The Chocolate Bunny Approach to Problem Solving

Happy Easter! By the title of this entry you are probably thinking I have resorted to consuming massive quantities of chocolate in order to cope. Not quite! But at some moments that looks like the best alternative.

This is actually about the philosophical side of consuming a chocolate bunny. Huh? You didn't know I had a minor in philosophy, did you? So here is the question,.. do you start with the ears or the tail? Think about this a moment. When confronted with the decision of where to place that first bite into an Easter bunny, where do you begin? For most people, I am guessing it is the ears. There they are, sticking out ready to be nibbled. Or even just bitten off whole! There is something about the area that projects that presents itself as an obvious starting point.

But,....why not start with the tail? It is sticking out there, all cute and everything, ready to be chomped off with ease. Why is it that most of us begin with the ears? It made me think about Alison Lee's recent interview with Angela B. Crispin, a PMC artist in France. Angela shares a story about her dad and how he taught her to look at things from all different angles.

Biting the ears off first is the obvious approach, and it has the benefit of the bunny still having a nice flat base to sit on between eating sessions. But, if you start from the other end, you get to have that cute little bunny face to look at longer. Being a visual person, this would give me another reward along the way,... in addition to the chocolate!

So what does this have to do with anything? I guess what I am trying to say is, when you have a problem to solve....where do you start? Do we look at those things sitting right out there ready to be done, giving us easier access to the rest of the task or problem? Most likely yes. But, have we looked at it from a few perspectives first? Have we thought through other possible approaches and ways to solve the problem that may be just as effective to begin, but make the journey a bit different, and maybe more satisfying to us in the long run. Sometimes, turning things upside down is the right way to start.