Sometimes it is hard to see the forest for the trees. My family used to throw that phrase around a bit when I was younger, but I never fully understood what they meant (although that didn’t stop me from using the phrase, too). When searching for a better explanation of the phrase, I often was pointed to the parable about the three blind men being asked to describe an elephant based on the part that they could touch. This story was interesting and a little bit humorous, but our family never said “you can’t see the elephant by only looking at its tail”. Giving it more thought, there is no sense going beyond the reference to someone who gets lost in the details of a situation and who is unable to see the full situation that they are in.
Once place where this is evident is when I talk to attorneys seeking new jobs and they only focus on one portion of the compensation component of an offer they received. Yes, base compensation is important. There is no doubt that there should be some threshold number by which you won’t work for a firm/company if the base salary is below that number. But there are lots of other factors, too, all of which must be considered. Bonus opportunities, billable hours, retirement contributions, health insurance and other benefits, paid time off, stock options or equity are among a myriad of factors that should be considered as part of the package.
Many of these factors are negotiable. In addition to salary, bonuses, PTO and billable hours may be negotiable. On the contrary, when you are eligible to participate in the company retirement plan is governed by a plan document that is immovable and your request to be able to participate outside of the terms will fall on deaf ears.
When examining a compensation package, only you know what will work for you and your family. When making the calculus of what the opportunity is worth to you, it is a fatal flaw to not think about the package as a whole, but rather focus on only one piece of the package!