“All models are wrong but some are useful.” – George Box As an engineer, I was trained to model the world: take a complex system—say, an oil-well drillstring extending several kilometers underground—make assumptions on what matters (e.g., contact with the…
‘Nothing avails but perfection’ may be spelt shorter: ‘Paralysis.’ — Winston Churchill Up until recently, my job entailed updating the faculty policy of a research-intensive university. How do you change the rules that regulate the life of some 500 tenured…
Looking for perfection isn’t necessarily desirable because it’s expensive and the end product isn’t even necessarily optimal.
Many of us first interact with problems in a primary-school mathematics class. If your experience is anything like mine, it might have gone like this: “Édouard has a swimming pool. One pump can fill the pool in two hours; the…
Effective problem solvers have both deep and broad knowledge. Depth of knowledge usually isn’t the problem, because it is the central component of many formal training programs. However, most of us don’t receive much training on developing the broad, transferable or…
Culture eats strategy for breakfast. You can have the best idea in the world, if you can’t implement it, you are not going anywhere. That means that you’ll need to engage key people in your strategic thinking and implementation processes, so let’s talk…
Isomorphic problems are those that have the same underlying structure. Recognizing that that new problem you’re facing is similar to one that has been solved before, or a simpler one, can go a long way in improving your creativity. Meet…
Recently, I had a conversation with a dean of engineering. He was looking for a big idea—one to take his school from here (top 30 nationwide) to there—the ultra-nerd stratosphere. I offered that he promoted training his students and faculty…
A central aspect of my approach to solving complex problems builds on the widespread agreement that effective problem solvers are T-shaped, with both depth and breadth of knowledge. Develop a breadth of skills & knowledge The breadth of knowledge—what I call strategic thinking—includes having…
I live in Houston and I bike to work. That makes me part of a very, very small minority. It also puts me at risk. Close calls with car drivers are frequent (although mine are not as bad as some), and…