A Sudden Blast Of Thunder Hit Upon Us

While sitting on the wheel chit-chatting with my friends, a sudden loud cry of thunder hit upon us. The anticipation of a heavy rainfall pouring down across the town was neither distant nor avoidable. The visibility of my windshield is soon expected to diminish and the speed of my car slowed down to less than 40 km/hr.

As the rain hit our windshield and a flash of lightning made us blind, I instantly clicked on the wiper (just like anyone). Within a matter of seconds, the visibility became better. The roads became clearer. The tracks are now obvious. I exhaled a sigh of relief. Except for the flashes from vehicles on the opposite side of the road, the wiper rescued us from potential danger.

This is not my first time hitting on the wiper. I also understand that this incident of mine is neither extraordinary nor special. But the wipers did manage to capture my attention this time. I noticed that the wipers never cleared the whole screen. But they did clear “enough” so that I could view with the best visibility.

As weird as it may seem to the reader, contemplating this incident with wipers did teach me some important lessons about life which will be shared here. Let’s dig into the history of wipers before we dive deep into my thoughts.

The History Of Windshield Wipers

Inventions occur amid necessity. The story of windshield wipers is no exception. As far as we know, it was Mary Anderson who is credited with the discovery of wipers. The year is 1903. Mary was traveling on her carriage when stormy rain hit upon her (just like it hit upon us). The storms forced her to continuously get down from the carriage and wash the windshield regularly, a truly uncomfortable, unpleasant experience to be repeated again and again.

This incident inspired Mary to give birth to the first wiper, something which Mary named a “window cleaning device”. It was soon installed on the cars back then. Unlike the modern electric motor-driven wipers, the initial wipers were mechanical with a lever connected to the wiper via a rod. Even though it had its share of disadvantages, the discovery of the wiper is still one of the best additions to vehicles that won’t be replaced anytime soon possibly.

What I Learned About Effectiveness From Wipers

The incident with wipers taught me a few things:

1. Necessity drives invention and discovery

Human beings are blessed by Allah with the ability to solve problems. We work best when we form solutions for ideas. The journey from the discovery of fire to the development of e-commerce is an example of how human beings work towards solutions.

Every invention that has ever passed the test of time and provided benefit to humanity has solved an issue that pertains to humanity. At ThinkAbled, we aim to solve the issues faced by millions of people on learning, productivity, reading, writing, spirituality, and more.

2. Solutions Have To Be “Right”, Not “Whole”

No wiper ever cleaned the whole windshield. No wiper ever “has to” clean the whole windshield. Instead, the wiper cleans “enough” so that the driver has the whole field of view. The region of the windshield never touched by the wiper is irrelevant to the one on the wheels. This teaches an important lesson in life that solutions don’t have to be huge. They just have to be relevant enough to solve the difficulty or problem that we face. This teaches us the importance of taking the right steps to action.

For example, while preparing for an exam, one need not learn the whole topic. Rather, one must focus on the relevant topics. Being relevant and taking the right steps saves a lot of time and helps us be more effective. Effectiveness lies in doing the ‘hard things the right way’ and not doing ‘the right things the hard way.

We have all heard about the story of a man who kept digging mines in search of gold but never got his hands over it. Even though this story teaches us about perseverance, it does send a misleading message. It does not describe the importance of taking the right steps to solve an issue. Had the man focused more on the way he was digging, or on how to improve the types of equipment used for digging, he might have found the gold he searched for.

A quote by Abraham Lincoln would be worth to remember in this regard:

“Give me six hours to chop a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”.

A hard-working person will chop the tree for six hours. An effective will sharpen the axe for four hours and chop the tree with a single slice.

3. Focus On What’s Required and Avoid What Isn’t Required

Just like the wiper never bothered to clean the top extreme quadrant of the windshield, one must never bother with the irrelevant issues while solving a problem. Identifying the unnecessary distractions and avoiding them is equally important in being effective. This idea is so important to realize whether you are reading a book or learning for exams. Every book ever written by human hands will have ideas or parts that must be neglected and every curriculum ever designed by human minds will have parts that are irrelevant in practical life.

The goal is not to solve all problems. Rather, it is to identify problems that require solutions and those that should be neglected. The goal is not to clean the whole windshield. Rather, it is to clean the area which will give the driver a whole field of vision.

4. The Fact that Allah Blessed Mankind with Knowledge Like None Other

Would a monkey or a lion ever invent something like a wiper (although a wiper is not an extraordinary invention of man)? Would any creature other than man be able to invent something so simple as a wiper?

Contemplating this thought taught me the blessing of knowledge that Allah has granted to us as a whole. The ability to think, contemplate and form solutions to problems is what made civilizations possible. And it is God alone who has bestowed mankind with intellect to achieve the same. 

Yet despite, all of the knowledge which we have acquired and passed on to generations, and despite all of the knowledge that we will acquire in the future, the Quran reminds us about العليم, the All-Knower:

“And mankind has not been given knowledge except a little” [17: 85]

Conclusion

To sum up, the four lessons my windshield wiper taught me about effectiveness are:

1. Effectiveness increases with necessity.

2. Effectiveness is doing the right thing in right amount at right time.

3. Effectiveness is avoiding what isn’t important and focusing on the right thing.

4. Effective knowledge comes from God, the All-Knower

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