The internet defines context as ” the part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning”. Nuance is defined as “a slight degree of difference, as in meaning, tone, or gradation”.
Understanding the context and nuances in situations that require you to assess and act, is a critical skill needed to make effective choices or decisions. I find people hurry past gathering enough information to understand context and nuance preferring to race towards, hurried decisions that are incomplete.
Visualize a drawer with thread, string, yarn, and rope. All useful items. Without understanding the context of need for one of the items in your drawer, you most likely will not make the right choice. Are you repairing a missed button on a shirt or needing a blanket made? Help secure your boat to a dock or wrap a box so that it can be easily carried? The context around the need is super important to clearly understand.
Nuance implies greater detail. Is the boat large or small? Is the shirt white or red? The nuance of understanding the thickness difference between a thread and a string or different weights of thread itself is important in choosing the right solution for your need out of the drawer.
Seeking out more context and nuance with situations you face can be critical to your effectiveness. Stopping, for just a bit, to ask yourself what you don’t understand before rushing to the finish line of imperfect quick judgment and action.