Blumer is well known for his connection with the famous sociologist George Herbert Mead. Blumer was a follower of Mead's work on symbolic interactionism and Mead heavily influenced his work. Mead transferred the subject field of social psychology to Blumer. One important aspect Blumer learned from Mead was that in order for us to understand the meaning of social actions, we must put ourselves in the others' shoes to truly understand what social symbols they feel to be important. However, Blumer did deviate from Mead's work. Blumer was a proponent of a more micro-focused approach to sociology and focused on the subjective consciousness and symbolic meanings of individuals.