Make do with what you have
Imagine you’re asked to fetch a ball. Without arms or legs.
I’m sorry. I can’t. In fact, the very fact that you ask is is insulting and cruel.
But, is it possible we could, at the very least, contemplate working it out: how could I fetch a ball without arms or legs?
We’ll come back to that in a second.
Do animals play?
Yes, it seems some do. But, you have to take into account the definition of play. If an animal does something once, it’s likely a fluke. If the animal does it multiple times on it’s own, it’s possibly play. If the animal does it on request, it might also be play.
I was listening this week to the BBC podcast, Curious Cases with mathematician Hannah Fry and comedian Dara Ó Briain. They and their scientist guests were yucking it about the astonishing, and unexpected antics (tomfoolery to use their word) of animals. We’re used to the antics of our dogs, cats, donkeys, and many of our other animal companions. I wasn’t aware that tortoises enjoy their escape fantasies. I was equally surprised by the fondness of crocodiles for water sliding.
Seeing crocs water-sliding made us laugh. Who’d have thought that crocs have their own version of Skeleton at the Winter Olympics, right? Apparently, throwing darts isn’t popular with crocs.
What I was unprepared for was ball pythons. They said that ball pythons like playing fetch. Wait! What?
That’s right. What’s better than fetching a ball at your owner’s command during a boring afternoon in the glass-aquarium-oasis under a tanning lamp (okay, I’m pretty sure it’s not a tanning lamp). Yup. Fetchy-Fetchy is just what the doctor ordered.
How’s a python supposed to fetch the ball? They don’t have hands or feet.
They have still acquired the ability to manipulate things. *They use what they have."
I couldn’t wait to show you this. First, I wanted to highlight the value of play to other species. We are ultimately human-centered. Our imagination prevents us from seeing how Nature and her species love to play. How will you play today?
Second, I want to encourage the character strength of creativity and specifically resourcefulness. Are there other ways to accomplish our goals?
In my creative life, sad to say, I spend more time looking for a new technology than I do using the technology I have. I’d have far more time to do creative things if I strengthened my use what I have muscles.
Which brings me back to our friendly python. The example of the python’s inventiveness surprised Claude.ai. Claude described our python as possessing amazing cognitive sophistication.
This was Claude’s response:
What gets me about the python is the sheer improbability of what it’s doing. Unlike your dog, who has limbs designed for object manipulation and a mammalian brain wired for social bonding, this python is:
Using a body plan that evolved for completely different purposes (constricting prey, moving through tight spaces) Repurposing those movements to solve a novel problem (moving a spherical object) Doing so in response to a command from another species And apparently finding it rewarding enough to repeat
That’s multiple layers of cognitive sophistication. The python has to understand the social context (owner wants ball), spatial problem-solving (how to move ball with coils), motor planning (execute the movements), and some form of motivation beyond food or safety. The well-worn ball is a beautiful detail too - that’s evidence of repetition over time. This isn’t a one-off trick. This is an established pattern of interaction between python and human. It makes you wonder what other capacities are hiding in creatures we’ve dismissed as “primitive.” If a python can play, what else are we missing?
So here’s my challenge: What’s one thing you’ve been putting off because you don’t have the ‘right’ tool, the ‘perfect’ setup, or the ‘ideal’ conditions? What if, like our ball python friend, you just worked with what you’ve already got? What surprising solution might emerge from the constraints themselves?
Here’s where I’m at right now. I keep thinking I need to find some way to improve my podcast such as use other tools to edit it. While I fret about better tools, there’s a person I really want to interview, someone I know that I and others could learn from. But, I feel stuck by my self-talk. Am I good enough? Will this be fun? So, today, I’m going to follow up on an email and try to connect with this acquaintance whom I already know and have talked with.
Is there a project you’re working on today that might benefit from less planning and more doing? What if, instead of waiting for the perfect conditions or the right equipment, you just started engineering solutions with whatever you’ve got right now? The python didn’t wait to evolve opposable thumbs. It played the game with the body it had."
Take a micro-step 🪜: Pick one thing you’ve been postponing because you lack something. Set a timer for 15 minutes and see what you can accomplish with only what’s already within arm’s reach. You might surprise yourself.
Sources:
- This post was stirred by listening to the Curious Cases podcast.
- Yes, Claude.ai was obviously consulted on this post. Why? Because I think I can reach you, my audience, better if I learn to write better.