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A Call To Action
Wishing You A Timeless
Holiday
How Do You Really
Feel?
Work For The
Best
The Spirit of the
Season
Oh, no, a
CEO!
Moral
Authority
Quarter Million
Copies
White
Christmas
All Docutechs
Are Not Equal IV
All
Docutechs Are Not Equal III
All Docutechs Are Not Equal
II
All Docutechs Are Not
Equal
What A Difference A
Year Makes
Happy Holidays
Business As Usual
Hi Mom!
Welcome To Copresco's
Website
What’s Wrong With This
Picture
The photo on the left is of a “typical” family?
Right?
We have the stereotypical 2.4 children, represented by my three
youngest. We have the father, represented by yours truly. And we have the
mother, represented by…wait a minute! That isn’t my wife! What is
going on here?
Possibilities that come to mind:
- Steve has dumped his wife and run off with a babysitter. Midlife crisis for sure.
- Steve’s wife has dumped him, and he’s auditioning replacements to see who looks best in a family portrait.
- Steve’s wife recently underwent radical cosmetic surgery, which added several inches to her height.
- The angle of the sun just makes Mrs. Johnson’s hair, eyes, height, weight and complexion look different.
Why do we
come up with these outlandish scenarios? We’ve trained our minds to see
only what we expect. Man + woman + children = family, so our brains stop right
there. Instead of performing further rational analysis, we often insist the
conclusion we’ve leapt to must be correct, and then dream up crazy
justifications for our assumptions.
The real identity of the woman in
the picture? Maria Laine is a delightful school teacher from Hameenlinna,
Finland who stayed with my family as a houseguest while visiting the United
States on a Rotary
Group Study Exchange trip.
I promised Maria
that I would mention her in my web column someday, so here she is.
But
where is the real Mrs. Johnson? Sherlock Holmes once chided Dr. Watson, saying
“You look, but you do not observe!” We could again dream up reasons
why my wife isn’t in the photo, but we should always begin with the
simplest explanation: she’s the one who took the picture!
The best
exercise for the brain is NOT jumping to conclusions. The next time a business
problem appears, take a deep breath. Mull over ALL the possibilities. Try to
think outside the box. Strive for solutions rather than excuses or blame.
Cliché? I’d rather think of it common sense.
We all need a
break, but let’s not send our brains on summer vacation this year. They
might never come back!
Steve Johnson, President
Copresco
