The bright Data Scientist in your team has spent several intense days with a problem statement and comes to you with a bunch of Analysis and charts. She is all excited with her work – and your first question, ‘Where are the insights?’ I find some managers use this almost reflexively as a way to... Continue Reading →

Ludwig Wittgenstein was one of the legions of philosophers (lesser known, which is a travesty) from early 20th century. He is best known for language games – one of the questions that he posed: ‘Are you using a ruler to measure the table or the table to measure the ruler?’ This is more than just... Continue Reading →

Last week, I talked about the different types of questions and had ended with reasons on why it is important to ask good questions. I had ended with a discussion on what is perhaps the most important reason: ‘getting to the right problem to solve’. Not that you need a whole lot of convincing on... Continue Reading →

Socrates was said to have referred to himself as the ‘gadfly’ – and that all societies need one to ‘sting the steed of state into acknowledging its proper duties and obligations’. It didn’t out too well for him though – Athens didn’t take too kindly to this ‘fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching... Continue Reading →

Here’s a thought experiment: you get to create a dream team of problem solvers in your organization. What would the team look like? Who would you have on your team? Over the last few weeks, I have talked about various dimensions of problem solving: this one and the next few will focus on the importance... Continue Reading →