On the topic of opportunities and answers

Long time ago, I had written the following headline: "See the possibilities in a landscape of no answers". I had this headline lying around for ages, because I did not really know what to do with it. But it is so obviously right. Because that is the way I feel: actually, I am most at ease in the situations where there are no obvious answers, where I have to look into things myself. And that is the case in many situations: if we do not know precisely what to do, it opens for creative thinking and quaint solutions.
For the same reason, it is worth saying: even if there might be an obvious answer for a question, it might actually in some situations be beneficial to try to disregard that answer and start looking into things on our own. Maybe something new is found along the way. And that even if the final conclusion is the answer that was disregarded in the first place.
(Translated from Noget om at se mulighederne, når man mangler svar, originally published November 21, 2015)

Life's too short for people like me

At one point I attended an event on creativity, where one of the conclusions was - albeit phrased somewhat differently - as stated in the heading.
The reason is simply that you do not get inspired by people who say the same as yourself - mostly people who have the same background as you or in some way resemble you. Inspiration comes from people who are different than you are.
People who agree with you in everything, who are in the same point in life as yourself, are not able inspire you; you can use them to pat yourself on the shoulder, and although that itself may be very nice, it's not what moves the world forward.
What moves the world forward is people to disagree with, or to discuss with, whether or not it originates in constructive criticism or an curious question as to why you behave the way you do.
Even in the company of the people you agree with, you should look at the differences between you and them and examine them.
Because it is thereby you are going to consider whether your attitudes are rational, and to be inspired to do new and exciting things.
(Translated from Livet er for kort til folk som mig, originally published December 27th, 2011)

On the topic of questions and answers

Image courtesy of pixabay / qimono

I have in recent years had the pleasure (and just the fact that I call it a pleasure, shows how far I have moved me in recent decades) to scratch the surface of the subject of psychology a bit. And in this context, I encountered some of the smartest stuff I've ever had the pleasure to hear. In all its simplicity:

Don't think you know the answer before you have heard the question.

It sounds so simple, because it is so obvious. But try to think about it: How often isn't it that we try to solve the problems of our friends, colleagues, family members and acquaintances, seen from our own point of view? How often isn't it that we try to address such situations based on the approach "I have tried the same myself"? In fact, I am convinced that this kind of situation should rather be addressed using additional, more detailed questions. By allowing the other party to answer the additional questions will probably make the person wiser about his or her own situation and thereby answer the big question on his or her own - and thereby, more is achieved than by oneself trying to deal with something that one does not understand the full extent of.
(Translated from Noget om spørgsmål og svar, originally published October 7th, 2012)