So that he could hop up on the bed with more ease, I built a set of steps for our small dog. We had something he used, but it wasn’t proportioned for the height of the bed: every so often, he would face-plant into the side of the mattress.

The new steps are just the right size. The rise and run were carefully considered. The carpeting matches the main staircase in our home.

Edison, our handsome canine, does not agree. He refuses to use the new steps. Instead, he insists on leaping the full 28 inches onto the bed … with a 90% success rate.

What I now realize is that my “improvement” includes too many steps. Four steps onto the bed is just too tedious for Edison. He would rather make one or two leaps. A single, midway platform would probably be an ideal solution.

* * *

A lot of productivity advice suggests that we break things down into small tasks. Tackle big projects by breaking them into little steps.

Sometimes this is good advice. Sometimes it helps. But other times, what we need to do is to move with confidence. To not get tripped up by tiny steps, but to take a bold leap.

Thanks for the lesson, Eddie.