Once upon a time, someone had an idea. Complaints raged of sore arms and backs as people tried to move things solely by carrying them, no matter how heavy or awkwardly bulky they were. There had to be a better way! What if a platform could rest on a framework suspended off the ground on rotating circles? And the wheel was invented. The wheel has been around for a long time. But not all wheels are the same. The wheel has evolved and transformed and takes many forms. There is even a new evolution of wheel that does not go flat. The wheel is not going away anytime soon.
Enter the watermelon. Watermelons are round. They are water balloons with a hard shell. They roll and when set on a counter without perfect balance, find out that kitchen floors are quite unforgiving. This is your brain. This is your brain when you roll off the counter. There had to be a better design!
A few years back, Japanese watermelon farmers decided the answer was to make some square watermelons. They could be packed and stacked, virtually eliminating wasted space in storage bins and on grocer’s shelves and they would not roll off and crack their noggins on the floor! So a process was devised where juvenile watermelons were placed inside square glass or acrylic containers to grow. As they grew, they assumed the square shape of the container. It was important to choose the right size box because if it was too big, the watermelon would not fill it up and take its shape. On the other hand, if it was too small, the watermelon would not have room to grow and could start to wither.
To acquire the right functionality of the wheel, or to acquire the desired shape of the watermelon requires a few steps:
1. Figure out that what you presently have is not exactly what you need.
2. Decide exactly what you actually do need.
3. Figure out how to get from what you have to what you need.
4. Obtain the necessary tools to achieve your goal.
5. Apply the tools to change what you have to what you need.
6. Utilize your final product to accomplish what you needed it for.
7. If this final product is no longer exactly what you need, repeat these steps.
Even the greatest, most useful processes, objects, tools we use should be subjected to review and change sometimes. If you can say, “there must be a better way!” or “there must be a better design!”, go through this process. It is likely the wheel didn’t start off square…who would have ever thought that would have been a good idea? But, what if it was the prototype? Then today’s wheel would be proof positive that someone knew there was a better design and changed it!