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8.22.2007

Expecting the unexpected

Nassim Taleb's The Black Swan gives us a way to expect the unexpected. As Roger von Oech suggests in his book Expect the Unexpected or you won't find it, there are many connections between our creativity and what we expect.

When we expect the unexpected, the unexpected is expected. Nothing is unexpected. We begin to expect what we cannot foresee -- by changing how we formulate expectations.

Conventionally, we expect what we are familiar with. We rely on our past experience to limit what we expect to rational, logical and objective forecasts. We become clear about what is impossible, impractical and ridiculous.

When we formulate expectations this way, we don't realize we have limited ourselves unnecessarily. The restrictions we see are self imposed. We are arguing in favor of limitations and winning the argument. We have it our way of small, confining, inhibited and oppressive options.

When we allow for black swans, find Extremistan and go beyond the Platonic fold of conventional formulas, we change how we formulate expectations. We stop limiting ourselves unnecessarily. We step outside our foregone conclusions, formulaic predictions and accurate assessments of what shows up in the rear view mirror. We expect anything and everything. All imaginable options are possible. Who can verify that the past predicts the future accurately. Why not anticipate breakthroughs, random influences and exponential repercussions?

On the other hand, when we expect the unexpected, nothing is really expected. Everything is unexpected. Life is a mystery and each moment is a surprise. We have no valid reason to confine ourselves to what we expect when the possibilities we're facing are actually so grand, panoramic and infinite.

Being creative, innovative and inventive calls for no expectations while expecting anything and everything.

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