Perspective is an interesting thing.  It is generally envisioning from my frame of reference. 

I know it’s important to view things from others’ perspectives as well to give another data point for the upcoming processing that I tend to undertake.  But this post is about looking at something from another perspective that I chose to use.  Can I see the issue from other angles and create more data points for myself?

I moved my TV from a stand and mounted it on the wall.   I wasn’t paying attention to height other than the viewing angle.

Problem:

It turns out that my center channel speaker when placed on the old TV stand cut into the bottom of the TV picture.  The TV was too low to have the center channel speaker below it on top of the stand.

Solution:

No problem, I thought, I’d just put the speaker into the center section of the TV/equipment stand.  Uh oh, the speaker is too wide (by 1”) for the center section.

So, I ordered a new stand even though I loved my current custom-built stand.  The new stand arrived, I put it together, and the speaker fit, but the new stand was a piece of junk.  Looked stupid, looked cheap, was cheap…big mistake.

Solution 2- Better

I then thought, why don’t I just buy a new slightly smaller center channel speaker that fits in my old stand?  Details: my main speakers are Boston Acoustics.  My old center channel was a 1990 Yamaha speaker.  It turns out a new Boston Acoustic speaker (used) would fit right into the TV stand center location, AND have the same tonal properties as my mains.  That’s an important thing for most other audio people.

My new speaker arrived, I popped two wire prongs and it was working in my favorite stand and looked totally normal.  I now have a stupid $79 stand/shelf thing and 2 weeks of wasted time, all because I was taking what I focused on—the current speaker (which is nothing special) into the center section “box.” 

A whole other way to look at the problem was, what speaker can fit into the box (on the stand I love) to generate the sound I want.

Existing rectangle A will not fit into square box B.  Change Box B?   Or, get rectangle C to fit into square box b.

Not the most interesting story, but so many things in life we focus on one perspective to solve the problem instead of thinking the opposite.

Problem 2:

New example from this summer.

We were getting a new shed, 20’ long.  The shed builder started in the back corner and found the different concrete sections weren’t flat to the front corner.  The front of the shed would be 5-6 INCHES off the ground.  The high point in the concrete was about 5 feet from the back, exposing 15 feet towards the front.  (20-foot lever, fulcrum with 15’ and 5’ on each side)

The front was 5-6” in the air when the back corner was flush

I said “Make the front corner flat for 15 feet, then the 5’ in the back will be off, leaving a gap of 1 inch or less.

Once the front corner was flush (for 15 feet) then the back corner was very close to the concrete.

By thinking the opposite of filling the front 15’ long gap, I changed the front to flush knowing geometrically(?) then the back 5’ would have a lower gap.  I was right, the back gap was much lower and that small 1” gap was able to be cranked down on the anchors just enough to seal.

My takeaway is sometimes it helps to step back from the problem and look at multiple solutions before either panicking (shed) or putting a plan into place that may suck (TV stand).

Tag: Happy Wife, Happy Life

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.