Outside the Box

Listen to this episode to hear the backstory and how our game of Giant Jenga went. I want to share the vital part and message in the show notes. We were at the critical point where there were no more potential blocks to pull. My daughter was faced with a critical decision. Does she go for the best option and face a 99% chance of failure? Or does she CREATE a new option?

I've literally never seen anyone do this in Jenga. Christianna lifted up the top half of the building and rotated it 90 degrees so that it fit together like Tetris. This created a loose block that she slid out and sat down to escape losing. My mouth dropped in awe as my initial reaction was, 'That is literally the most creative solution I've ever seen in Jenga'. We did wonder as a family if the move was legal, but we played on. Ultimately, Christianna did not lose.

I posted the video clip on Facebook with a question and the video? "I need a Jenga ruling! This is a the most creative solution I've ever seen in this game. But... is it legal?!" I got a lot of comments, but two back-to-back contrasting views really stood out. I won't mention names. One said, "If you're not going to play by the rules, don't play the game." The other said that she loved the out of the box creative thinking and that she will go far in life. I was so thrilled to see these two comments as they show the stark differences between the employee and entrepreneur's mindset.

Employees are trained to always follow the rules and stay inside the box. I mean no disrespect to the first commentor or to employees in general. I was an employee for over a decade and have great memories. I'm just stating that employees have been trained to be excellent direction followers. The better they follow directions, the better they do on the test and in the job. Now granted, those that are in leadership do think bigger. However, there is always someone giving them instructions.

In stark contrast, entrepreneurs are always stretching and redefining the new box. In fact, great entrepreneurs just say, "What box?" They are creative, curious, and think critically to solve difficult problems. It's what our awesome nation was built on! After reading this comment, I was so excited about my daughter's future as we train our kids in entrepreneur thinking! Way to go Christianna! I'm so proud of you!

If you like or identify with this level of thinking, check out the work of Seth Godin as it inspired so much of what I wrote and talked about here!