Straight lines.

I did a lot of scuba diving on my vacation. 19 dives in all on reefs and walls that are considered some of the most beautiful in the world. I was guided on these dives (I'm not confident enough to dive solo) by some very intelligent and experienced dive masters.

During one dive, our dive master noticed an ancient, sea-life encrusted anchor, dating from some well-bygone century, probably from the days of sealing wax and sailing ships. When we got back on the dive boat, I asked the dive master how he noticed the anchor. He replied, "I have a friend who told me 'there are no straight lines in nature.' And I saw a straight line and knew there was something man-made."

There are no straight lines in nature.

It occurred to me then and there that in our business--on the creative side--we fight a battle against straight lines. Clients and groups often want them. Straight lines work in research. But story-telling, jokes, information is best delivered with a bit of crookedness--we need a twist to make life interesting.

Maybe all that diving gave me water on the brain.