How do you fit a large golf course on a small island?

GolfCourseWhen pro golfer Jack Nicklaus was hired in the 1980s to design a golf course on Grand Cayman Island, he faced a difficult challenge: The island, a mere six miles wide and 22 miles long, was too small to accommodate a full-sized course. In his first whack at the problem, Nicklaus and his team cleverly designed a nine-hole course that can be played twice from different tees. Still, golfers couldn’t shorten their swings, and balls were too easily sailing out onto the surrounding water. At this point, instead of continuing to focus on the size of the course, Nicklaus reframed the problem: What if golf balls simply traveled too far? It took some heavy testing and research, but Nicklaus and the MacGregor Golf Company developed the limited-flight “Cayman ball,” which drives half the distance of a regular golf ball with the same amount of swing. Small island hotels and backyard duffers everywhere rejoiced.

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About the Author

Innovation expert and questionologist Warren Berger has studied hundreds of the world’s foremost innovators, entrepreneurs, and creative thinkers to learn how they ask questions, generate original ideas, and solve problems. He is the author or co-author of 12 books, including his three books on questioning: A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas; its follow-up THE BOOK OF BEAUTIFUL QUESTIONS: The Powerful Questions That Will Help You Decide, Create, Connect, and Lead; and BEAUTIFUL QUESTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM: Transforming Classrooms Into Cultures of Curiosity and Inquiry. Warren’s writing has appeared in Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and The New York Times, and he writes the “Questionologist” blog for Psychology Today. He lives in Mount Kisco, New York. Follow him on Twitter at @GlimmerGuy and subscribe to his blog posts

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