The Good, The Bad, and The Obvious by Dennis A. White

Author:Dennis A. White
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dennis A. White
Published: 2018-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Section III

Key Points and “Takeaways”

Now that you’ve joined that select group of people who’ve read Obvious Adams, how do you feel? Introspective? Energized and ready to tackle some complicated problem you’ve been avoiding because the answer is now obvious to you?

I read Obvious Adams for the first time in 1988 – 72 years after Bob Updegraff published it. I can still remember how I felt when I finished the sentence, “There are no mountains in Holland.”

I sat very still for a long time with my eyes shut and tried to sort out all the ideas, lessons, and high-calorie “food for thought” that the story had provided. There was also a blazing validation that what I had suspected all my life was really true – that the answers to even the most perplexing problems are usually very simple – and obvious. I knew that I had experienced something truly profound.

I’ve learned over the years that what is profound to one person may be trivial to another. Your list of key points and takeaways from Obvious Adams might be very different from mine. That’s the beauty of the story – it speaks to many different people in many different ways.

Having said that, these are the key points and takeaways on my list:

1. When faced with a problem or challenge, look to the obvious first.

George Orwell, author of the novel 1984, said, “Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.” I’d like to make one small change in his quote and suggest that sometimes be replaced with always. I think Obvious Adams would support me in this amendment. This is a major theme and very important takeaway from Obvious Adams – start with the obvious.

Also, when faced with a complicated problem in our organizations, we usually anticipate a complicated solution. This is what Zig Ziglar would have referred to as “stinkin’ thinkin.’” On the contrary, we should first examine simple solutions to complicated problems. This is the real genius of Obvious Adams!

Interestingly, the idea of simple solutions to complicated problems was not original to Bob Updegraff in 1916. In fact, a 14th century English monk and logician named William of Ockham opined that “all things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one.” This idea has come to be known as “Ockham’s Razor.” Although used primarily in philosophy and the sciences, we’d do well to remember its guidance in our daily organizational decision making.

2. Innovation, not creativity, is the most obvious and efficient strategy for organizational change and improvement.

We throw around the terms innovation and creativity a lot nowadays and we use them interchangeably as if they mean the same thing. In fact, they are very different concepts.

The first words of the Bible are, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Now that’s creativity! I know what you’re thinking – can you give us a more recent example of creativity? Well, although I don’t mean to suggest that he’s in the same

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