Dooley Noted: 7/8/2016
Today, I played Jenga with my husband.
I wanted to make the game interesting, so I tried to move a piece that was particularly tight.
As I wedged the piece from its tight position, the adjacent piece would not let my piece go.
It was as if its stability depended upon my piece. And by moving my piece, I risked destabilizing the local pieces, as well as the system.
This reminded me of those who stretch structures that are tight without assessing if that tightness is stabilizing the system.
So I pressed my piece, mobilizing it from any angle I could reach.
The more I mobilized my piece, the more I watched the system start to wobble.
I wasn’t offering any stability to the system in exchange for the mobility of my piece.
I mobilized my piece fully – to watch the entire tower crumble.
This reaffirmed for me that you never mobilize a structure that’s attempting to provide adjacent stability.
If you choose to do so, make sure you stabilize the system by assessing and correcting your situation.
Or else, you risk quite the tumble.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley