In my first year at the company, I did something that still makes me laugh when I think about it.

I had bought one of those “infinite matches.” Not a lighter, but a little gadget with a metal rod that you pull out, strike, and it sparks a flame. Put it back in and the flame goes out. Wind can’t blow it out, and it can be used thousands of times. A clever little design — compact, mechanical, and inexpensive.

So I brought it to the office and, full of excitement, showed it to the Italian colleague who sat next to me.

I struck it.

A small flame appeared.

She jumped and shouted, “You can’t do that in the office!”

I froze. It honestly hadn’t occurred to me.

In my mind, it was about design and ingenuity. In her mind, it was about fire alarms, insurance policies, and emergency exits.

Same action. Two completely different worlds.

Later I realized that many foolish moments aren’t really about intelligence. They happen because we fail to switch on our sense of context.

I was absorbed in the beauty of the object. She was operating within the logic of the system.

A blind spot isn’t about whether you can see the fire. It’s about whether you can see the rules around it.

Some people naturally have a strong sense of the environment they’re in. Others are less sensitive to boundaries and external context.

Blind spots are like that.

They are usually visible to the people around us first. And we ourselves are almost always the last to know.



—— XC Scribbles · 壹佰伍拾伍 CLV ⚽️