Buckets, Willy Wonka, and the Halfway Syndrome
By Paul Huddleston
Over the holidays I had one of those 360 degree moments. It occurred when our family sat down together to stream Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. What a classic; Gene Wilder playing the eccentric and fascinating recluse chocolate-making genius, those industrious sun-baked Oompa-Loompas rescued from the terror-ridden Loompaland, and the handful of children finding the elusive 5 golden tickets and making their way through the factory of delights and disappointments.
The wonder on my children’s faces brought me right back to when I first had the pleasure several decades ago; 360 degrees indeed.
At the story’s end, the pure at heart Charlie Bucket (You’ve got to love the last name!) wanders into Mr. Wonka’s office wondering what’s next, only to find a broken man living a half-life with a heart waning of hope. The symbolism is striking, for every object in the room has been severed in half. And the superimposition of this successful genius operating within an incomplete world reminds us that, behind the carefully guarded and calculated facade, the greatest of them all needs help.
Enter Charlie Bucket.
Like all the other guests, Charlie grapples with the temptation to cash in on a stolen Everlasting Gobstopper, a move that would improve his family’s life considerably and perhaps lead Mr. Wonka toward the path of financial ruin by the hands of his so-called cunning enemy, Mr. Slugworth. Yet, with the certainty of losing everything, Charlie abandons the temptation, simply does what’s right, and places the clever Wonka’s bait on the candymaker’s desk. In that instant, faith in the world is restored, and the lives of Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka are positively changed forever and made whole.
Enter Buckets and the Sandbox.
Up to the point when I started using the Sandbox as a canvas to house all of my ideas and intentions, I felt like Augustus Gloop treading chocolate in Wonka’s river; lots of thick resistance and sometimes moments of sinking. And like Wonka’s cleaved office, so too were the flow of my ideas and my ability to circle back around and address them all at the optimal time. I was missing so much potential and losing opportunities to funnel worthy material into momentum-filled projects. This funneling is key to Buckets, for it is the mechanism for higher project compliance and completion rates. It is the ultimate one-two productivity punch.
The next time you find yourself discouraged and having that “halfway” feeling, think about what a certain “Bucket” did for Willy Wonka. Do the right thing, register for Buckets, and start filling your own Sandbox of great ideas and worthy intentions. You might find that the last golden ticket is closer than you think.
Paul Huddleston
