Apparently the Geek Squad is right when she says that even a chimpanzee could figure out how to file its tax return using TurboTax. I proved it at 5:00 a.m. this morning by successfully working through TurboTax's program for filing 2009 income tax.I'm really lucky to have a personal Geek Squad as a buddy. J has taught me a lot about technology over the years. In fact, there's only one area where I outshine her--Facebooking. That I figured out on my own recently. But back to TurboTax. I've felt that I needed to be able to file my own income tax returns for several years. Lord knows my finances are anything but complicated. So J and I have had many conversations about how user friendly the program is. She was so right. Late last night I gathered all my '09 records and, like a child being led through the woods, methodically entered all the information and answered all the questions. As I suspected--feared?--the outcome was pretty bad, but I now have a hard copy ready to sign and mail to the IRS by April 15. Along with my first born. . .
Oddly enough I was watching the National Geographic biopic Darwin's Darkest Hour yesterday. Darwin had a lot to say about chimpanzees and scientific approaches to solving problems. This period drama is set in 1858 when Darwin was suffering major personal and professional crises. Two of his young children were gravely ill with diphtheria. Professionally, he was in danger of having his research scooped by another naturalist on his theory of natural selection or evolution. Darwin's sounding board for this dilemma was his wife Emma. Emma was a very religious woman who loved the scientist Darwin despite their different beliefs. Darwin was keenly aware of the public turmoil, especially in the church, that publication of The Origin of the Species would cause.So, Darwin seeks Emma's advice about whether the time was right to publish and she quoted this back to Darwin:
Step by step. Method in all things.
And I thought: Whoa! Excellent advice. Whenever we have a problem or challenge to deal with, the best thing to do is break it down into steps that can be methodically managed. That's how problems are solved and good decisions made. Whether it's getting your taxes done or publishing a book that's going to change the way people think about their world.
(Credit for chimpanzee image: http://www.solarnavigator.net)
