Creativity and Broken Eggs
By Tony Papajohn
In 1420, the dignitaries of Florence held a competition.
They offered the enormous prize of 200 gold florins
to the architect whose genius could span the unfinished dome of the
Florence Cathedral.
This was a great challenge. Even the original builders
of the cathedral in 1296 left writings hoping that God would offer
a solution because they did not have one.
Filippo Brunelleschi was the answer to their prayers.
He proposed the radical idea of a dome supported by
a brick vaulting system that balanced the opposing forces, but without
the customary central supports.
The experts called him mad.
Brunelleschi sought to demonstrate his design with
a challenge.
He could stand an egg upright on a flat surface. Could
they?
All were unsuccessful.
Finally, Brunelleschi cracked the bottom of the egg
and set it down.
It must have been a mess, but it stood upright and
demonstrated his idea.
The experts protested, but Brunelleschi remarked that
they could have done the same if they had understood his design.
Of course, they did not. They didn’t understand creativity
either.
They were too mentally confined by their concept of
the possible. Figuratively and literally, the thought of solving the
problem by breaking the egg never occurred to them.
One imagines their frustration trying to balance the
round egg on the marble tabletop and their groans when Brunelleschi
demonstrated the sloppy, but clever solution.
We all have eggs we never think of breaking.
These are the fixed states of mind that we accept
without question as “the way things are.” These states represent the
boundaries of our thinking and, therefore, our life experience.
Refuse to be confined by the eggs others never think
of breaking.
Geniuses break eggs.
Break your share.
That’s why they make paper towels.
About The Author
Copyright 2004 by Tony Papajohn.
Tony writes and speaks on success. Subscribe to
his free SuccessMotivator e-zine at http://www.successmotivator.com.
tony@successmotivator.com
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