What we don't know ... can help

There was a young PhD student George at UC Berkeley, USA who was late by about 30 minutes for a exam (year 1939). When he entered the hall he was told that he could complete solving the exam paper and once done could attempt the two problems that were put up on the black board. George completed the exam paper just around finish time and by then all other students had left.

He just started attempting the first problem written on the board when, the Professor came by and said he could go back home and submit the solutions at his office after couple of days.

Three days later George completed the solutions and slid the paper under the door of the Professor's cabin and went back to his daily work. Exactly a week later he got a message from the Professor to come and meet up. When George went over, thinking that the Professor wanted to criticize him for the solution, he was surprised. The Professor said that George had solved a problem that was impossible to solve till then. George B Dantzig had just created the Simplex Method for solving a linear programming problem which is such a powerful tool in world of business and planning world over.

Since George was late he did not attend the briefing given by the Professor before the exam. He gave the papers and then informed the students that once the paper was done there were two questions put up on the board that were unsolvable by anyone so far and they could try solving them . All the students in the class completed their papers and left without even attempting to solve the problem that they were told were unsolvable.

As George was late he did missed the briefing and so he was the only one who did not know the fact that the Professor shared about the problem being unsolvable.

If we look at what holds us back , it is the notions and presuppositions we hold in our minds. Only George worked on the problem as he did not know it was unsolvable and hence he thought he could work on the same. All others did not even attempt to solve what was supposedly unsolvable.

It is all about the thinking that shapes our actions and that what matters in our lives.

Couple of other motivational stories in links below

The Barriers and Obstacles lie within

Inspiration, Not Control is Key to Realizing Potential