An Amazing Small Business Tool
by Stuart Livesey
It might look like a toy but it really is an incredible tool for small business
Yep it’s a jigsaw puzzle and Toni gave it to me for Christmas. It’s been at least 25 years since I did a jigsaw puzzle and I have to say I am having a blast. I’ve been working on it every day since December 26 and, as you can see, it’s really coming together but it hasn’t been easy.
Ok, so why is a jigsaw puzzle a tool for small business?
It’s a tool for small business because it teaches you to look at problems from every conceivable angle. In the puzzle I’m doing some pieces went together with no problem at all … but I looked at other pieces for days before I realised that I was looking at them from the wrong angle.
Turn a piece upside down and suddenly you begin to see where it fits in the big picture. Assemble a few of the pieces and suddenly you see the even bigger picture. And it goes on teaching you those lessons.
As you can see I’m getting close to finishing the puzzle and the closer I get to the end the harder it’s becoming. I have to spend more time searching for the right pieces, I have to spend more time thinking about which way the pieces are going and I have to spend more time thinking about what I’m seeing in the puzzle and on the pieces.
Perhaps you think this whole deal about a jigsaw puzzle is a little simplistic but I challenge you to buy one and try it for yourself. You will be surprised at how something as simple as a jigsaw puzzle can change the way you look at the challenges you face in your small business.
A thousand piece jigsaw puzzle is only going to set you back about $20.00 and you will be surprised at the positive impact it can have on your business.
January 21st, 2007 at 7:09 am
Amazing the way perspective is so important isn’t it? If you ask almost anyone how many sides a coin has, they invariably reply, ‘two’. If they think about it for a minute, they might say three. Obverse, Reverse and Edge. But then there’s the inside and the outside…
January 21st, 2007 at 9:15 am
Thanks for stopping by DG - yep perspective is so important and Dead Poet’s Society has a lot to teach small business people.
I really have stood on a chair more than once just to look at things from a different angle.
By the way, anyone who is interested in search engine optimisation should click on DG’s initials - the link will take you to his blog and it’s full of great information.
January 21st, 2007 at 9:29 am
I remember being in art class, and the art teacher put a chair on a desk, and set a waste can on the chair, and asked us to sketch the waste can. More than half the class drew the can as if they could still see inside it, me included. That lesson stuck with me. ; )
BTW, I was trying out Ahmed’s Commentful, I was excited to see the little light flashing in Firefox notifying me that someone had replied to my comment here.