Captured Accidents

This past week, I was attempting to incorporate another recommendation from Bruce Mau's "Incomplete Manifesto for Growth,"

"Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions."

My accident: I made too much resin for a particular piece I was working on. My previous question would have been "how do I mix just the right about of resin that I need?" The new question that arose was "what else can I do with the 'extra' resin?" That started the ball rolling.
How do I know I had an accident? I said (to myself) "dammit, I mixed too much resin." I acknowledged an unexpected situation, the accident.

I answered the new question with a new process and technique. It came to me on the fly. The result was one of my favorite pieces I have ever created. I developed a new process which was necessary since I was working with premixed and slightly cured resin. My normal process would not have worked, there wasn't enough time. So the new process was a bit of an experiment, kinda. I had played with the new process a little bit previously but never committed myself to it. This time, since I was feeling experimental and more open minded that usual, I went for it. I'm glad I did. The result is amazing. So much so, I am planning on implementing the new process again this week on a larger scale. This is still somewhat an experiment because scale is one of those variables that can change things due to the time constraints. But I'm confident in this new direction.

The other thing I find interesting are my two questions. The first is limiting, speaking of reduction, and in a sense, constraints. The second question is looking at doing more. And with more comes abundance and change. Maybe I'm reading too much into these seemingly harmless questions but I believe there is a fundamental shift in thinking that can or has occurred by viewing accidents through a different lens. Accidents are not accidents, they are opportunities. I was not expecting this "revelation" at all.

Perhaps there really isn't anything known as an accident. Perhaps accidents are something that interfere with my plans unexpectedly but allow me to take a different approach or direction. Perhaps accidents are really gifts from above.

I like this recommendation and I encourage you to acknowledge the accidents that do occur and stop for a second and ask a different question. I suspect things will turn out differently and better than imagined.

Next, I am looking at

"Study. A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit."

To be honest, I don't understand this one or what it is suggesting. But, I'll ponder it and hopefully it will come to me.