What If? Finding a Way When You Don’t Have the Answer
Where do ideas come from?
Are they generated by thinking really hard?
Do they wait behind a mental curtain and pop out randomly?
Do we have any control over them?
I recently came across a short horror film where a man had a truly original idea. It was so unique, in fact, that every time he shared his idea with someone, their head exploded. The man was “immune” to his head exploding but lived a miserable life of guilt. The theory is that his idea was so original, people simply couldn’t handle it.
The viewer never hears the idea, by the way.
Another guy with great horror stories is Stephen King. I often refer to his memoir, On Writing, when I write something for public consumption. He says his ideas tend to center around a simple question:
“What if …”
What if some people got stuck in a car with a rabid dog outside?
What if four young boys came across a dead body?
I once saw him on a talk show where he talked about an idea involving a room people would enter where screams could be heard. He couldn’t figure out what was happening inside the room, so he abandoned the idea.
But sometimes we don’t get to abandon the idea—or the problem.
Sometimes a client is waiting for an answer. A team is stuck. A project has gone sideways. Something that worked perfectly well for years suddenly doesn’t. There isn’t an obvious answer sitting there waiting for us.
We have to Find a Way.
I’m writing this article right now with no end in mind, but I’ll find a way to make it into something. My intention is that it’s something worth reading and that you go to the end with me.
This week’s Fundamental is about the meandering journey any adventurous project, idea, repair job, relationship, or commitment takes us on and how we Find a Way to succeed.
And finding a way usually requires us to imagine something that isn’t there yet.
My son is a senior in high school and loves physics and calculus. He likes learning about how things work. At his age, his brain is still developing, firing up new ideas and figuring out new ways to solve problems.
At 56, I notice an occasional spark or two left up in my grey matter, but it’s not quite the same as it used to be.
Which makes me wonder: Does Finding a Way have an expiration date that comes before our ultimate expiration?
I’d prefer to think it doesn’t.
Maybe our ideas aren’t simply random things that appear whenever they want, completely outside our control. Maybe we can create conditions that invite them.
We can ask “What if?”
We can question the answer that seems obvious.
We can listen to someone who sees the problem completely differently than we do.
And when the first, second, or fifth idea doesn’t work, we can keep moving through the morass of information, desire, moral conscience, experience, assumptions, and infinite choices until we arrive somewhere new—a useful idea, a better solution, a piece of art, or some other smiley stuff.
As I’m writing this, an idea just came to me for a future article:
How to Know if You Are a Victim of Your Own Confirmation Bias
Ask yourself this question: Is this “fact” true, or does it simply fit your personal preference?
It’s difficult to find a new way when we’re busy proving that our old way is already right.
So maybe it’s like Stephen King says: Put yourself in the creative mindset. Set up your Idea Station and sit in it, metaphorically and physically. Give yourself room to wonder. Ask “What if?” Challenge what you think you know. Then see what you generate.
Finding a Way doesn’t always mean knowing the answer.
Sometimes it means staying curious long enough to discover one.
Find a way to your imagination.
Sound like a good idea?
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Fundamental of the Week #13: FIND A WAY
Look for how we can do it rather than explaining why it can’t be done. Take personal responsibility. Be innovative, assertive, and take initiative.
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