Problems gain (or lose) interestingness as their context and scale changes. Take teaching a kids to read as an example. It’s almost inevitable that a… Read More »The Onion (3): exemplar interesting problem – learning to read
My first post about The Onion looked at interesting problems as systems of networked sub-problems, and suggested that our solutions will mirror this structure. The… Read More »The Onion (2): a model for solving interesting problems
This post is a sketch of a way of thinking about how problems work, and what we need to do to make our solutions (“the… Read More »The Onion (1): understanding interesting problems
A problem is interesting when… 1. It’s important to someone Presumably because solving it will make things better.* The problem won’t be important to everyone,… Read More »Interesting problems: a definition
… isn’t the same as finding the real solution, unless it’s the sort of problem that stays solved.* You’ll have the real solution – the… Read More »Solving a problem the first time…
This is Tom Peters on Diversity in 1994’s The Pursuit of Wow!: Diversity problem? Hurdle? Diversity creates one and only one thing: opportunity. Business, in… Read More »Tom Peters: “What Diversity Problem?”
This is part of a series thinking through the different layers involved in solving real-world problems. It’s a sketch of ideas in process, and not… Read More »Nested problems, nested solutions (3): theoretical problems
I’ve posted about nested problems before as The Wrapper, and The Onion (1), (2), (3), (4). It helps to begin by defining “problem”. A problem… Read More »Nested problems, nested solutions (1): what’s your problem?
Some ways of thinking about setting salaries: Market Rate You pay the lowest price that the market will bear. The bigger the market (the more… Read More »How to set salaries
Have fun, learn lots, work hard, be kind. If you hadn’t learnt, you’d be dead. If other people hadn’t learnt, it’s much less likely you’d… Read More »Motto (2): Learn lots