The Power of Creativity \(Book 1\): Learning How to Build Lasting Habits, Face Your Fears and Change Your Life pdfdrive com

Pass the Salt
American businessman and inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931) came up with
thousands of inventions during his lifetime including the light bulb, a battery for
an electric car and the motion picture camera.
A creative master, Edison challenged the assumptions of others – especially
when he wanted to work with them.
When Edison met a potential employee, he tested the person’s intelligence by

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asking  a  series  of  trivia  questions  like,  “Where  do  we  get  prunes  from?”  or
“Who invented printing” and “What is felt?”
It was the early twentieth century after all.
Before offering a job, Edison took the applicant out for dinner and gave them
a  bowl  of  soup  to  eat.  Then,  Edison  watched  carefully  to  see  what  the  job
candidate did next.
If  the  unsuspecting  candidate  seasoned  the  soup  with  salt  before  tasting  it,
Edison  didn’t  extend  a  job  offer.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  candidate  tasted  the
soup before seasoning it, Edison hired them.
He  believed  candidates  who  seasoned  the  soup  without  finding  out  if  it
needed salt was already full of unhelpful assumptions. This kind of person was
of no use to Edison. He wanted to work with knowledgeable people who weren’t
full of preconceived ideas.
After all, this was a man who said, “Just because something doesn’t do what
you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.”
Today, finding the origins of the prune is a Wikipedia search away. If you put
the  work  in,  read  the  right  books  and  listen  to  the  experts,  you  can  school
yourself on what you need to know about a topic or area of interest.
But the fundamentals of Edison’s other test for job candidates remains: How
can you challenge your assumptions?
Well, I’ll be honest.
It’s bloody hard to do it alone or if you’re holed away in the woods.
I’d  like  to  think  if  I  reached  Edison’s  shortlist,  I’d  sample  his  creamy
vegetable  soup  before  asking  the  waiter  for  the  salt  and  pepper,  but  I’m  an
ordinary person with ordinary baggage and assumptions about how things should
be.
I’d probably ask for the salt first.
Would you do the same?
Be honest.
If  you’re  the  kind  of  person  who  reaches  for  the  metaphorical  salt  before
tasting  the  soup,  take  a  lesson  from  creative  masters  in  the  world  of  software
development.

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They are masters at challenging their assumptions, and they don’t do it alone.