The first challenge seems to be how to mount the damned thing, alluringly spinning that it is. The first attempt, the grab, results in the universal dislocated shoulder. That’s not it. Later attempts involve sloppy diving and slipping on when the dizzying spin slows as the present masters’ attention gets distracted by some soon-to-be dislocated five year old.

The meta lesson must be that the thing is always already spinning. It’s way too easy to get eternally stuck waiting for the slow down or the stalled moment. Nobody ever mounts the merry-go-round by waiting for it to stop and invite them on.

Nobody gets to successfully insist that the context stop spinning before they mount. I deeply wish it was not this way. Each kid must figure out how to mount the danged thing, without a clue about how that might actually be done.

Go ahead, go get training, certified about how to mount the go-round. That training will not help you a smidge. You will eventually need to figure it out yourself, you might even dislocate something in the process. You wanna be on? Figure it out.

Chances are pretty good that you’ll figure it out anyway. You will prove that you didn’t really need any of the subsidies you presumed you’d need to succeed. Sure, you might well stumble home with a bruised or broken bone ... this time. Next time, if your desire to succeed persists, you might well succeed. Who knows?

Who could know?

©2012 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: Unstuck Stuck Consulting