Reframing a situation remains one of the best ways to see a new solution in strategy. As I said a few weeks ago, because strategy occurs in the domain of “wickedness”, the way you choose to describe the strategic problem you’re facing will drive the solution you come up with. But reframing is a fundamental tool in creativity as well. … Read More
Five areas where choosing the “difficult path” pays off
“The best protection is always to be working on hard problems.” “The best protection is always to be working on hard problems”. This is advice to school students from Paul Graham, one of the founders of Y Combinator. The whole speech is worth reading in full. Graham’s point here is simply that at school, and throughout life, you need to … Read More
Some ideas for preempting “learned helplessness”
As I mentioned in last week’s post on attributional styles, I have been listening to the You Are Not So Smart podcast – and especially episode 52 on learned helplessness. It’s got me thinking about how learned helplessness can apply in various situations we encounter in our lives. And what we can do about it. What is “learned helplessness”? Learned … Read More