Volume XXII, Number 43 (Issue 1099) | October 21, 2024
One-Track Mind
Our one-year-old grandson has a one-track mind. His first and still near constant word is not Momma or Dada, but “ball.” He is obsessed with balls. At our house alone there must be twenty balls of differing sizes and colors that he points to, toddles around with, rolls across the floor, drops into any bin, cup, container, or piece of furniture he can reach, and given the chance and right ball (a golf ball) delights watching bounce down the stairs. The thing is, it wasn’t our grandson’s fixation and antics with balls that spurred today’s topic so much as a Musings reader and Riddler player who in a note to me observed that in attempting to solve a recent riddle her thoughts started down one path and once there she could not envision another option.
Of course, that reader and our grandson are not unique or alone in their tendency to become myopic. It happens to me on a regular basis, and I suspect it has happened to you too. That is not to suggest or imply that singularity of focus is a bad thing. On the contrary, the ability to have clarity of purpose and be purpose driven is to be credited with countless success stories. Having clear goals and objectives in concert with a plan and an unwavering commitment to that plan are next to essential in one’s success – be it our personal success or that of an organization. At the same time, change is never ending. And, as is said, there is more than one way to skin a cat (no offense intended to cat owners or animal lovers alike). Recognizing there is more than one if not a range of possibilities available and that exist beyond our gut reaction is fundamental to both critical and creative thinking.
As I have thought about this issue, I flashed back to a TV commercial and now You Tube video which ran a few years ago where two individuals are on an escalator when it suddenly stops, leaving them between floors (short of their goal). Rather than reimagine the frozen escalator as a set of stairs they could ascend to reach the next level, they simply stood there yelling for help to no one in particular. The irony of that situation, meant to be a metaphor for the need we have to recognize alternatives and take personal initiative, was both attention getting and amusing. A question we must ask ourselves time and time again is are we that individual on that stalled escalator? Are we like that grandson of ours, so singularly fixated on one thing to the exclusion of anything and everything else?
I recently read something addressed to the banking industry – a shining example of a highly regulated and therefore constrained industry – that is constantly told to think outside the box when the better advice is to think differently within the box. I don’t know about you, but I like that twist on what has become an overused and frankly silly adage.
Soli Deo Gloria
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3
J. Keith Hughey
Mobile: (210)260-0955
E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
Website: www.jkeithhughey.com
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