"What differentiates serially-good-deciders from the rest of us is pattern recognition. This is the ability to see the generic and lasting patterns that underpin localized and ephemeral data, and which form the unseen framework around which lasting success is built."
Good decision making is reliant on our ability to see patterns, leitmotifs, and recurring themes in what would initially appear as a mass of undifferentiated data. The patterns underlying data is where the crux of a matter or situation manifests. Without this ability, we can easily become distracted by details and derailed by noise.
Les McKeown calls pattern recognition the most important leadership skill you'll ever learn.
