Are you thinking out of the box?

Legend has it that in a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small business owner owed a large sum of money  to a loan-shark. The loan-shark was a very old, unattractive looking guy that just happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter.

He decided to offer the business man a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he owed him. However, the catch was that he would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter. Needless to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.

The loan-shark said that he would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.

The daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out the pebble. If it was black, the debt would be wiped out, but the loan-shark would then marry her. If it was white, the debt would also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t marry the loan-shark.

Standing on a pebble strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan-shark bent over and picked up two pebbles. Whilst he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag. He then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.

The daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:

1. Refuse to pick a pebble from the bag.

2. Take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan-shark for cheating.

3. Pick a pebble from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her father’s freedom.

She drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped it into the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-shark;

“Oh, how clumsy of me. Never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

The pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan-shark didn’t want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white, and clear her father’s debt.

Smart move, right?

I couldn’t help but ask myself how many of us would respond to challenging situations in a similar fashion.  When we face difficulties, do we only consider the natural three choices we have or do we seek the unexpected response?

Whatever your answer is; this story shows that there is always an unforeseen (not so obvious) option. It is likely an unconventional one.  It is the creative option. And it is quite rewarding.

I can only imagine the joy of this girl as she helped her dad clear his debt while avoiding to get married to this unattractive (and treacherous) man. 

So in the course of this year, whenever you face challenges, please remember to go beyond the natural choices; think out of the box and let your creativity expand. 

I believe that if we use our creativity, we too can think out of the box.

EINSTEIN SAID: “CREATIVITY IS SEEING WHAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS SEEN, AND THINKING WHAT NO ONE ELSE HAS THOUGHT.”