My son started playing with the cube recently.
When I was young, I had one at home(maybe like most of you 😃).
As far as I remember, I played with it a bit, but never solved, and let it serve as a decoration in my room.
This is no surprise. Based on Wikipedia, there are more than three billion possible combinations on a Rubik’s cube, so if you (like me) haven’t succeeded in solving it, you are not stupid; It’s just that you haven’t found the right method.
I trust the cube is a “complicated” problem. There are a lot of possible answers, but by working rationally, you can solve it each time. As opposed to a “complex problem” where there are no right answers yet.
Solutions to the cube have been found and improved many times. The original Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974 by Erno Rubik; and it’s widely considered to be the world’s- best-selling toy. Everyone has played with one once in his life.
In its essence, the cube is a problem to solve. It demonstrates that we, as humans, love to play and solve problems. And we do it well!
In 1981, the first record was set at 38 seconds. It then went down to less than four seconds (around 10 times faster) in 2018.
But how did they do it?
A community of passionate people who like to play puts their minds into it, challenging and at the same time, supporting each other. Everyone tries to improve themselves and share their findings. Over time, more and more options (known as algorithms), were discovered, leading to constant improvement.
And how does this relate to business and life?
I once saw a dad walking with his young daughter in the street. The man wore a suit and carried a briefcase. It was in the evening, and he was coming back from work.
The girl asked, « What do you have here? » pointing to the briefcase.
He answered, « Tons of problems. »
Our work often consists of solving a host of difficulties.
We need to increase sales, generate more leads, satisfy our employees, our customers, optimize costs and processes…
There is no end to it. Even when you reach your target, everything is in movement, and your next challenge is already there.
What if, as a person, as a team, as a company, we were applying the same concept?
Passion: seeing the problem as a source of fun, as a game to play. Tony Robbins, in his best book (to my taste) “Awaken the Giant Within” speaks about the power of the metaphor. “Business is a game” versus “business is tough”or “Business is a war”.
This small change of perception could impact our way of interpreting the problem dramatically.
Challenging and supporting: as in a lot of sport, fields, challenges evoke emotions and often inspire great stories. I encourage you to see the Netflix documentary “The Speed Cubers” about Feliks Zemdegs & Max Park.
Both leading their field differently. Feliks is a senior leader who accompanies his succession with a great deal of empathy for his competitors. Max is touched by a form of autism. He goes through it, overcomes many challenges and become one of the best in his field. There are many forms of leadership, and we can all find our unique way.
Personal improvement: the search for continuous improvement brings fulfillment and options for growth. For someone who dedicates himself to knowledge, the path is his source of fulfillment. At the same time, this leads to an improved performance for the person and the community.
How many more sales, leads, happy customers, and more innovations can you bring to your business by approaching the obstacles as a game?
Feliks and Max are the 1% of the population who become master of a topic. Do you need to shoot for that in your business field? Not necessarily. I even believe that you can grow your career faster by striving to be in the 20% of the people who develop complementary skills.
Chapter four of Peter Hollins’s book “Polymath: Master Multiple Disciplines, Learn New Skills, Think Flexibly, and Become Extraordinary Autodidact” gives a great perspective on “Skill stacking” a term coined and popularized by Scott Adams who was cited by Mr. Hollins as ” one of the most successful and quotable comic strips in publishing history.”
And it shouldn’t take you a life of dedication.
Let’s take the example of my son who is ten years old. I offer him the cube (which I believe is a good investment for a child) at the end of June 2020.
He did not immediately fall in love, but started to become interested mid- July. Like everything in life, when you dig in , you always find something valuable to learn. (see Can you afford not to be rich?)
No one in the family knew how to solve it, so he had to find a solution alone. He did so through the following steps:
- He starts searching with his best friend ( maybe yours also 😀 )Google.
- He discovered many options (known as algorithms) for solving the cube.
- He tried out the different algorithms to find the one he was at ease with.
- He learned with a video tutorial.
- He practiced, practiced… In the beginning, he could not solve it. Then he did learn how to solve it by following the tutorial step by step, and later without the tutorial.
- He started to time himself
- 28 minutes the first time
- 8 minutes a week later
- Today he is under 2 minutes
- I then connected him with a friend who is an expert. They had a one-hour Skype session. Passion led a shy young boy to be able to discuss his hobby with an adult for one hour. Learning is stronger than age, culture, or social group.
I do not doubt that with the new options he has learned if he continues to practice he will get under a minute (update: a few weeks later, he is already under one minute). This achievement will place him (I believe; I have no stat on it) in the 20% of people who are able to do that. In a matter of a few months, he has progressed dramatically and he now knows more about it than the average person.
But what did he learn by doing so?
He learned much more than how to solve the cube. He has absorbed mathematics, volume, logic, memory, communication, and the ability to organize his learning.
How can you use this experience to grow your career?
What is your actual expertise?
What are you good at? You can’t answer anything.😊
Often we don’t see it anymore, but each of us knows a lot.
From this knowledge, what additional options (like new algorithms for the cube) can you learn that will make you more valuable?
Let’s assume you work in the back office of a company. They (as every company does every few years) adapt/change/merge two companies’ software. The company tries to implement changes as fast as possible and knows all the risks linked to the new tools. Maybe the invoicing part is at stake. Maybe customer relations are at stake if the systems fail. It becomes a critical project for the company.
Most of the time, companies are met with resistance to change in the field. They try to gather super users and facilitators for the implementation.
What if you become one of those? What if you adopt the Rubik’s mindset? Learn whatever you can about the software. Play it as a game, and help to solve the bugs. Soon you will become a knowledgeable person. The knowledge that you have acquired can help you to move up in your department, but may also be transferable to other areas. You can integrate it into a launch team and contribute to plans for different services, branches, or countries.
That was an external project but think about it as intrinsic motivation. What if you learn to type faster on the keyboard, to read more quickly, to learn a new language, to become better at public speaking, to manage a team…
There is no limit to your creativity and by building a “stack of skills,” you enter into the small part of the population that is able to bring more value. Your options are growing.
As the head of 100 million business, I can tell you that leaders are always seeking talented people. Challenges are everywhere. Overcome them, and you will grow your life, your career, and your money.
What are the next skills you want to learn?
Enjoy it.
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