One of the most simple but profound lessons I learned from my high-tech days was a lesson learned from a very high level manager at HP.  I asked him one day how he could so easily understand a complex situation and break it down into simple and easy to understand terms.  He smiled and said “It is always easier to understand something when you map it back to things that you already understand.”  That sounded simple and I understood.  I still remember what he said and use it in my life everyday.

The more I read to my young daughter Bo the more I enjoy the simple stories but profound messages in children’s books.  You can take a complex subject and break it up into simple terms, and you can take a simple message, like in children’s books, and map it back to our complex life.  There are many wonderful children’s books, there is one in particular I would like to share with you today:

You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
– Oh, the Places You’ll Go!  by Dr. Seuss