The Power Of Talking With Others

Have you ever noticed how focused we can be on a “problem” and the single solution that has occurred to us?

I’m getting my 6′-high walled patio redone, which is currently filled with gravel. A neighbor had mentioned wanting the gravel for her yard, but the guy doing the work surprised me this morning by saying he’s coming over to start in about a half hour.

Surprise!

My friend doesn’t live here in the village full-time, so there’s no way to organize getting the gravel to her house 45 miles away. But my friend then suggested, “Well, why don’t you just have him drop the gravel behind the wall where you park your car to cover the gravel that has sunk into the dirt?”

Well, duh.

Such a simple and useful solution — one that might never have occurred to me because my mind was so focused on her taking the gravel for her yard. Has anything like this happened to you?

Have you focused on one way of getting something done, only to realize there was at last one other way which would work as well, maybe even better?