Beach Balls, Truth and Innovation

Have you ever tried holding a small beach ball under water? It’s not too difficult at first… but the longer you try to hold it down, the harder it becomes. At some point, the upward force (buoyant force) wins and the beach ball surfaces. Back in 200 BC, Archimedes, the brilliant Greek scientist, discovered the deeper you hold a buoyant object underwater, the higher it shoots above the surface once it’s released. Buoyancy = weight of displaced fluid. Archimedes’ principle seems to apply to truth as well. Try as you may to keep it hidden, eventually it surfaces.

One technique I’ve used to hide a ball in the pool is to sit on it. This seems clever at first, but it’s a bit risky… one wrong move and the ball shoots right out from underneath you and flies out of the water for all to see. This is what happened to Bernie Madoff… he made some bad moves, lost his balance, and the truth surfaced in a flash. Sometimes, if you’re careful and have enough power, you can let the ball up slowly. This is what the tobacco industry did regarding the dangers of smoking. They realized the truth was going to surface sooner than later… so they let it up slowly. Whether it’s a beach ball or the truth, it’s not a matter of if or how it will surface, but when. At some point, even master beach ball hiders need to leave the pool and take a break.

Like beach balls and truth, innovation operates much the same way. Breakthrough possibilities are typically just below the surface… like Apple’s new iPad was until it recently popped up. Sometimes they’re being held under intentionally (people with agendas, special interest groups, etc.) and other times they’re trapped and need some persuading before they can surface. I have found it helps by asking questions, eliminating personal bias, and being open-minded to new possibilities. I have long considered creativity a search for truth… a quest for releasing beach balls, so to speak.

Once something surfaces, it’s difficult to submerge it and pretend it’s not real. Have you ever tried to convince someone they didn’t see what they just saw? It’s not easy. Sometimes, the answer is just below the surface, just waiting for us to let it emerge. Other times it’s deep… and it takes some work. Whether it’s beach balls, truth or innovation, what Archimedes discovered thousands of years ago still applies today… the deeper the buoyant object, the higher it will fly above the surface once it’s released.

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