Egg Hunt
“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. -Steve Jobs
What is “thinking outside of the BOX”?
What is creativity?
What is connecting the dots?
To connect the dots, first you need to see the dots. But what is a dot?
There are lot of problems which are experienced by people with or without them realizing it. A dot is a discrete idea which solves a different problem in a different situation. Once you know of their existence, you can try connecting them to solve the puzzle you have in hand.
Let’s think about the invention of the airplane. About a century ago even though people were able to travel locally, they were unable to cross an ocean or travel long distances without taking a lot of time. Many were put to the challenge of inventing a flying machine which allows people to reach their destinations quickly. The Wright brothers were able to solve the problem by connecting the concepts of how birds fly using wings and how a motor can provide acceleration as shown in vehicles. Soon airplanes became a reality in our lives.
In todays world, most of the people are using a smart phone. 15 years ago it was not in existence and people were using keypad phones to call and were using computers to browse the internet. Apple came up with the first touch screen smart phone which allowed us to do both tasks in a small device. This transformed the whole world, in terms of how we do daily things.
In both instances the innovators were successfully able to connect different solutions – Dots – which were solving problems in other areas.
An egg hunt is a game played on Easter day where decorated eggs (which may be chocolate eggs or artificial eggs containing candies) are hidden for children to find. When the hunt is over, prizes may be given for the most eggs collected, or for the largest or the smallest egg.
When the little kids play this, they will have a burst of energy to collect lots and lots of eggs to become the winner. Only when they find an egg, they can collect it. The same thing is applicable for anybody who wants to solve problems. When they learn how different problems are getting solved with their respective solutions, they can try to connect these solutions to see whether they can solve the problem at hand.
Egg hunt is a quest to uncover dots.
With the abundance of information available to all of us through the internet, it is very easy to see a lot of dots. Google/Bing search, books, websites, blogs, TED/ TEDx videos are the some of the sources to uncover the dots. At the same time, there are also lots of distractions you must avoid in this dots hunting process.
If you hear the stories little kids create and tell, you can see how they connect unrelated things and tell a great story. As we grow we are forgetting that we even possess that skill. If you keenly notice, it is our logical thinking that limits us by not allowing us to even experiment in our thoughts, thus restricting us from connecting the dots.
Like a little kid, while hunting for eggs during Easter, you should also hunt for dots whenever possible. This process makes your thinker muscles stronger. Once we start realizing how the varied problems are solved using different disjoint solutions, the same process will help to connect the dots to solve existing problems.
Egg hunting makes you creative, adaptable and always ready.