NOVEMBER 2008
the newsletter for Nuçi’s Space, a nonprofit musicians’ support/resource center
Connecting The Dots
I
was first introduced to the “nine-dot puzzle” as an undergraduate at the University of Georgia during an elective leadership development course. For those of you who may not be familiar with this particular puzzle, it’s designed by placing nine dots in a perfect square. The goal is to connect the dots by drawing four straight, continuous lines, and never lifting the pencil from the paper. As I stared at the puzzle I became increasingly frustrated. I thought to myself, “The answer can’t be that hard.” I tried every conceivable approach to solving the problem— starting my line at the top, bottom, side and diagonal. Despite my “brilliant” attempts, there was always one dot still left untouched. My frustration accelerated to a boil as I noticed that a kid sitting a few rows ahead of me had already finished. My ego deflated, I surrendered and waited for the professor to reveal the solution. After a few minutes the professor asked if we were ready for the answer. The class groaned with an affirmative. Starting with the dot located in the bottom right-hand corner, the professor quickly drew four straight lines, connecting all nine dots. After careful examination, the class erupted in objections and questions. “Hey, you can’t draw your line outside of the box!” “But you drew the line past the dot before you changed direction?” “Of course! It’s easy when you do it that way.”
by
Bob Sleppy
The professor agreed with the last statement. The puzzle is quite easily solved if you draw the lines outside of the restrictions of the square area defined by the nine dots themselves. It was this puzzle that inspired the popular phrase, “thinking outside the box.” The phrase and the use of this puzzle and others like it gained popularity with the study of lateral thinking during the late 1960s. Lateral thinking can be defined as methods of thinking concerned with changing concepts and perception. In general, it is the use of reason to look beyond the obvious and find solutions that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. Suicide prevention, mental illness and awareness of these issues are “nine-dot puzzles” we are confronted with on a daily basis. Fortunately, Nuçi’s Space lies “outside of the box.” After eight years of challenging the traditional methods of access to care and message delivery, we are seeing concrete and quantifiable results to these difficult problems. As Nuçi’s Space’s success continues and our programs grow to meet an increasing community need, the influence and power of traditional thinking has increased its pressure to keep us in a “box.” The “box” represents strict adherence to acceptable guidelines, regardless of their success, that conform to their preconceived ideas. However, our results will suffer if we are limited to out-of-date thinking. We will have to challenge not only our own way of thinking, but the boundaries and perceptions dictated to us by others. If we can not find the courage to challenge the status quo, there will always be one dot that we are unable to connect.
nuçi’s space 396 Oconee Street Athens, GA 30601 706.227.1515 space@nuci.org www.nuci.org
Newsletter Contributors
Bob Sleppy Will Kiser Laura Ford Beth Johnson Photos
Terrance Medina Mike White Design & Layout
Larry Tenner