I love light bulbs! They are the “Eurekas!” in life. The time when suddenly the pieces of the puzzle you’ve been working on suddenly fall into place and the picture emerges. Those are euphoric times! I grant you that this all sounds fatuous or worse, slightly tongue-in-cheek, but I’m quite serious – light bulbs are fantastic. However, their lifespans are extremely short as we are quick to move on to the next step or the next problem.
Part of the reason for the allure of light bulbs is what they demonstrate – light coming into a situation of confusion or at least lack of clarity. Recall your own feelings when the apparent mess in front of you suddenly shows a distinct pattern or plan for accomplishment. This became the added impetus to complete the project. Yes? Actually, I can’t think of a single negative associated with light bulbs other then their life expectancy is short.
But… in the midst of the muddy picture what can you do to create your needed light bulb quicker? Or is it merely a process that comes…? The answer, of course, is that it depends on the person. It isn’t so much a function of the ‘problem’ as it is in the methodology of the problem-solver. Each person has their own way to light bulbs but unfortunately most people don’t take the time to know their own approach to solution.
For example: when I find myself in the situation where I really need a answer soon but am not completely confident in the direction the ‘project’ is going, I stop. Before heading in a direction that will require backing up and thus wasting time, energy, resources I try and take some time, alone, to first – do nothing. And after I’ve had some separation time, I look at the puzzle again to see if something emerges that I hadn’t seen before. Many times… it does. If it doesn’t then I begin to bring others into the resolution time. In one or the other of these approaches… Eureka! I do love light bulbs!
…but, what do you think?
