A few days ago I was discussing a project with a colleague at work, and saw a Rubik’s Cube sitting on their desk. I started fidgeting with it as we were talking and when we were done I took it back to my desk. Until today I had never spent more than a few minutes at a time playing with a Rubik Cube.
As I sat, played, struggled with the Cube I suddenly realized that the Cube posed many of the same challenges that life does.
I found the following parallels:
- Sometimes life and problems have to get messier and more complicated before you can solve them.
- Each and every decision you make will have a direct impact on past, present and future decisions.
- There is a very fine line between creating complete chaos and solving a complex problem.
- Only after a great deal of thought, determination and concentration can you really come up with the best solution.
- Problems can not be solved in a linear fashion; meaning you can not solve one problem at a time, you need to be capable of handling many situations at one time.
- There is no such thing as a short cut… in life you can not rip the stickers off the cube, put them in place and claim victory.
This brings up the question… If someone is very good at solving a Rubik Cube does that make them good at solving lifes problems? Doubtful, but it can’t hurt.
Tags: Rubik's Cube, work