SeanFromCanada's Blog

I love doing puzzles –the kind you build on a table. The finding and placing of pieces is fascinating, challenging and satisfying. Seeing the picture come together, and the journey to get there, is a luxurious use of my time and energy.

There are some truths to puzzles that transfer into business and life. Like universal laws, the ways that puzzles are built, and the ways that problems are solved, there are parallels…good and consistent advice.

These are some of the things I’ve noticed:

1. Force fitting pieces doesn’t work – in fact, it sets you back. Sometimes you know it – and admit it immediately – but not always. Every time you put a piece in the wrong place, you add time, effort and frustration to the process. You delay achieving the “goal”… you complicate completing the puzzle.
2. Trusting that you have all the right pieces – when you start, and throughout the journey – is critical to believing you’ll succeed at completing the puzzle. It rattles the core when you aren’t sure if something is missing. You waiver in your determination and lose the confidence you need to succeed.

   

3. Making sure you have a clear picture of the puzzle you’re going to build is usually the best place to start. If you can’t see what you are trying to accomplish, you’ll never get there. It’s way too hard to build a puzzle without a picture of what you’re building. Start with a big, clear, well defined image of what you’re building.
4. Organizing all the pieces – sorting out what you are starting with – is often the best next step after you know what you’re trying to build. Creating groups, identifying the quick wins and familiarizing yourself with the pieces enables you to create a plan, and respond to circumstances.
5. The third step is usually to complete the edges, so you establish context and can plan your way into the effort of completing the puzzle. Not until the edges are defined can you see the magnitude of the task, and assess how you’ll move forward.
6. Working with pieces from the wrong puzzle will never work. Never. If the pieces aren’t a part of the puzzle you’re working on, they can only cause stress, strife and sabotage. The sooner you recognize this, and get rid of them, the better. And damn whoever put them there…it’s cruel to all involved.
7. There are times when it seems like certain pieces will never fit, but then they do…and that leads to progress and the placement of many other pieces. It’s a great and mysterious thing to be working a specific piece or area and making no progress for a long period of time, and then all of the sudden have a breakthrough. I’ve often wondered if there was a moment of magic that made it happen…but most of the time, it was usually just determination, effort and commitment to the task.

There are many truths that exist between puzzles, business and living a happy life. It’s all about seeing the vision and placing the pieces. Interesting and challenging puzzles – which for me are the only ones worth doing – take time, commitment and determination. You work with the pieces, take what they give you, and find your way into assembling the picture. It’s a very enjoyable process, and great to see the puzzle come together.

P.S. The main difference between puzzles and life is the emotion that exists in business and life. Puzzle pieces simply fit, or they don’t. This fact changes the way we interact with the pieces…and as they say, relationship is everything.