Marietta, GA – Puzzles, Patterns and Predictions
Being a lefthanded student in primary school during the sixties wasn’t easy. My mom attended teacher conferences where she had to insist that I be allowed to “write from the wrong side of the desk” and have my paper slanted differently from the other students. It didn’t click with me until much later (in college) that us lefties think very differently from righties. Being a good student was easy for me as long as I didn’t get distracted and daydream too often. What made school easy for me in the classroom was seeing information as “patterns” and looking at problems as “puzzles” rather than linear equations that most of my righthanded classmates used when solving problems. Using puzzles, patterns and predictions, I was able to be a good student with very little effort. Looking back now, I wish that I would have applied my mind to pursue loftier goals for myself but that is another story for another time.
We can use this mental mind technique today in our careers. When you see a problem, visualize a jigsaw puzzle where pieces can be moved around and put into different places until the solution appears. What makes this type of thinking really cool is that the puzzle can always be further tweaked and improved upon. Predictions change as better information comes into focus to be applied to the pieces. Parts of the puzzle may have absolute answers but the entire solution can become better when individual pieces or “components” are managed differently.
I encourage you to try this type of intuitive or “integrated” thinking when looking at solving a problem. Take a step back and visualize what you want the solution to be (prediction) and then work backward with the different components of the problem and arrange them in such a way that each “component” can be compartmentalized, segregated and solved independently before reassembling them into a complete puzzle. Drop me a note and let me know how it works out for you.
Bryan
#EncourageExcellence
Bryan E. Wilson 