#84 grab a pencil

My very favorite part of USA Today is the little "QuickCross" puzzle.  For those of you unfamiliar with the joy-inducing pencil game, it is a simple four by four matrix -- like a crossword puzzle only four words across with four letters that form four words down with four letters.  Quick is the operative word in solving it.

On many occasions, I think that I do not know the answers, but end up solving it anyway.  That is because once you get a few words filled it, you have a very high proportion of other words filled in and it becomes either obvious or much easier to guess.  As an example, I didn't know __ __ __ __ "wolf's tooth", but I knew it was "fang" when the grid showed " __ A N G".

For me, QuickCross is much less intimidating than a crossword puzzle where you have to know the answer.  This quiz encourages me to take risks and guess at some things.  

The little mind game is a symbol of the power of integration.  All four words across count in all four words down.  I can arrive at a complete puzzle by virtue of completing all the words in one direction, even when I don't know the clues in the other direction at all.  Through this synergy, it allows for a much higher level of success.  

I would hold up QuickCross as a metaphor of what you should strive for in your organization.  Challenges your thinking.  Encourages controlled risk.  Helps you be better than you think you are.  Integrated.  Creates synergies.  And even fun.  Not bad for 16 little letters.

-- beth triplett
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