Is Your Imagination Your Greatest Tool?

"I want people to imagine. I think that your imagination is the most important tool that you possess." - Neil Caiman

Over the years, as we've worked on fixing our house or looked into hiring people to do things for us, it feels like this is an area that has been seriously lacking. The ability to use your imagination to solve problems. Let me give an example.

A few years ago we were looking to have heating an air conditioning installed in our Cape Cod style home in California. We had several HVAC contractors come in to look at our home, give us a bid, and help us try to figure out how to put the system in. We did have a few requirements though. Becasue the house was already small and the ceiilings only 8 feet high, we told them we did not want any soffits (no duct work below the ceiling). We couldn't go under the house, because it was built on a slab. We had almost every single contractor tell us it wasn't possible, or that it was going to be really difficult to do that. Eventually, we started telling them how it was going to work. You see, we had done a few things over the years to make it easier, but we also used our imagination and a little creativity to come up with a solution. Once we presented it to the contractors, they all agreed that it could work, and were able to give us a bid. We ended up being one of the few houses in the sub-division with Central Heat and Air that didn't have any soffits.

We had numerous other similar scenarios.

So, what is it that you do? Do you get stuck in your own head that things have to happen a certain way because that is the way you were taught or that is the way it has alwayse been done? Do you get stuck because the easiest way isn't viable?

For us, and most of those contractors, the simplest, normal solution was not available. Because of that, a lot of the contractors didn't want to give us a bid or didn't have a solution. They didn't think outside the box of what they were used to working in. Once we told them our thoughts and what we had considered, they were finally able to see that it was a possibility and could work.

Far too often we get stuck in the box. We get stuck thinking that there is only one way to do something. I think it is because we too often judge something before we really consider it. We have an idea pop into our heads and then dismiss it because it is too hard, too messy, too expensive, etc.

I would much rather live in a world where people are willing to explore their ideas, no matter how ridiculous they may sound. I would rather have someone give me an option, even if it turns out to be too expensive, than to tell me that something can't be done.

There is always a way to get things done. If you don't believe that, then you just haven't figured out the solution yet. It took Thomas Edison over 1,000 failed attempts to create the light bulb. I imagine there were many around him that told him it couldn't be done. And yet, he did it.

Be your own Thomas Edison. Don't give up just because something is difficult, or you fail the first few times (or thousand times) you try. Keep pushing forward. Keep believing that it is possible. That is when your imagination will kick in, and ideas will come that give you something new to try.