The Leadership

Rubik's Cube

 

I’m sure you are familiar with the Cube which conquered America in the 80’s – The Rubik's Cube. That cube of cubes that could be turned in any direction. (If you don’t know what a Rubik's Cube is – just do a search on the internet and you will discover hundreds of pages devoted to the Cube!) The object of the puzzle is to get the six sides to all be their original color after the cube had been mixed up. Most Cube experts will agree that it only requires six moves for a Cube to be completely messed up. Re-tracing those six steps is nearly impossible. You have no choice but to go through the entire process of solving it.

While some hate the Cube, and others have mildly played around with one (hoping to accidentally solve it) I am proud to say that I have conquered the Cube. Yes, I can solve any Cube you give me, usually in less than three minutes. My best time is one minute and forty-eight seconds. Some have called me a genius for being able to solve the Cube. Perhaps. And while I hesitate to claim less, I personally feel that my conquest of the Cube is not related to any intellectual turbo boosters. To say it is genius is to diminish the accomplishment as just something that comes easy to someone who is gifted. While some may pick up a Cube and just ingeniously solve it – for me it was WORK. 

I got my first Cube as a child. I was fascinated by the design. I was intrigued with the almost infinite combinations possible. I pondered what combinations were impossible. (Many are impossible, there are only 4.7 trillion possible combinations. No, I did not count them.) And like many before me, I had to destroy one, just to discover exactly what was inside. But after that mystery was solved, I was determined to solve it. Not by taking it apart and putting it back together solved. Not by moving the stickers. Not by reading a ‘hints’ book – but by studying it. One side is not too difficult to solve. But then you quickly learn that one side must be completed correctly – with the adjacent edges also matching the side they are on. Next is the second row, then a cross on the bottom, then the corners, and lastly, the bottom center pieces. 

I have discovered that the process of learning to solve the Rubik's Cube is a fantastic lessoninleadership. And the good news for you: you can learn those lessons without having to learn the Cube. Why? Because I am going to tell you! I still keep a Cube near me. One is on my desk at home and at work. It is a constant reminder to me of principles of leadership and life that I learned from the Cube. And I still pick it up often to make sure I can still solve it and occasionally time myself to see if I can ever break that 1:48 record.

So, how do you learn to solve the Cube? And what does that process teach you about solving other problems or puzzles in life?