We encounter problems of a different scale on an everyday basis. Sometimes we succeed at finding desirable solutions, yet more than often the road to them turns out to be bumpy. In this short article, I would like to explore three common traps that make a problem-solving exercise very complicated at best.
To begin with, the trap number one is overthinking a problem. Continue reading Traps on the way to solutions
We are drowning in information. It comes to us from all possible sides. However, only a little fraction of it is useful and even smaller – truly actionable.
One of these days I was driving to Antwerp and saw a traffic information board, providing:
Well, thank you very much, but what the hell am I supposed to make out of it?! Continue reading Providing actionable information
There is an amazing software which will improve productivity of your employees and of yourself hundred times. All you need is just buy it, install it and it will solve all your productivity problems. You will be on the way to surreal achievements! It is…
Continue reading Achievements: is it about the right tools?
What is expensive? Why do you consider something to be expensive or may be even too expensive? (I am not talking about Bugatti, a private jet or a duplex on the 5th Avenue here, just about simple stuff) Do you make a comparison with other alike products? Do you take into account opportunity costs? Do you consider hidden costs?
In this short article I would like to talk about the perception of money, or better – understanding for yourself what “expensive” actually means.
Continue reading Beyond the price tag: how do you decide that something is expensive?
A couple of days ago I attended a TEDxWomen event. There, at the networking session I was once again faced with that classic phrase: “And who are you? What do you do?”… Somehow those two completely different questions are often put together as if they mean the same thing. Yet, obviously “who you are” does not equal “what you do”. Moreover, even “what do you do?” is not the best question to ask. In a networking situation, you are not that much interested in what a person does, you want to know if you two can connect and bring each other certain value. You are interested in the 2nd degree connections or in skills that this person has. You might want to know what drives that person and what makes him go the extra mile. You might want to know if you can share the journey.
All this made me think about “boxes”: those voluntary categories we gladly put ourselves in. “I am a lawyer”, “I am a nurse”, “I am an engineer”, “I am a pilot”, “I am…” So you truly believe that this one descriptive is supposed to explain who we are? Continue reading Our voluntary “boxes” and asking better questions
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