Turn The Tables. See the world from a new perspective.

There is a scene in the movie, Captain America - The First Avenger, where soldiers are challenged by their drill sergeant to get a flag down from a flagpole as part of a physical training exercise. The sergeant announces that whoever succeeds in getting the flag from the pole will be rewarded with a ride back to base with the pretty Agent Carter.?

The recruits rush to the flagpole and try desperately to climb up the pole to get the flag down. All, but one soldier, Steve Rogers, attempts to apply physical training solutions to solve the challenge of getting to the top of the pole for the flag. The drill sergeant gleefully announces to the soldiers that in 17 years no group of trainees has been able to get the flag off the pole. Of course, this implies that for almost 2 decades the drill sergeant has been unable to see that there was a simple solution to getting to the flag on top of the pole. Steve Rogers, who is not as physically minded as the other soldiers finds a solution in seconds.?

The irony contained in this movie scene is that the easy way of getting the flag from the pole is right in front of everyone, including the drill sergeant. The solution was not to climb up the pole but to topple the pole to the ground by removing an easily accessible bolt. Once on the ground, the flag could be removed with little effort. What I think is really interesting is that Steve is able to come up with a solution to the flag problem by looking at the problem from a different vantage point.?

Steve doesn’t navigate or perceive the world like the other soldiers. Because of how he perceives the world, he is able to come up with an easy solution to get the flag down. That solution was to remove the bolt holding the flag poll and topple it and the flag to the ground. When given an open-ended task (‘get the flag down’) he gets the job done quickly and easily. He was also able to win the attention of Agent Carter, not with brawn, but with resourcefulness. The other soldiers not only failed at getting the flag but failed to impress Agent Carter.

Working smarter, not harder, means finding ways to use energy and time more efficiently. But working smarter still requires the willingness to be open to all possibilities and to view “reality” from as many angles as possible.

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I'm Rob, a USMC veteran, a digital entrepreneur, and a lawyer.??

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