Okay, HGTV denizens, you know this to be true. The one constant throughout all of this Home Buying/Improvement/Selling/Gnashing-of-Teeth-Regarding-the-Kitchen-Island programming is the unfailing commitment to predictability. Week after week, it is the same. . .
Can even one Househunters show air without the following: "Yes, I can really see myself having my morning coffee on this patio/deck/front porch/slab of concrete." "Oh, look honey (said as if one is seeing the pope) crown molding!" "This closet will just fit my wardrobe," one says before turning coyly to their partner, "but where will you put your clothes?" And, of course, the hunting couple always come to the conclusion that the best way to make a decision among the predictable three choices is, "I think we should eliminate one." Now THAT'S creative problem solving!
But HGTV's predictability doesn't end there. The couple on Property Brothers is always shocked (!) that they can't get everything on their wish list (open floor plan, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a rolling lawn, home office, nursery, maids quarters, spa-like master bathroom and the fountains of Bellagio). . .for their budget of $89,000. Despite their protests that "we really don't want a fixer-upper" they spend the next 50 minutes sledgehammering through rodent infested walls until they arrive at a remodeled home that looks remarkably like the home from last week's installment.
On Love It or List It, we are treated to the couple parading through the requisite three homes whilst Hillary invariably discovers a costly "surprise" that means that they have to make the tough decision between replacing a faulty sewer line that's backed up within inches of the new bamboo flooring or to go forward with adding the much-needed gift wrapping room.
After 1,318 episodes of the expected. . .one gets a little weary of the same-old, same-old and you really wish that the couple from International Househunters would just say "We really wanted an American fridge so we are going to give up our exotic dreams of living in Bora Bora and just go back home. After all, there's no place like Peoria."
So, here's the HGTV allegory. We profess to love predictability at work. We want everything to go like clockwork - and that's not a bad ambition. At the end of the day, however, it can also be pretty unexciting and definitely unchallenging. There are no true surprises, no reason to exercise creative thinking and frankly, we are bored.. And while we may profess to hate surprises - they also keep things interesting. . .and stretch our strong teams in new ways. So while we love (and even build predictability). . .we should also welcome the freshness, learning and excitement that the unexpected can bring to our lives.
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