Stop reading now if you are scrolling your feed looking to be a better cog in the machine. Today you must challenging your thinking. Get comfortable with the unknown.
“We chose to go to the moon…”
President Kennedy challenged the US Space Program to land on the moon by the end of the 60’s. He did this days after the first manned mission which was a 15 minute up-and-down hop. Many rockets tested at that point had exploded. Scores of experts did not believe a moon landing was possible.
“not because it is easy, but because it is hard.”
JFK was no expert rocket science or spacecraft design. He didn’t set out to invent the flight computer, velcro, and Tang. But he did challenge us to think different about new problems. His words inspired a generation of engineers and scientists - yours truly included.
I try very hard not to be an expert. I ask “dumb” questions. I look for the hard stuff when I start a project or look at new data. Where are the largest challenges that demand fresh thinking? What is “too hard to try?”
Try to be the dumbest person in the room. Cultivate what the Buddists call “hoshin” - a beginner’s mind. The people familiar with the problem will see fewer possibilities. Experts don’t ask obvious questions.
To quote another Kennedy, “Some people see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say, why not?”
Release yourself from the burden of having the answers. Cultivate a beginners mind. Think different, and let the ideas flow!