Do you use your cellphone as a flashlight?

Good Morning!

You know how I love researching things...

One of my passions is discovering why things happen the way that they do...

An important part of researching stuff is researching things that are of value ...

Even the most trivial discoveries often lead to great insights...

My week is successful when I achieve deeper insight into some aspect of my life...

This week for me was just that...!

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It started when I was walking by a phone kiosk and I overheard a conversation between two potential phone buyers and salespeople...

One of the customers was holding a phone and looking at the screen...

"Is this all the brighter it goes?"  She asked...

The sales person took the phone and "maxed" it out and handed it back to her...

"This one won't do...I need a brighter one...I use my phone as a flashlight..." The customer criticized...

The other customer (who was looking at the same phone) picked up on the conversation and interjected...

"So do I!" and quickly handed the phone back to their salesperson...

Over the next few minutes I watched (intrigued) as the two worked together to find the phone which made the best flashlight!

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What caught was these peoples' use of "utility"

and how creative and adaptive people actually are!

I had to admit that I routinely use my cellphone as a flashlight...in fact multiple times during the day (night)...

Yet I never made a buying decision based upon its ability to be a great flashlight...

Images of "Swiss Army Knives" entered my thoughts...

I wondered how many people actually use their phones as flashlights...

I set out to get an answer...

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I sent a series of questions (randomly) to over 2,000 contacts...

And...began asking people (who I didn't know) in check-out lines and at stores...

Questions like...

"Do you use your cellphone as a flashlight?"

"Do you own a real flashlight?"

"How frequently do you use your phone as a flashlight?"

"What do you use your phone to do?"

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I found that more people use their phones for flashlights (although less frequently) than any of the other intended functions...

9 out of 10 people have used or routinely use their phones as flashlights...

6 out of 10 use their phones for text messaging...

8 out of 10 use their phone as a regular phone...

4 out of 10 for Internet access...

and their is a list of other functions...but you get the gist of it...

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I then went out to see if the phone sales websites mentioned their phone's flashlight capability...

NONE!

I dug out the manuals for the 4 or 5 different models that my family uses and found that none of the directions include how to use the phone as a flashlight...

Yet most of us do use them for that!

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Companies should be aware of this use...(I bet they are...)

Because I observed buying decisions made on that single characteristic...it is not a rare event!

Do you use your phone as a flashlight?

Why...

The answer is that...I have the phone with me...I do not carry a flashlight...

Utility!

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We have all (9 out of 10 of us) found that optional use...and quickly and routinely use it

The human species is interesting...

"I need light...the phone generates light...I will use the phone to generate light!"

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We are fantastically adaptive in many trivial things...yet we find ourselves hand-cuffed and disabled in life's  challenges...when the pressure is on...we forget that their are alternative and creative answers...

The interesting thing about finding those answers...is that they are often hiding in plain sight!

We find ourselves walking around in the dark...looking for the flashlight...rather than using what is right at hand!

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I learned much about myself with this bit if research and observation...

and it invigorated me!

The king of paradigm identification and barrier busting is often guilty of falling prey to them!

I decided that I need to begin treating my life more openly and use my inherent creative adaptations to problem solving...

What about you?

Are you extremely creative and adaptive in trivial situations and narrow when things appear important...

Perhaps the reverse is how we should be living...

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Do you use your phone as a flashlight?

Where else to you adapt that ability?

Pura Vida!