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 gets you a better result. You pay your money, and in return you get your problem solved. But it might be that you buy other things by choosing to make something yourself: fun new technical…
Tag: nested problems
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 and US (to pick too) have – at least in comparison – seemed barely able to get their act together at all. Maggie Koerth‘s discussion of the issue with Kevin Kelly and Mark Frauenfelder points…
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. The final layer of the onion is about leadership and responsibility for the whole organisation: setting tone, maintaining or correcting course, and thinking about what needs to happen next to grow it has a healthy, impactful and…
Yesterday’s post ended with the tension between designing systems and fostering a culture – writing scripts and setting tone – that will make it possible for an organisation to achieve its goals. In this great – and perfectly timed – interview on the excellent Exponential View podcast with Azeem Azhar, (Google) X’s CEO (or “Chief of Moonshots”) Astro Teller talks…
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. So now you’re operating: you’ve got a solution to a problem that people want, and you’ve got the systems and people in place that you need to make it scaleable and repeatable. By now you’ve probably got…
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. Once you’ve solved a practical problem, you might be done. You’ve taught the children in front of you to read; you and your neighbours are exercising regularly; you’ve helped a client to change their financial habits for…
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. If you’ve solved or ignored your way past your trivial problems and researched your way out of theoretical problems, you’re likely to find yourself facing a practical problem. Practical problems are about bringing the theoretical solutions we…
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 supposed to be a fully formed or coherent theory. A theoretical problem is a problem for which the underlying causes are unknown. The problem to be solved is your ignorance. You might start with a…
If you missed it, start with yesterday’s post. A problem is anything we want to change – however trivial or enormous. Our very simplest problems have immediate symptoms and immediate solutions: a (non-recurring) itchy nose can be scratched and the problem is solved. Many trivial problems can be “solved” by the decision that they are not important and can be…
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 isn’t necessarily big or important and doesn’t necessarily require action: it’s simply anything that you want to change. We face hundreds of problems every day: My morning alarm is disturbing me – how can I…