5.12. Lesson 44: Invite Distraction
Most of us are supremely irritated by distraction. We try to avoid it, and we complain loudly when distraction proves unavoidable. For many of us, a "break in concentration" comes as something of a catastrophe.
But not for Thomas Edison.
The inventor not only invited but sought and welcomed distraction, even when he was most intensely involved in a particular project. For example, during his early intensive experiments with multiple telegraph systems—telegraph systems that would allow multiple messages to be sent and received simultaneously along a single line—Edison freely followed whatever other leads his work on these emerging technologies and devices suggested to him. If he came up with a solution to a ...
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