Cross-cutting

Okay kiddo, imagine you have a big piece of paper and you want to cut it into smaller pieces. You might use a pair of scissors to do this. When you cut the paper with your scissors, you make little lines across the paper. These lines go from one side of the paper to the other.

Now, imagine instead of paper, you have a big project like building a house. Just like with the paper, there are many different things you need to do to complete the project. For example, you need to lay the foundation, build the walls, install the windows, and put on the roof.

Each of these tasks is like a line going across the project, and when you do them, you are "cutting" the project. But unlike with the paper, these lines don't just go straight across. Instead, they go in different directions and may even cross over each other.

This is what we mean by cross-cutting: when something cuts across, or intersects with, something else. In the case of the house project, the different tasks (lines) cross over each other because they all need to work together to complete the project.

Cross-cutting can also happen in other areas, like politics or society. For example, laws and policies can intersect with each other, or different groups of people can have overlapping interests or concerns.

Overall, cross-cutting is when different things intersect or overlap, and it's important to keep this in mind when working on complex projects or dealing with complex issues.