The Clean Slate Phenomenon

A fictional story: I hear a voice above my head squealing in excitement, I have the most fabulous idea for a new charity! I glance up into the eager smiling face of Abbey, the sun glinting off her shiny, short brown hair, and I screw up my eyes against the white, harsh sun rays to see more clearly. She looks like she has found the pot of gold on the end of the rainbow, I muse, and actually, I think dryly, she may lift off the ground.

Do I have to get up? I groan. I'm feeling lower than the ocean floor, as if the weight of the sea is crushing me. What's it with me today, and with all these strange metaphors, I wonder. I pick myself off the dusty ground and brush a few stray fragments from my faded blue jeans.

You know how you have always wanted to help that amazing charity cause we spoke about during the holidays? Yes, I say carefully. Well, with this idea, we could do something brand new very quickly! I glance at her computer screen, where she has laid out a few ideas in a well put-together presentation. I see charts with wonderful bright images and impressive numbers fly past, as Abbey says, look here, and look here! And this is the real clincher which I thought of this morning!

Wow, Abbey, I say, perking up a bit. Have you shown this to Joe? He has done a lot of ground work in putting the same type of information together. He's been working on it for years in fact and the two of you would make a great team. I could add some of my own ideas too! I am starting to feel excited that we may finally get some real traction and move forward with fundraising.

Abbey sighs, frustrated. I did show Joe, but he has a fixed mindset and prefers what he has done and won't even look at this presentation. My concept is better anyway, and I don't understand what he has done, that's why I created this all from scratch.

But Abbey, I say, feeling pained, wouldn't it be better if you both leveraged off existing platforms? Think of it like a giant springboard!

Nah, would never work, she mumbles. And do you see me working together with gruff Joe? Hmph.

Let's meet again tomorrow, I say, I need to digest all this. Abbey looks like she needs a break too and her excitement has faded as a balloon popped. I sigh internally as Abbey closes her laptop and walks away, looking dejected.

If only people could work together and leverage off collective existing ideas, I ponder. Imagine how much more progress we would make? I guess people prefer a clean slate. It's easier to get buy in to new ideas people see unfold before them collectively, than to adopt someone else's ideas sometimes.