Operations and Life Lessons from a Rubik’s Cube

I’ve tried solving a Rubik’s Cube on my own for a long time and I am not ashamed of admitting that I gave up many times. Recently, I tried again using a different set of tactics and I learned some important lessons which I believe are applicable to operations within a company and life in general.

Ask “Is this a brand new problem or is it possible that someone else has already solved it?” The Rubik's Cube has been around for 47 years (it was invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ern? Rubik). So of course, it has been already solved by millions of people around the world.

If it’s not a brand new problem, do your research. In this case, it was a simple search on Youtube. There are hundreds on tutorials on how to solve the Rubik’s cube. Almost all of them have broken this complex task into simple easy-to-follow steps.

Trust the process. Following a set process has many benefits.

1. By practicing this simple process repeatedly, I was able to dramatically decrease the time it takes for me solve the cube.
2. I can pause anytime, go do something else, and know right away where I am in the process when I return.
3. Trusting the process is especially important during the last few steps when it is difficult to see that you ARE only a few steps away from success.
4. Following a process will also help you perform in high pressure situations. A few days ago, a colleague challenged me to solve the cube on my work desk and she was trash talking over me the whole time. But I was able to stay focused, trust the process and deliver.

Don’t be complacent. Go see what champion performance looks like. I was really feeling good about myself being able to solve a Rubik’s cube under 3 minutes until I came across ‘The Speed Cubers’ on Netflix. The World Record for a 3x3 cube is a mind-blowing 3.47 seconds! Exceptional or Champion-level performance in some cases is orders of magnitude better than mediocre performance.

Champion mindset and processes can be much different than mediocre performers'. I tried increasing my speed using my current process, but it was obvious that I will not achieve champion time this way. That means I need to throw away my old process and adopt a new one. Do I need to figure out the way on my own? Not necessarily. I am sure there are resources out there to learn the new process used by the champions. Then it will be a matter of adopting them and practicing.

Develop the innovation capability and don’t stop innovating once you achieve champion-level performance. Adopting processes invented by others and industry best practices might get you close to the top, but then to truly surpass others, you will need to invent on your own, break new ground, and venture into the unknown. Now that takes a whole different mindset. In an organization, it means developing the right culture and capability to innovate. Otherwise, you will always be chasing the leader. Well, in some cases, being a fast follower might not be a bad strategy either.

Onward,

Nalaka

Disclaimer: Views expressed here are my own and not supported by my employer.

Photo by Maxime Perron Caissy from FreeImages