Engineering an Imagination

Jan

22nd

2008

A rather important concept hit me the other day square in the face. I’ve always considered my imagination to be lacking. I’m good at building stuff, designing complicated computer systems, organization, etc., but when it comes to creating something from scratch, it takes me a long time to come up with the concept and feel comfortable with it. Maybe I think too much about it. Maybe I don’t have sufficient self-confidence to try and fail. Who knows. But, I think I’ve decided that a good, healthy imagination can be taught, and thus learned. (Maybe there’s hope for me yet.)

The situation that prompted this insight happened this past Sunday. It was Conference Championship Sunday in the NFL. My perception of a perfect afternoon was a few cold beers and two good football games. (I wanted to watch the Patriots and the Packers, and since cry-baby Peyton Manning was sitting at home on his couch, there wasn’t anyone to root against.) My wife’s perception of a perfect afternoon was a long nap. Guess who’s perception became a reality?

So I’m watching football and spending some time with my boy Sunday. After a few hours of playing with nearly every toy he owns, he began to get a little grumpy and bored. I was struggling to find something to do with him that would keep him occupied and happy, when I decided Elmo was hungry.

The process of “hungry” in our home entails the boy pushing his high-chair to wherever you may be and climbing in, all the while saying “I’m hungry” over and over again. He had decided it was time to eat. But, before he could climb into the high chair, I quickly grabbed the Elmo toy and plopped him in the chair.

My boy’s eyes lit up (the imagination kicking in). He spent the next half of football feeding Elmo, giving him juice, making him sandwiches, pushing him around in the chair, etc. It was almost too cute and funny to pay attention to the football game.

My lesson here was that kids’ imaginations can be stoked (and entertained) by taking normal toys and putting them in abnormal situations. The process of learning takes on a whole new dimension when you see things as having multiple functions that can be changed depending on the environment/situation.