Day 6 of R-Design puzzle mania is here. It’s been interesting to see the general reaction of the staff to the puzzle. Raffi and I really had to take the first stab at putting things together. I guess that’s because we can’t really get fired for working on the puzzle too much. Maybe the bosses saying “It’s okay to not work” is such a foreign concept that it takes time for people to get used to.

Anyhow, after only a few days the rest of the staff started taking little 5-10 minute breaks here and there at the puzzle. I’m starting to suspect the cleaning crew might be working on it in the middle of the night, but I can’t verify that. I guess that’s what I need the live webcam for.

So far, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve gotten the vast majority of the pieces flipped over so we can see the images on them. We’ve found the four corners and even completed the entire bottom border of the puzzle. We had a brief hiccup last week when we discovered the puzzle is actually four inches wider than the table top. We solved that problem by covering a piece of styrofoam with postage paper and setting that on top of the table. Yesterday, we discovered that the puzzle is about a half inch bigger that the styofoam. I measured, I swear! Things should work out, though. As we make more connections with the pieces, the puzzle kind of holds itself together - just like a great idea! I’ll spare everyone the metaphor this time.

Today’s hint: The photo is taken from the top of the puzzle looking toward the bottom.

A few weeks ago, I was in the midst of a lot of thought about one particular project we were working on here in the office. I couldn’t think of anything else, I was getting nowhere in my thought process so I wasn’t helping move the project along and I was getting increasingly frustrated because it was the weekend and I was supposed to be relaxing.

At some point, I came upon a puzzle that my daughters were putting together. It was a fabulous shot of Marilyn Monroe from the waist up in a low cut dress. I sat down at the puzzle and started fishing through the pieces. Before long, I was enthralled. Each new piece I found was a victory and gave me motivation to move on to the next piece and the next piece and so on. Before I knew it, I had been sitting there for two hours and had a good portion of the puzzle finished.

Suddenly, I realized I hadn’t thought about the project for two hours. Of course, that realization made me start to think about the project again. Something was different, though. Now, I was having great ideas. I grabbed my journal and started writing them down.

Clearly, I’m not the only person who gets into some kind of creative block from time to time. Because of that, I decided we need to play some more at the office. So, we bought some new furniture for our workspace and bought a 2000 piece puzzle for the staff. Now, whenever any one of us feels some sort of block, we can go work on the puzzle for a while. It might sound crazy, but I’m betting that it will only serve to make us all even more creative.

Looking at the puzzle today in its beginning stages, I’m also struck by how it’s a lot like an idea. It’s there, kind of all jumbled up on the table with the potential to become something bigger and more beautiful. It’s raw, but we’re all going to work on it and refine it. Eventually, the puzzle, like our ideas will become something beautiful with a little help from all of us. Stay tuned and see what develops.