Douglas M. Gaus
www.newproductconsultant.com

The first snow of the year can come in without notice, silently falling to the ground whilst you unknowingly sleep.  In the morning, the beautiful white snow blankets the earth and trees and its a signal a new season has finally arrived.  This Saturday, a similar event happened...Kellen Moore, a four year NFL player, who had never played in a regular season game, came onto the field in the 2nd quarter of the Cowboys Jets game, and took his first snap as an NFL quarterback.. With that snap, and the ensuing play, the monkey was finally off his back.  This monkey is the one that every wanna be analyst and naysayer kept saying about his four year stint in the NFL "He has never played in a regular season game."

Although I am not a true Cowboys fan, I have quietly been pulling for Moore to get a chance to play since he went to the NFL to pursue his dreams of being a quarterback.  His first stop was in Detroit, where he sat alongside Dan Orlovsky, as they battled for bench position behind Mathew Stafford.  With three years as Stafford's understudy, the Lions finally let Moore go to find a better pasture, where he was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys in early September.  Once in the lone star state, his heel step went like this: practice squad, active roster,  waived, practice squad and activated again.   With some musical chairs going on at QB, I knew there could be a chance to for Moore to maybe get a chance to play this year.  The Cowboys knew back up Brandon Weeden was not the QB of their future and the poker players in the Cowboys home office placed their chips on purchasing Matt Cassel. Jerry Jones and company were hoping he could get them back on track and with some wins per chance, maybe still make the playoffs.

For Cassel, he had 7 games to state his case why he should be the starting QB in Dallas, and unfortunately, with a 1-5 record, the Gods of Starting QB's spoke, and deemed him unfit.  With Romo hurt again after being rushed back to soon, the Cowboy (and Bronco Nation fans alike) were putting social media pressure to give Moore a look to see what he could do...we've all heard the armchair QB's and ESPN analysts say the same things over repeatedly..."Even though he was a high school standout, was the winningest QB in college football history (at 50-3) and Heisman trophy finalist, he's not tall enough or fast enough to play with the big boys..."

At age 26, Kellen reminds me a lot of my childhood football idol, Ken Stabler (R.I.P., July 2015!).  I never hear any of the analysts talk about Stabler sitting on the bench in Oakland for almost 3 full years behind Daryle Lamonica.  Although their off field demeanors are not similar, Stabler and Moore have a very similar style of play at QB..Stabler was a little bit taller at 6'3" but both were/are southpaws with a great sling style arm...great for quick screen passes, outs to the side and longer throws requiring timing and touch, not so much strength....

They also both played/play the best while staying in the pocket, relying on their front line to protect them from the big time wrestlers wanting to slam them to the canvas ringside...The Snakes' knees were nimble in college and the first few years in the NFL, but injuries inhibited him from doing much scrambling after that.  Kellen will never be known for his running speed and that third down threat will not come from his possible run, but from a perfectly thrown pass in an amazingly small area to his right on stride catching receiver.  (Lest it be reminded to the "analysts" about the current state of NFL QB Colin Kaepernick, who was an analysts dream, having arm strength, size and ability to run like a gazelle).

Stabler came off the the bench at age 26 (2 days shy of his 27 birthday, on Christmas) to replace the Raider's Daryle "The Mad Bomber" Lamonica in the "Immaculate Reception" playoff game against the Steelers in 1972.  His exciting style of play showed through even though they took a loss on the heartbreaking catch and ensuing crazy run by Franco Harris.  Stabler's cool, but deeply competitive play under pressure showed his coach (John Madden) and the powers that be (Al Davis) that he had what it took to take the Raiders to the next level....and the Snake took the opportunity and never looked back (Tony Romo, beware of the Lamonica analogy). 

He has been waiting very patiently for this moment.  I have a feeling, now that Kellen is finally getting the same opportunity, he will take this opportunity the same way as Kenny did..and never look back...

** Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett announced this morning that Kellen will be starting his NFL game this Sunday, week 16 against the Buffalo Bills

***12/24/2015  Read ex-BSU coach Pete's and present day BSU coach Harsin's comments on Kellen Moore's start this weekend here:

****1/11/2016 Read article here with Dallas Cowboy's owner Jerry Jones, where he says "unequivocally, yes" when asked if he thinks Kellen Moore is capable of being the backup quarterback to Tony Romo in the upcoming year


Editor's note:  What does this have to do with inventing and new products?  Inventor's need to overcome adversity with persistence and determination and use their competitive desire to succeed, much like the struggle of pro athletes trying to get playing time as a starting QB.

If you go to Wikipedia, and type the words mind's eye, you will get a definition of the same, where its states that human's have the "ability to visualize, i.e., to experience visual mental imagery...one's ability to "see" things with the mind."  It goes on to expand on what it is, where it says that it is not fully understood...and then starts to get into terms like lateral geniculate nucleus, neocortex and neuroplasticiity....all subjects I didn't learn in Biology 101...

I suspect people like me, who rely on their creativity as part of their lively hood, have the ability to picture things in their mind better than others who don't.  I can't speak for all inventors, artists, writers and the like.  But I have always been able to mentally construct things in my brain.  Imagine having brain CAD software, where you can construct things or figure out other ways to build something, all without lifting a finger, and just using the synapses located deep in your cerebellum. 

Graphic designers do the same thing...they create something in their brain, and just use a computer and software to make it come to life...The lines of a logo don't seem cool enough, or maybe everything looks great but the color doesn't seem right?  The designer just imagines the logo cooler looking or with the right color in their mind's eye, and then puts it into the computer software to bring it to life...that does the trick!

Writers weave the plot of their soon to be best-seller novel in their brain...Then, they construct carefully worded sentences to parlay their vision of the story to others...It may not come out perfect the first time, but through new drafts, reworked plots and further refinements (including opinions from their soul mate, family or even publisher), the story finally becomes final and is s ready for book binding or e-books...who can you attribute did the bulk of the work for the writer?  The mind's eye, of course..

For inventors...if one iteration is built in the mind, but has a flaw?  Try another avenue, maybe this iteration will solve the flaw in the previous.  Need to solve a complex engineering problem for a never before made product (and soon to be invention)?  Create different versions in your brain, all on the fly, using all the engineering and material tools you have available...the ones that you have been stashing away in your brain from the day you were born, waiting to use some rainy day. 

Still can't figure out a difficult problem?  Many times, a deep sleep can bring an answer to an engineering conundrum up to the surface..hopefully you will write it down or make a note to remember it, so the dream tide doesn't pull the solution back into the ocean of ideas not yet used or uncovered.  (See my earlier blog on April 26, 2011 entitled Your Brain - Working Overtime, All The Time).

The mind's eye can even be fully functioning even when numbed by stress, drugs and alcohol, and depression, which is why you see recording artists able to put out highly creative and pinnacle songs of their career when they are barely able to function when not creating...The mind's eye is working like an obedient dog for them, to be able to bring it to the forefront on command and then let it recede back to a state where it is compromised beyond use.

How does your mind's eye work for you?   Are you able to use it to your advantage in your daily work or personal life?  Or are you inhibited when trying to picture something in your mind, and need to see it in real life first?  Either way, it doesn't matter, brains are one amazing tool...if one doesn't have a good mind's eye, I can guarantee it makes up for it in other, in super complex, high functioning ways!