I’ve never known a cat that didn’t demonstrate a deep understanding of market economics.
This cat is clearly using his critical
thinking skills to solve complex problems.
We
can all agree that cats spend the vast majority of their time thinking through
complex problems in innovative ways. We have so much to learn from them. After
years of careful observation I’ve extracted and analyzed a few key
methodologies they use so we can leverage them for our own problem solving.
Think inside the box
If a cat fits, he sits. It’s as simple as
that. Cats know how to scope problems appropriately. I heard the same mantra
over and over: “think outside the box.” It took me several years, many complex
problems, and two cats, to realize what bad advice this is. You can’t solve a
problem well by just thinking outside the box. You have to
understand the box: How big is it? Is it made of cardboard? Fabric? Does it
have packing peanuts in it or those plastic air pouches that aren’t fun to play
with at all? Design thinking requires understanding constraints.
Push
boundaries
Thinking inside the box doesn’t mean you
have to stay inside it. Cats don’t allow themselves to be limited by the laws
of physics when it comes to fitting in boxes or anything else. They assume their liquid form and
gracefully allow their pillowy sides spill out over the edges. The key to their
success is flexibility and prioritization. When given an ambiguous or complex
problem such as a seemingly too-small box, a cat will prioritize which parts
should go inside the box so that the cat and box can reach a steady state of equilibrium.
Cat and box (or vase) become one. The obvious lesson here is that once you understand the
constraints of a problem, you know which ones to push on to achieve your goals.
Be lazy
The laziest cat fight I have ever seen.
Have
you ever tried to get a cat to pull a tiny garden plow? Or harnessed nine cats
together and attached them to a sled, and then sat on the sled and then given
your cat sled team a command to ‘MUSH’? Well I have*. They did not mush. They
sat there and looked at me like I was an idiot. A few of them lay down in the
snow. Two or three ignored me while they groomed each other, and the back team
started scuffling. Cats don’t like to work hard. They don’t toil for the sake
of toil. They evaluate cost, benefits, and impact and make appropriate
trade-offs. I’ve never known a cat that didn’t demonstrate a deep understanding
of market economics. It goes back to their ancestral roots, where evidence
suggests that early cats domesticated themselves when they saw the value in
offering fuzzy snuggles in exchange for a steady source of food. When
you’re driven by laziness, you’re forced to take a hard look at your resources
and make tradeoffs.
Don’t be
afraid to fail
Cats aren’t discouraged by the risk of looking dumb and being laughed at
as they experiment and explore their environment.
Cats
fail all the time. They embrace failure with an admirable level of vigor and
élan. To the naive eye it could appear as though they are careless idiots,
incapable of critical thinking. But a more discerning observer would recognize
their strategy: prototype and iterate. Cat’s aren’t discouraged by the risk of
looking dumb and being laughed at as they experiment and explore their
environment, presumably in pursuit of the optimal sleeping position or a
solution for global warming (I assume both are equally viable possibilities).
Consequently there are over 300,000** hours of videos on YouTube of cats making
fools of themselves. They are so successful at failing that they are at risk of
actually failing to truly fail.
Sit in
a circle
Most cats like to sit and/or lay down in circles
Some don't:
Ho-hum
Mildly interested
A pentagram? Now you're talking!!
It’s a well-known fact that if you create some sort of circle on the ground, most cats will sit in it. I’m not actually sure what this one is about
but given everything we’ve discussed so far I’m certain there is a deeper
meaning to unlock and it’s just going above our heads right now. Feel free to
open up the discussion in the comments. If we put our collective minds together
and apply some design thinking, we might figure this one out.
*I
did not actually do this but this is what I imagine would have happened if I
had.
**Not
a real statistic.(Adapted from hackernoon.com)
To see a cat who doesn't want to go for a walk, click here.
----fishducky
