Jeopardy! launched the All-Star Games tonight, something new in the history of the game.  If you are a Jeopardy! fan you would have enjoyed the teacher’s tournament the past couple of weeks.  Francois Barcomb was crowned champion on Friday at the culmination of a thrilling tournament.  The Teachers Tournament is cool, because teachers are awesome and we get to celebrate them as they showcase their impressive knowledge on the show.  In the championship game the answer to final Jeopardy! was “What is National Geographic?”.  Who knew?!  Not me.  It’s very humbling to be reminded that there is so much I don’t know.  If you are a Jeopardy! fan, the names Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer are very familiar to you.  They would be considered “MVPs” if Jeopardy! was a sport.  Ken is back as a “team captain” in the All-Star Games.  This is going to be an exciting tournament.  If you are not a Jeopardy! fan…you’re missing out!

For at least 3 decades, my parents have been faithfully watching Alex Trebek and Jeopardy! every weekday at 7:30 p.m. E.S.T.  They set their schedules around Jeopardy!  When I am home, I try to catch the show as often as I can because I know my parents are watching and it’s an opportunity to participate in something together even though we live hundreds of miles apart.  Since moving to Pennsylvania, I have the advantage of watching Jeopardy! a half hour earlier at 7 p.m.  Sometimes mom calls me for a “spoiler”, but dad never wants to hear about it until he watches it himself.

Even our kids are into Jeopardy!  If they are around, they will absolutely watch and participate in the fun.  We compete from the couch and there’s bragging rights for whoever racks up the most right answers.  I usually do best in the Kids Tournament.  I feel smarter during those 2 weeks.  Then regular Jeopardy! returns and my delusions of braininess fade.  I can honestly say that I learn something new every time I watch Jeopardy!  When we visit my parents, it’s the time we all gather in the TV room to watch together.  Jeopardy! time is family bonding time.

In case you are not familiar with Jeopardy!, it’s a TV trivia game show.  The questions are asked in the form of the answer, and contestants answer in the form of a question.  For example, if the category is “Holidays”, Alex might say, “December 25 “, and a contestant would ring in with the answer, “What is Christmas Day?”

On Jeopardy! there is one right answer for each question.  The contestants study the answers and are prepared to provide the answer when the question is presented.  That’s TV.  Life often presents us with complex issues and problems to solve, and the reality is that sometimes there are more than one right answers.  There is an old saying, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat”.  While the saying is a little bit disturbing (not sure how many cats were actually in danger back in the day), there is wisdom in the adage.  The proverb is reminding us that there is sometimes more than one way to achieve a goal, more than one solution to a challenge, or more than one answer to a problem. 

If we have the mindset that there can be only one right answer, we may be missing the best solution.  Being open to the possibility that there could be “more than one way to shear a sheep” (a little more humane adaptation) could enhance the quality of our decision making, boost collaboration, and can lead to creativity, innovation and unexpected breakthroughs at home, work or school.  As we weigh the merits of multiple solutions, we are better equipped to select the one that brings the most benefit to the situation.  So, unless we are a contestant on Jeopardy! and need to give the answer Alex is expecting, let’s take the time to look at our “sheep” from different angles before we start wielding the shears.