I took a Lyft on my way to the airport recently that had a tablet mounted to the back of the seat with a bunch of ad-supported games. Trivia, mostly.
And I love trivia, so I had to check it out.
But I quickly realized the questions were all stupidly easy. A few samplings from the photo trivia:
What’s the name of this famous building? – The White House
Who is this famous scientist? Benjamin Franklin
My point isn’t to call out this company for crappy trivia. More an observation that trivia loses its fun when the challenge level doesn’t line up. We like trivia when it is just at the edge, or slightly beyond the edge of our abilities. When we have to think, and summon up some piece of insight from a dusty corner of our minds.
Meanwhile, Trivia that’s too easy is dull, and trivia that is far outside our knowledge is demoralizing.
I think most satisfying work follows the same trajectory. We often think we want the easy assignments and straightforward projects. Yet we’re surprised when we find little satisfaction to show for the work. And when we’re completely out of our depth, we feel like we’re drowning.
All along, what we really crave is the work that sits right in that sweet spot – not the “comfort zone” – but just a little bit beyond it.