Have you seen this exercise? Your task is to connect all 9 dots, without lifting your pen, & in no more than 3 lines.
It’s a popular exercise. I’d seen it years before when I saw this time around during the Social Innovation Safari. And that, was precisely my downfall.
I knew ‘the solution’ had to do with ‘drawing outside the lines’ so I spent all my time heading down that path.
I didn’t explore options, or more importantly, the assumptions I was making, namely:
– was there another kind of writing instrument I could use?
– could I manipulate the paper, not the pen?
– just how far outside the lines could I draw?
After some inner self-chastisement (for I try to be aware of assumptions & how to bust them) I loved seeing the new (to me) solutions.
It was a good reminder how easy it is to put blinders on & keep on keeping on, down the same ol’ same ol’ path.
In the end our group found no less than 4 solutions. How many can you find?
I’ll put our solutions in my next post. Til then, happy puzzle solving.
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