PUZZLING OR SCALING?

CAVEAT – THE PURPOSE OF THIS POST IS NOT TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE.

I found this puzzle earlier today, shortly after I shared with my contacts via WhatsApp status with the tag ‘Where are the smart people on my contacts list?’ . I got over a hundred feedback within 2 hours. A few of the answers I got were 28, 50, 14, 11, 35, 10, 70, 12… etc from this same image. Feel free, take your shot and drop your answer as a comment below.

THIS POST IS ABOUT THE SEVERAL LESSONS THE FEEDBACK STIRRED UP.

A lot of people reacted too quickly. Some people reacted with such speed depicting that they were trying to validate their smartness. Most people were very pressured by the caption, hence lost the attention needed to pick the details. A few people just wanted to give it a shot. I know a few people who were trying to get my puzzle right ‘this time’. There were few people who waited and then coasted on the answers others gave. Several people rapidly changed their answers, they kept seeing some new information after their last reaction. Very few people took their time, reflected on what the puzzle was anchored on and then responded accurately.

I insisted on a show of workings and eventually asked for lessons learnt.

THIS POST IS ABOUT THE LESSONS LEARNT and a few were…

1.      Be aware of subtle pressure points that take your eyes off the goal

2.      Attention to details and how you interpret them matter a lot

3.      You will have better outcomes if you respond rather than react

4.      Own your mistakes and grow on them quickly

5.      Have the basic skills (in this case knowledge of mathematics) you require

6.      A successful attempt is still an attempt. Make an attempt, it is the only way to know if you will succeed.

Are you still trying to solve the puzzle? Feel free to share your answer.

What lessons did you glean from this?

#RandomMusings #PeopleDevelopment #Success #Training