Every Ingredient is Important

You know what a recipe is, don’t you? A few cups of this, an ounce of that, and throw in a handful of those for that little something extra. Then, you mix it all together, put it in the oven and bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. (Sheesh; just writing this and my mouth is watering already!)

It’s something so familiar to most of us we even use the metaphor in other ways as well. For instance, let’s say you have some particular project in mind. What’s your plan – your recipe – for making it happen? See what I mean?

The problem comes when something goes wrong. Either you fail to follow the recipe exactly, or maybe get a bit confused about what to do when. That’s sorta what happened to me the other day.

There’s a particular show I love to watch on one of the cooking channels. The host not only teaches you how to make this or that, but he often laces his shows with why certain things work the way they do. It’s almost like an impromptu chemistry lesson – only it has to do with cooking and stuff. Very informative, and always fun to watch.

It’s fascinating how each ingredient in a recipe has a certain function, too. Although some are obviously just for flavoring or coloring, others perform in certain ways that, had they been left out, would seriously compromise the end result. Sometimes, a simple mistake turns what was supposed to be deliciously scrumptious into a colorless, tasteless blob of glop. (Trust me, this is experience talkin’ here. *sigh*)

It Seemed So Simple

Anyhoo – the other day I decided to make some pumpkin bread. (Yeah, you already know where this is going, don’t you?) That seemed like a simple enough thing, right? All I had to do was preheat the oven, open the box, dump said box’s contents in a bowl, add a few simple ingredients, mix, pour into the pan, and slide it into the waiting oven. Nothing to it. He said.

As it turned out, though, it wasn’t – quite – that simple. But it’s not my fault! Who knew the box had not one, but two different recipes on the back?

First of all, you could use the same mix for either pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffins. Wow, tough choice, I’ll tell ya – they’re both yummy. But, I started out making pumpkin bread, so I figured I might as well finish with it. Or so I thought.

The first thing that went awry was, after I dumped the specified amount of milk into the mix, that’s when I discovered the milk was for muffins, not for bread. Apparently I was supposed to use water instead. Hmph.

OK, I said to myself, I’ll make muffins then! Problem solved, right?

Then I realized I’d used the wrong amount of oil as well, getting them reversed as I did the milk. This time, though, the amount I actually used was right – for the bread, that is. It was, unfortunately, way too much for the muffins. Grbl grbl.

So what was I making, anyway? I wondered. The answer, it seemed was, Who knows? Still, I’ve successfully substituted milk for water before in other concoctions with good results, so I figured, still not a problem.

Finally, just for the heck of it, I threw in a cup of cranberries. Why? Hey, I like cranberries! Seemed like a good idea at the time, anyway.

A Little Minor Detail

The next question was a little more fundamental: which cooking time was the correct one? See, muffins are supposed to bake about 18 minutes (when in muffin cups, of course), but for bread, it was a surprising 40 to 45 minutes! So again, the question of what the heck am I making seemed to be relevant. (I had visions of pulling a smoking, black brick out of the oven here.)

Unfortunately I had no ready answer: was I making cranberry pumpkin breaffins, or pumpkin-cranberry muffibread? Or something never before seen on the planet? Only Heaven knew, it seemed and – at least so far – they weren’t talkin’. (Probably just as mystified as I was.)

Since there was really no way to know, I decided to set the timer for 20 minutes, then just watch and test the dough until the result was done. I poured the mix into a bread pan, popped it into the oven, and set the timer. Whew! Never have I  had so much trouble baking a simple little treat!

Nevertheless, in spite the annoying speed bumps, I finally managed to get the job done. My spirits lifted as I silently contemplated the tasty result. And that’s when I noticed that pesky little detail. You see those two eggs there in the photo? Well, after poppin’ my bread in the oven, I turned around and, still sittin’ there on the counter were those two eggs!

Time stood still for a moment as I contemplated – very briefly – just letting it go. But no, I was determined to eat something delicious this morning, whatever the cost. So I pulled the pan out of the oven, dumped it all back into the bowl and tossed in the eggs (minus their shells, of course!)

Back in the oven it went and finally it was well and truly time to sit back and wait to see what happened. I mean, after everything that had gone wrong so far, I would have been happy to just be able to eat whatever came out of the oven, y’know?

The Oven Test

Well, 30 minutes passed, and it was rising nicely – but not done yet. 35 minutes, 40 minutes, 45 – still not yet; a clean knife driven through the heart of the loaf (reminiscent of that gruesome shower scene in the movie Psycho) still came out with uncooked dough on it. Either this thing was going to end up light and fluffy – or that smoking black brick I had visualized earlier, I wasn’t sure which.

Finally, after 49 minutes, I dragged it out of the oven and set it on the rack to cool. Hmmm. Well, although it looked almost overdone, still, it wasn’t too bad. I gotta say though; it smelled wonderful! Maybe there was hope for it after all.

Well, I won’t keep you in suspense; my Frankenstein concoction actually turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself! Despite the violence done to the original recipe, the bread turned out moist and full of that delicious, spicy pumpkin flavor. And the cranberries I tossed in added just that little something extra I’d hoped for. Even I was surprised at how well it turned out; particularly considering all the things that went wrong.

Ah well, all’s well that ends well, I always say!

What Making Pumpkin Bread Teaches Us About Life

But wait! After all this discombobulation, you may be wondering just what the heck did it all mean, anyway? Was there, in fact, a lesson or two to be learned from such a zany turn of events? I mean, is there anything life has to teach us when what is supposed to be a dead simple recipe gets twisted up and all topsy-turvey?

And the answer is (all together now): why yes there is! In fact, there are several things we can learn when our so-called well-laid plans don’t quite go as we expect:

1. Read the Directions! All right; chances are you probably thought of this one just as soon as you started reading this little adventure. Yup; I guess the best lessons are usually the most obvious, aren’t they? I must admit I didn’t read the directions first but started out throwing this and that into a bowl. Even a cursory look at the box and I would’ve seen the two different recipes, and maybe none of this would have happened. Oh, I suppose, like a politician, I could always blame the box for messin’ me up here. But not even the box would be fooled on that score, right?
2. Every ingredient has its function. Sometimes it ain’t so easy to tell exactly what a certain ingredient adds to the final result. Oh, most folks know eggs are necessary for almost any baked good – but do you know why? It sometimes helps to know that sort of thing, just in case something goes wrong, y’know? Makes it easier to fix. As in life, I might add. My advice: don’t just do things “because”; do them because you know why you’re doing them.
3. Be flexible. One of the arguably more valuable things I’ve learned from life is the fact that, even when if things go perfectly (Q: have they ever?), something almost always happens you didn’t expect. Yep; that’s life all right, and it’s a laugh a minute, I’ll tell ya! The best way to cope with that sort of thing, though, is to be flexible enough to work with whatever comes your way. Sometimes you’ll have to make a few quick changes, or even be prepared to modify your expectations a bit (like my decision to *sigh* finally give up on bein’ a Spaceman). Just remember this: the only thing that stands a chance of rescuing even the most screwed-up outcome may be your flexibility.
4. Don’t leave an important step out! OK, like I said, some lessons are obvious. But despite the temptation to forge ahead anyway, lemme just say this: If you did forget something, then it’s definitely worth the trouble to take a step back and put what’s missing back in! I mean, there’s no telling how this thing would have baked up without those two eggs in it – but I’m absolutely positive it wouldn’t have been edible. I’d have probably ended up with something along the lines of that pumpkin-cranberry flavored brick I mentioned earlier. Sure it was a hassle; but it was worth it. Sometimes you gotta go backwards in order to go forwards, y’know?
5. Don’t forget to learn something! I’ll tell ya one thing; I’m not gonna make this mistake again soon! This was supposed to be a simple, easy treat, but it turned into an aggravatin’, teeth-grinding, trial of errors! I don’t mind tellin’ ya, I was about fit to be tied when I noticed them eggs sittin’ there, starin’ at me. Probably laughing at me behind my back, too. Well Bubba, it won’t happen again! I’ve learned my lesson quite well, thank you very much: know the recipe, follow the plan. Simple it is, but let’s keep it simple, shall we?
6. Don’t forget to laugh about it later. Hey, when everything is said and done, the fact is, more is usually said than done. And if you can’t get a chuckle or two out of it (given time, of course), then what’s the point, I ask ya? No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep a sense of humor about you or all is lost, y’know? Besides, when you’re a writer like me, it just makes a good story! Just sayin’.

Well, there you have it, folks. How I learned a few valuable lessons when a seemingly simple task turned into a near-disaster (at least, for my taste buds, anyway). To quote that great American philosopher, Captain John “Hannibal” Smith from The A-Team: “I love it when a plan comes together!”

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Sometimes it takes a different view of life to see past the “usual”. Maybe even… looking at things upside down?

Here’s an example of what I mean.

It’s Only a Shadow

There’s this beanery Mrs. MZM and I enjoy eating at not far from our home. Oh, it’s not that it’s anything special, exactly; it’s just that it’s in an area we enjoy just strolling around in. (I also like their bacon cheeseburgers, but alas, since startin’ this diet, I gotta cut back a mite. But that’s another story…)

Anyhoo, they have a nice outdoor seating area that, when the weather is nice, can be a great place to spend a few hours. (Sometimes there’s nothing more fun than just sittin’ and watchin’ people. Just sayin’.)

The afternoon sun had gotten a bit low, and it was time to head back to the house. As we threaded our way through the tables outside, I noticed the interesting light/shadow effects of a set of table and chairs on the patio. Naturally, I whipped out the ol’ phone and shot a photo.

It wasn’t until uploading the original photo that I had my first good look at it, though. A fine photo, if I do say so myself! I liked the near-monochromatic tones of the image, the delicate contrasts of light and dark. But then out of the blue, a somewhat whimsical thought struck me (sound of dull thud). What if I… turned the image upside down?

The results, as you can see, are pretty amazing.

There’s almost an, I dunno, Alice-in-Wonderland character to the chair shapes now that wasn’t there before. And all because I simply decided to look at the picture from a different point of view.

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept

So the question I have for ya today is, what mundane, ordinary things are going on around you right now? What if you looked at life from a completely different angle today? What remarkable and interesting things would YOU discover?

Why not try something fun? Here’s your mission for this week, should you choose to accept it. Find something ordinary; something you’ve probably seen a thousand times before and never gave a second thought. If possible, photograph it. Try looking at it differently, and see what you discover. Then, write about it. Link back to this post so we can all discover what you did.

Hey, what have you got to lose? Try it. You may be surprised!

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Photo: Shadow Seating, by Robert Hruzek

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Question: Do predetermined pathways dictate – or inhibit growth? Can they do both? Neither? What do you think?

Something I saw the other day made me think about these and a few related questions for a bit (which probably explains that gosh-awful noise you’ve been hearing lately).

On the Grid

Located right next to of one of my favorite local beaneries (Café Express in The Woodlands), there’s this geometric metal grid. It’s nothing special; merely an array of black-painted, square metal rods mounted on a wall. The building’s surface behind it is slightly bowed, causing shifting shadows from the afternoon sun to create a subtly-changing pattern within the rigid, perpendicular lines.

A vine, just beginning its quest for world domination, grows along the bars – first geysering vertically upward, then slithering horizontally outward. Its delicate, questing tips flow in a continuous snakelike spiral around the metal rods, seeking their boundaries as all living organisms tend to do.

Have you ever watched a climbing vine take over a trellis? As a pastime, it’s about as exciting as watching your hair grow, I’ll tell ya. But still… vines are ‘waaaay more interesting.

They initially follow paths created by the structural members of the trellis itself. You’ll see little questing tendrils twining ‘round the bars, always heading upward and outward. In short order they thicken, and leaves appear along the strands. Occasionally a new stem pops out, going in yet another direction, all of ‘em racing away from the center of growth like an exploding green star – in slow-motion, of course.

Back at the heart of the mass of greenery, where the most mature growth is, you’ll eventually see the vines and leaves thicken until they begin to extend outside the directions initially dictated by the trellis itself. Soon, given time and the right conditions, there’ll be nothing visible of the framework that may (or may not) still hold the whole shebang upright.

Fruit of the Vine

C’mon, show of hands: Whenever you encounter limitations or boundaries – or have your pathways dictated for you – don’t you tend to become prone to the three R’s: Rant, Rave & Resist? But (and here’s the $64,295,176 question) then what do you do?

After wracking my brain for a few minutes (sound of brain, being wracked) I came up with several possible responses – fruit, if you will, of this particular vine of thought:

Stop – We can simply come to a stop, forgoing further growth in that particular direction. Is this a valid choice? Well, the answer is a most definite, “It depends.” Often we glibly forge ahead as if boundaries don’t matter. But sometimes it’s appropriate to stop going in a certain direction, isn’t it? Only you can determine if (or when) that point is reached, of course. Hey, all I’m sayin’ is, limits aren’t necessarily a bad thing; they may turn out to be a point beyond which it is not good to pass! (The edge of a 1,000-foot cliff comes to mind…) But is coming to a halt and growing no more the best choice?

Turn Back – You could, of course, turn around and go back. I mean, now that you’ve found your boundary, why try to go beyond it, anyway? After all, there’s plenty to seek and understand – and even explore – within the core of your own universe, right? Besides, there’s a certain vigor to be gained in growing bigger and stronger “within the core”, if you get my meanin’. But there’s an inherent danger of becoming “ingrown” if we turn back upon ourselves.

Change Direction – Just because you’ve hit a wall doesn’t mean you can’t keep growing. After all, there’s plenty of other directions you can choose other than going back the way you came. By fully exploring the boundary, you just may find a way around it. That’s how most people cross a river, by exploring in both directions until they find the best way, right? Nothing wrong with that. Besides, it’s still a new and unexplored path, filled with opportunity.

Upon further reflection (yet more grinding), there’s yet another choice, wouldn’t ya say?

Bust Through – There are certainly times when the right choice really is to bust right through that ol’ barrier and just keep on goin’. After all, human history is filled with great examples of that one. I mean, where would innovation and invention be if “beyond this point there be dragons” were the absolute last word on anything?

Ya Pays Yer Money and Ya Makes Yer Choices

Now, having carefully built the trellis and delineated the boundaries of choice for you here, it sorta begs yet another couple of questions, doesn’t it?

Let’s say you’ve encountered a limitation of some kind lately. (I know; it never happens to you. If that’s the case – pretend.) Now, which of the four options did you choose and – and perhaps more importantly – why?

OR… is there yet another option I failed to mention?

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Photos:

Geometric Growth 1, by Robert Hruzek

Spiral, by Robert Hruzek

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[Note: This is my entry for this month's What I Learned From... groupwrite project. The challenge this month is to share something I've learned about the topic of "Government". If you'd like to participate, you're more than welcome to join us. See the bottom of this post for details.]

The other night, Mrs. MZM and I spent a pleasant hour or two playing one of our favorite games, Rummikub (pronounced rummycube). It’s a lot of fun, I’ll tell ya, and if we’re not careful we can literally spend hours at it.

The thing is, I can usually win at least half the time. (That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!) And when I win, it’s kinda fun to, you know, celebrate a little.

Oh, it’s not like I jump up and dance around the room doin’ the Snoopy dance, or anything. But still, it’s fun to enjoy the moment.

Luckily, Mrs. MZM is a patient sort; stoically enduring these enthusiastic displays with little protest.

As I said, although the two of us are generally pretty evenly matched, this particular evening was different. I don’t know; maybe there was something in the air. Whatever it was, the bottom line is that I somehow managed to lose five games in a row (sound of anguished sobbing). It’s never happened before.

And as long as we were evenly matched, I had no problem enjoying the the game. But this time – and after losing the fourth game in a row – I have to admit to a definite, er, lack of enthusiasm.

Ain’t that always the case in life? I mean, when we’re winnin’ – or at least evenly matched – keepin’ the enthusiasm level up is usually pretty easy. But when we’re losin’ – well, not so much.

It’s sorta funny, though. I never thought of myself as a bad loser. I can generally handle that pretty easily. Sometimes it’s tough to take, but after all, there’s always next time, right?

But I suddenly realized I had been showing all the signs of being a, well, a bad winner.

The Day After

OK; I’m guessing that by now the people’s choice for the next President of the United States will be clear. (Oh, please, please let it be over now!) The votes have been counted, and we all know who the Next Man is going to be.

Furthermore, it’s probably safe to say that you fall into one of two groups. You’re either on the side of the winner – or the side of the, er, one who didn’t win. And thanks to this national event, we all get to learn a very important truth about ourselves. So here’s the question:

If your candidate won the election, and you’re in the former group and not the latter, what kind of winner are you?

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[Hey, y'all! If you'd like to participate in this groupwrite project, then by all means, join us! We're open for entries through this Sunday night, November 9. All you have to do is follow this link for details: What I Learned From Government.]

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[Note: Since we're in the middle of our "What I Learned From Stress" groupwrite project - and this article is stress-related - hey, I'm countin' this one too. You can join us if you like! Just click the link and read all about it! - Ed.]

Have you undergone stress in your job lately? Are things turning out different than what you expected? Has a situation come up lately at work that you have absolutely no idea how to handle?

Well, Bubba, if you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, then consider this poor fellow’s predicament…

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Upon returning to Charlotte after one of his famous Crusades, Billy Graham was picked up at the airport by an absolutely huge stretch limousine. I’m tellin’ ya, that was one impressive set of wheels!

As they headed home, Billy tapped on the glass and, once the driver lowered the partition, the two of them began discussing the particulars of the fabulous vehicle. As it turned out, the limo was brand new. In fact, it was the very first pickup the driver had ever made in it.

“You know, I have never driven a limo,” Billy said in that characteristic voice of his. “Do you think I could drive it?”

Somewhat taken aback, the driver wasn’t sure how to handle this one. So he tried stalling for time. “Well Mr. Graham,” he stammered, “I really don’t know if that’s allowed. After all, it’s a brand new car and I’m responsible for it.”

But as we all know, Billy Graham was nothing if not persuasive.

“Please, it would mean a lot to me,” he told the driver. “I’m a good driver and I promise you it will be all right.”

Finally, the driver pulled over and they swapped places. Unfortunately, Billy was not used to such a powerful car and unknowingly drove a bit too fast. Thus, it was no surprise that before too long they heard the sound of a police siren. Sure enough, a motorcycle cop was signaling for him to pull over.

As the officer sidled up to the driver’s side, Billy rolled down his window and handed out his driver’s license. The policeman, who of course instantly recognized Mr. Graham, took the license and, without saying a word, walked back to his motorcycle, fired up his radio, and called the Sergeant on duty.

“Sarge,” he called urgently, “I’ve got somebody really important pulled over for speeding, and I don’t know what to do!”

The reply was quick. “Who is it, the mayor?”

“No sir; more important than that,” the cop replied, sweat beginning to appear on his brow.

There was a short pause. “Don’t tell me you pulled over the governor!”

“No, Sarge, he’s way bigger than that!”

There was an even longer pause, followed by a somewhat hysterical reply. “Please don’t tell me you pulled over the President of the United States! If you did, you’re in a heap of trouble!”

“No sir, it’s not the President. In fact, I’m not sure who it is,” the distraught officer said. “But I have a feeling it could be God, ‘cause Billy Graham is his driver!”

It Happens to All of Us, Sooner or Later

OK; show of hands. How many of you have ever felt like that poor hapless police officer? Yup; thought so.

Truth be told, you’re probably not alone. Nearly all of us have been in situations where we had no idea what to do next. So it’s kinda pointless, don’t you think, to ask the question, “So, uh, what did you do then?”

Ah, but wait! (I know; that sounds like the come-on from an infomercial, but bear with me a few more moments here.) Maybe there’s more to this that meets the eye. Could there be a glimmer of hope for all of us poor shmoes (note – rhymes with “toes” – Ed.) who’ve suffered those awful moments when utter confusion finds us locked into a feedback loop of epic proportions?

One thing about a personal crisis – it always seems like such a wall, doesn’t it? And not just any ol’ wall; no, we’re talkin’ a high, smooth, unscalable wall that stretches to infinity and beyond – in both directions. There’s no way to see what’s on the other side, and the only thing you know for sure is that it hurt like heck when you run smack-dab into it!

If you’re anything like me (and if so, then my condolences), you’ve experienced one or two of these moments in your life, I’m sure. Maybe more than a few. And it occurs to me that for you, like me, there is one thing we can say for sure about surviving a crisis.

Yep; one thing we know, and can agree categorically to be true, from personal experience. Are ya ready? (Maybe you might want to get a pencil and write this one down, folks.) OK, here it comes: We survived.

(sound of crickets…)

Hrm. Well, that didn’t exactly generate the rousing chorus of applause I was hoping for. OK, I realize this statement may not seem like all that, of course. But think about it for a moment (sound of millions of grinding gears). The fact is, you’re here now. And once, you were, you know, there.

So, ask yourself: How in tarnation did I get from there… to here?

What to Do When You Have No Idea What to Do

May I humbly suggest at least one or more of the following things:

Throw a Hissy Fit

I’ll be the first to admit, you probably won’t find this step in most “How to” manuals. And maybe you didn’t do something quite so dramatic (unless you’re a, you know, drama queen – in which case I say: go for it!)

The fact is, hitting a wall hurts. It doesn’t feel good at all. You may just want to feel frustrated, disappointed, or downright angry. Especially if the situation isn’t, you know, fair. (Um… need I point out that life, well, isn’t? No? Good.)

So I say: Hey, go ahead and feel the way you want to feel! After all, you’re human, right? (And if you’re not, then please don’t, er, eat my face or anything.) You are a living, breathing, feeling person, so go ahead and allow yourself to feel, OK? It’s perfectly natural.

Oh, don’t get me wrong; bouncing back is important. Very important. But too many times we try to rebound without allowing ourselves time to feel the emotions that are actually in our hearts. Give yourself that time to purge yourself.

Think of it as therapy. Go ahead; you’ll be glad you did.

Get Back Up

There’s an interesting little word picture the Apostle Paul uses in the Bible to illustrate spiritual battles. (What? You didn’t realize you’re in a [non-physical] war? Better wake up and smell the gunpowder, y’all!)

Paul likens it to putting on the armor of a Roman foot soldier. Along with a helmet, there’s a girdle (it sorta pulls all the loose ends of the toga together so nothing flies free while in a battle), a breastplate, leg and foot coverings, a shield, and a sword.

Now, you put all that stuff on and you’ve got one formidable warrior! Then, once the battle begins and those attacks come (which he likens to flaming darts or arrows), hey, they just bounce right off. But then he says something interesting. He adds, “… and having done all, to stand…”

Now, what does that mean? Well, to me it means that no matter what – no matter how hard or how frequent the enemy strikes you, even to the point of causing you to fall down – well, if you can do nothing else – not even fight – then at the very least, get back up!

See, if when you’ve been knocked down (and trust me; it happens to all of us), and then get back up again, you’re making a very important statement. You’re saying, “I’m not quitting! I’m not giving up! I’ll come back!”

But when you’re lying there, you’re saying, “I quit! I give up! Leave me alone!”

So which one of these two would you rather be? Yep; thought so. Good for you!

Try Something New

You remember the definition of insanity, don’t ya: Doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. I gotta admit; I’ve not only been there, but I’m pretty sure I once owned a condo there. Talk about frustrating! So why not try something different? Truth be told (and I despite what you may have heard), it probably won’t kill ya! No, I’m serious.

Why are we so resistant to doing things differently? I mean, it’s true that for the most part, we all hate change – even when we say different. But even though we might have to be dragged, kicking and screaming into something new, more often than not we find out it’s really not so bad “on the other side”. Ever experienced that? Yup; me too.

So why not shock yourself – and the rest of the world – and head for the change on purpose (sound of shocked gasps)? Not only will it change the way you look at things, it’ll put all those watching you off their guard. Heh-heh-heh…

Take a Step Back

Y’know; before you hit the wall, and maybe even before you started doing that thing you were doing when you hit the wall, you were doing something, right? Then maybe the thing to do is just keep on doing what you already know to do.

After all, chances are fair to middlin’ that at least something you’re doing is perfectly OK, right? I mean, you’re breathin’, right? Well, that’s good; go right on breathin’ then. How about sleeping? Are you still sleeping at night? (All right; these are slightly silly examples. But so what? Made ya think, didn’t it?)

Chances are, though, that going back and simply continuing on with those things we know to do – and actually, you know, work – will give us a valuable commodity to play with: time. Time to figure out just what you really want to accomplish.

Ah, time! What a luxury to have the time to think things through for a change, eh? Well, by keepin’ on keepin’ on, you just might gain the time you need to do that very thing. Pretty neat, huh? (See? Proof: That thing my hat is resting on ain’t just a hatrack!)

(Your Suggestion Here)

OK, lest I write too much and close the book on reader’s contributions, I’m stoppin’ right about here. (Actually… I’m stopping exactly here.) Besides, I think the pump is primed enough by now, don’t you?

So what about it folks? What are the things you find yourself doing – when you have no idea what to do? Share them, if you would. Or maybe you’d care to add, modify, supplement, rebut or stomp on any of mine. It’s all right; I can take it!

Hey, the comment box is open; tell us what you think.

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It’s not exactly the Question of the Ages. But still, it kinda makes you wonder:

How does one make the connection from a horse’s rear to a Space Shuttle?

Then again, maybe it is the Question of the Ages.

Either way, it’s an interesting question, don’t you think? I mean, notwithstanding the obvious jokes about horses’, er, posteriors, this is actually a great opportunity to illustrate a very simple, yet powerful learning technique. What you do, see, is pretend you’re 4 years old.

For those of you who have young children (or have been around them for more than 2.43 minutes), take a moment and think about what their most *ahem* endearing quality might be (sound of clock ticking – ding!). Right you are!

They love to ask, “Why?” And what’s more, every single freakin’ answer you give only serves to regenerate the feedback loop with yet another “why” question. Every. Single. Time.

The funny thing is, it’s a technique most consultants find quite useful, too. No, really! The main difference is, we usually recognize when the person being asked the questions is about to explode… so we stop. The beauty of this technique though, is, if we ask enough “why” questions, we’ll soon get to the *ahem* bottom of matter. (Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Sorry.)

Have you ever tried it?

I’ll illustrate what I mean with this little story I recently ran across:

Consider… the Railroads

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (which is the distance between the centerline of the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. Now, you may realize (or you may not) – that’s an exceedingly odd number. Why on earth was that particular dimension used? Well, as it turns out, it’s because that’s the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads. But let’s not stop there; let’s keep asking “why” and see where it leads.

Why then did the English build them that way? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used. OK, I’ll buy that. But why did they use it? Aha! It’s because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that particular spacing between wagon wheels.

All right, then why did wagons use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts. (Think of it as, “finding the groove”, so to speak.)

Huh? Wheel ruts? What’s that got to do with anything?

Now, at this point ya gotta be asking yourself, who built those old rutted roads? Well, as it turns out, it was Imperial Rome. They built the first long distance roads in Europe (and in England) for their legions. And, they’ve been in use ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? Pretty interesting, actually.

Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which of course everyone else had to match – for fear of destroying their own wagon wheels. And, since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, all wheel spacing was the same.

Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. How wonderfully convoluted is that?

But hold on, pardners; it gets better.

So, the next time you’re handed a Specification (or a Procedure or even a Process) and that little thought crosses your mind, What horse’s backside came up with that? well, you may be closer to the truth than you think.

The fact is, Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses (as in, two horses’ rears). Ironic, huh?

Bureaucracies Live Forever.

Now for, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story.

So let’s consider… the Space Shuttle on its launch pad. See those two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank? Those are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs (think of them as humongous, and very expensive, bottle rockets). It just so happens that all SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah.

Engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by rail from the factory to the launch site in Florida. Now, the railroad line just happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, so naturally the SRBs had to be designed to fit (otherwise you just end up with two humongous, very expensive, er, corks).

The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses’ backsides. Therefore, one of the major Space Shuttle design features (the diameter of the boosters) of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by – yep, you guessed it – the width of a horse’s rear.

And all this time, you thought being a horse’s rear wasn’t important!

_____________________

OK, OK, if you’re like me (and if that’s the case, then sincere condolences are in order), you probably wondered if this story was, you know, true. Surprise! It’s… not. The fact is, there are plenty of discrepancies that can easily be disputed.

But so what? Even Snopes opens its rebuttal with the words: “This is one of those items that – although wrong in many of its details – isn’t exactly false in an overall sense…” (Huh? “Isn’t exactly false”? Try using that defense in court!) No, the point is, it still illustrates the power of asking, “Why” ad infinitum.

So the next time you’re faced with something inexplicable, try turning into a 4-year-old. Hey, you never know what you might learn!

Tell Me About It

So what about it, folks? What was the most amazing, interesting, outrageous, ridiculous, crazy, profound, surprising, or (insert descriptive here) thing you’ve ever learned – just because you dared to ask “why” more than once?

Photo credits:

Don’t be a horse’s [ed. – “rear”], by sfPhotocraft

Maine Central Railroad, by mjsawyer

Space Shuttle Discovery, by GISuser

[Note from the Proprietor: In case the aliens have only last night returned you to Earth and you missed it, before you proceed I highly recommend you first go here and read Part 1. I'm just sayin'.]

OK, the question before the jury, ladies and gentlemen, is from Brad Shorr’s post, “Try”:

What do you do when you hit a brick wall?

Before going on, let’s quickly review where we ended up at the end of Part 1 (and remember, we’re interchanging the words brick wall with the words problem or challenge): Every time we encounter a challenge, there are two things that usually dictate how we’ll respond:

• Worth - Is the prize worth the struggle?
• Motivation - What’s my motivation?

Alrighty then; now that we’re up to speed, let’s move on. You may recall that Part 1 ended with a call for contributions to that vast repository of information known as the General Body of Knowledge. Well, time’s up (sound of buzzer)! Remember, as is typical in life, generally there’s more than one answer to any question of this nature.

The Readers Speak Up

Let’s pass the microphone over to you guys for a bit and see what you had to say. (Please note this is not a definitive list, it’s just to get the ol’ brain cells to tick over once or twice.)

• Trust Your Feelings. One way Jackie Cameron recognizes a brick wall is when “things don’t feel right”. Very astute, Jackie! Many times, if we’ll tune in to our surroundings we can often sense “something” isn’t right – even if we can’t tell what, exactly it might be (the “drat; I know I’m missing something here” syndrome). Life Lesson: Never underestimate your own intuition! I’ll tell ya; it would take a whole herd of books to catalog all the times I’ve been saved from disaster by stopping to just “feel out” the situation. (OK, let’s be honest here; it was mostly Mrs. MZM’s intuition, not mine, but let’s not quibble details, shall we? Me, I tend to blunder ahead like a brontosaurus.)
• Break It Down. Brad Shorr likes to break the challenge down into smaller pieces and take them one at a time; eventually they get easy enough to solve. It’s the ol’ “start in the middle” technique. This is a good one if the challenge is made up of lots of little things that can be done independently (if you think about it, many challenges may be like this; come to think of it, it’s how I wrote this particular blog post). Life Lesson: Identify the components a challenge is made up of and do the easy parts first. Sometimes a challenge is like a big, tangled knot; once you manage to work loose even a tiny part of it, it’s the key to unraveling the rest! So rather than get all hot n’ bothered about the parts you can’t do, work on the ones you can.
• Leverage Past Successes. Similarly, GL Hoffman leverages his experience to overcome challenges. Hey, you already know it can be done; it’s just a matter of repeating it. Of course, it’s a bit more powerful if you’re the one who did it, but still. Life Lesson: Take advantage of experience whenever you can. You know; you may find that most challenges fall into categories, each of which takes certain techniques to solve. Look for examples you can use to solve them. Why reinvent the wheel, anyway?
• Confront It. Another method is a kindof “look yourself in the mirror” technique. Jackie Cameron also likes to just ask herself, out loud, “OK you – just what is the problem here?” Notwithstanding the talking to herself thing, I’d say this isn’t bad. Have you ever been around someone so negative you just wanted to slap ‘em silly give ‘em a good shake say that to? Yeah, thought so; me too. Life Lesson: Sometimes you have to confront the problem right to its face. There will inevitably be times when it’s good to just point your finger at the problem and ask, “So what’s the problem here?”
• Seek Inspiration. Now here’s an interesting one. When stuck trying to write a poem or a story, Marcus Goodyear seeks inspiration by reading similar material. Can’t say I’ve ever purposefully tried it, but it sorta rings true just the same. I mean, there’s nothing like a good story to inspire another one, you know? (Seriously; just observe a bunch of guys in any gathering as they attempt to “one-up” one another’s stories.) Life Lesson: Good examples can sometimes provide keys to unlocking a challenge. It’s like Amy Palko’s photography: it inspires me to try something similar – and I’m not even a photographer!
• Question Everything. Karen Hanrahan likes to utilize lateral thinking when faced with challenges (yes, that’s what you’re doing, Karen!) By writing it all down in a journal she ends up with a “bird’s eye view” of the problem. It’s sorta like reading out loud – things just sometimes look different once they’re on paper. She finds it often provides the key to solutions. Life Lesson: Try examining the situation in a different way. A fresh look at the challenge may evoke things you may have missed. Asking for input from friends or trusted advisors can be very helpful – they’re not attached to the challenge like you are.

What About Bob?

Along about now you’re probably asking, “OK, Mr. Wisenheimer, so what about you?”

Well, after I’ve done the “run in circles, scream and shout” bit, and before I hit the panic button, I tend to approach challenges like… water.

You remember the water, don’t you? You remember how it behaved when it came up to a barrier of some kind, right? It eventually built itself up until it either went around, over, under or through whatever was in the way.

That’s the way water works. Given enough time (and as long as the water kept building), it simply couldn’t be contained.

In fact, it’s a little like project management: You just keep adding resources until the challenge is met and overcome. Then rinse and repeat for the next one. (Note: “Resources” is a word that includes just about anything you might need to accomplish something. Time, people, money, knowledge, etc. – they’re all resources.)

But what if your resources are limited, you ask? Once again, good question!

Well, I’ll tell ya; it’s hard to imagine you would ever run out of resources as long as you’ve got your friends out here! With the tools we have at our disposal these days, you can pretty much count on finding help for just about any challenge you may face. Why, just the other day I had a simple MS Windows question, and I used Twitter to get a quick and accurate answer (Thanks Chris!). Time expended: less than 5 minutes!

Now that I think about it, I realize that I’ve used most of the methods above at one time or another. And perhaps that’s the best lesson of all: There’s more than one way to do just about anything!

Talk to Me

So what about it, folks; what techniques could you add to this list? (C’mon; you know you want to!) When was the last time you overcame an insurmountable challenge? What did you do?