Some years ago, during a conference in a Northern European capitol, I found myself at a bar craving a Laphroaig chocolate milkshake. This sacriligeous treat was introduced to me by a Seattle dessert shop named Hot Cakes. It's fucking delicious.
I approached the bar, eyeing the menu. No Laphroaig, but thankfully another decent single malt. I look up at the bartender:
"Do you have any alcoholic milkshakes?"
"No, we do not," he replies in a thick Spanish accent.
I look down at the menu. They have three different kinds of milkshakes, including chocolate.
"But you have milkshake?"
"Yes."
"And you have alcohol?"
There's a twitch at the corner of his eye.
"Yes."
"Okay. In that case, I would like to have one shot of single malt and one chocolate milkshake."
Eyeing me suspiciously, he makes my order and puts the shotglass and the milkshake on the counter. I look the bartender in the eye.
"Now, here's what I want you to do."
Silence.
"I want you to put the shot into the milkshake."
He looks at me as though I've asked him to sacrifice his firstborn.
"You want me to put this," he gestures at the shot, "into this?" and then the milkshake.
"That's right."
With a look of revulsion, he stirs the single malt into the milkshake. I have a sip. It rules.
"Thank you!"
I pay up and return triumphantly to my table. Within 15 minutes, two more people have ordered single malt chocolate milkshakes.
Some years ago, in a different job, I'd come into contact with a promising college student in search of a software engineering internship. After hitting it off on an interview, I reached out to my HR department to get the student hired as an intern. Summer was fast approaching, and they needed to start ASAP.
"They have to be hired as part of our internship program."
My suspicions were immediately raised, but undeterred, I pressed on.
"Okay, got it. How can we make that happen?"
"They have to apply to the internship program when we offer it."
"Okay, cool. And when might that be?"
"We're not running the internship program this summer."
I cursed at my laptop.
"But we do not have a hiring freeze."
"No."
"But I can't hire an intern?"
"Not unless it's through the internship program."
"Okay, thanks."
I immediately messaged a manager on my team, and asked if we could hire a short-term contractor. The student started two weeks later as definitely-not-an-intern, and exceeded our expectations.
We do not see the world as it is, but make sense of it through ideas. These ideas circumscribe our realms of possibilities. They are inherently procrustean, and often model reality poorly. Do not let yourself be imprisoned by your own ideas or the ideas of others, but attempt to see the world as it is, and act accordingly.