Solving a problem the first time…
… 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…
interesting problems
Ready-made and the alternative
Most of the time buying something that’s been ready-made by professionals is cheaper – especially if you count the cost of your time – and… Read More »Ready-made and the alternative
The onion strikes back: Maggie Koerth on the nested problems of Covid-19 testing
Covid-19 testing has been a mixed bag: Singapore and Korea seem to have been able to get on top of things quickly, while the UK… Read More »The onion strikes back: Maggie Koerth on the nested problems of Covid-19 testing
Chief Problem Solver
You’re not just the CEO or the CIO … Expand your title to see your role as the CPS – the Chief Problem Solver. In… Read More »Chief Problem Solver
A sense of urgency
No doubt about it: a sense of urgency helps us make get things happen and get stuff done. The problems come when we’re urgent about… Read More »A sense of urgency
The Onion (3): exemplar interesting problem – learning to read
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
The Onion (2): a model for solving interesting problems
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
The Onion (1): understanding 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
Interesting problems: a definition
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