I see a relationship between chivalry and idea generation. Sometimes as creative folks we want to right all wrongs (solve all problems). We have a penchant for seeing the world as little bits of broken pieces and our stream of consciousness as the solution. We keep a notepad with us or record voice notes on the Blackberry when a problem identified is quickly matched with a "what if?". Of course there's nothing wrong with this - the world needs solutions, right?
Sometimes, I'm not so sure. I'll give you an example:
I took my family to dinner last night at a taco place that opened up recently in our hometown. It was busy and looked like a popular place. Their order system was kind of like Subway. You order on one end of the counter then walk down as they ask you for details on how you want your order prepared. The ordering process is painful enough with kids. So after ordering for the five of us, I alone headed down the counter for what was a painful experience of repeating what I had already ordered to a different person. Meanwhile the line is getting longer behind me. Once through that gauntlet, I gladly hit the finish so I could pay and eat. The man at the cash register asked a question that I didn't expect. He said: "what did you order?" Hadn't I already shared that with two other employees? I literally had to repeat my order (for five diverse people) a third time. And then they got it wrong.
Back at the table, instead of digging in, my head was swirling with solutions to all the issues I saw with their service. Was I alone? For $41 dollars, shouldn't I get table side service and the privilege of having to define my order only once? Sometimes I wish I could just walk around this world and just enjoy things as they are - to take things as they come. But I guess that's one of the things that makes life interesting. A constant eye out for for things that are out of place or slightly askew. Spelling errors on a billboard or obvious grammatical errors just scream out at me.
If you are like me in this way, you have a lot of ideas. Books full of them. You write down everything that strikes you whether you've solved a major problem or simply identified a funny quirk. Having a lot of ideas is fun and makes life an adventure. It also, in my experience, makes it hard to know which of all the identified wrongs should be righted, with what idea and when.
Last year when I was in between jobs, I had some time to think about this concept. While looking for my next role I also promised myself that I would take the opportunity to gather all my ideas and prioritize them. Instead of righting all wrongs I would pick three. The others I would share with the world without fear of giving away my secrets. Since I had decided on my top three, who cares if someone liked one of my ideas and did something with it? Isn't there some good karma in that? Quixoting (this blog) was one of those three ideas and if you've been reading my posts, you'll have seen a few of the ones that I didn't choose to pursue. One other idea that I did choose is my second blog called "Tim's Strategy™ " which you can find here. The third may never find a home or it may show up here someday.
So, while this blog was inspired by Don Quixote, I have decided that focusing on a few wrongs is about right. I am able to pursue a few creative dreams in my spare time and bring a few of ideas to life. Instead of always threatening the windmills with good intentions, I have decided to take action. It feels good.
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