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When one doesn’t have the connections to work for an enlightened firm, it’s not unusual to be the only one with a slightly different perspective at looking at things, whether it’s design or problem solving. 8-10 years ago PowderKeg (nee Verge) was at DeveloperTown and one of the featured businesses was uCola (they pronounced it “you cola” but I believe it was because it was “microCola” just like “microbrew”. After they made their presentation, they opened for questions and there weren’t any…until I put my hand up. They’d covered just about every aspect of their product & business save one little piece of real estate. So I raised my hand and asked, “So what are you going to do with the underneath side of your bottlecap?” You see, it was bottled soda…and lots of people thought it (my question) was rather comical. My wife happened to be with me that night and we looked at each other with straight faces. What was funny was that the uCola gents were stunned and could only stare at each other. “So, um, where have you been the previous 2-3 years? *Lots* of people have looked at everything about our product and business and *no* one has asked about that before now!”
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Bottom line: when it comes to solving problems, designing things, etc., *NEVER* be afraid to be the one who has the question no one has asked before, no one has answered before, or a possible solution, and worry about being laughed at. Me? I’m a little ol’ problem solver & designer (who maps ideas into software) who started out at 17. A late bloomer? How about June of ’79? And I’ve learned when it comes to solving problems, even before I had access to computers, when solving problems, sometimes asking the stupid question(s) no one else is willing to ask, even when everyone else laughs, can solve a *lot* of problems in very short order. The other tip is, “make things simple, not simpler.”