Painters drink in colors.
They are born to do so. They study the world and wonder which combinations of pigments re-create the light. The luminosity. The spark that comes with the extraordinary moment.
They drink in colors because it is satisfying, seductive, and solemn. There is emotional and intellectual power in that work.
They are not the only ones.
Musicians drink in licks.
Poets drink in word rhythms.
Politicians drink in rhetoric.
Athletes drink in team formations.
Scientists drink in mathematical patterns found in nature.
Design engineers drink in solutions to defeat failure conditions.
Industrial engineers drink in process flows.
Software programmers drink in logic.
And grandmothers drink in the landscape of family. Member by member. Interaction by interaction. Beautiful face by beautiful face.
And what about you?
What about your chosen profession?
What are you trying to see? To perfect? To know? To convey?
If you are not continuously drinking in, you are missing out.
You may find purpose in reading the world around you. You may find things that others cannot readily see. You may find that the universe is populated with an impressive array of nuance.
Continuous improvement requires continuous observation.
Continuous observation is to put aside what you know. What you feel to be true. What you wish to be true.
Continuous observation leads to discovery. To wonder. To breakthroughs.
And to making production higher quality with higher yield.
Remember what Louis Pasteur shared with us: “chance favors the prepared mind”.
The prepared mind is relentlessly curious. It does not bristle at misfires. It knows that failure, like success, is only temporary.
You are invited to awaken this beginner’s mind inside of you.
All it takes is to see the world new everyday. To drink it in as if it was truly the first time.
The Visual8 