding being overwhelmed, there are a number of tricks. I recommend 'climbing the mountain one step at a time', keep a regular cadence and move on to a different task if you find yourself stalled. I wrote some thoughts here http://www.pauric.net/blog/?p=430 http://www.pauric.net/blog/?p=430 Regarding finding insight in the mundane, I recommend listening to the BBC audio article and watching the Google Talk video I link to here: http://www.pauric.net/blog/?p=171 http://www.pauric.net/blog/?p=171 Finally, if you're a dev - the ability to see the woods for the trees is going to serve you well over the long run. A lot of good devs lack in this area, but it's something that can dig a team out of a hole. edit: apologies, the bbc podcast I referred to is gone. If I find a copy I'll update.