Category: Ambiguity
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Validate Me!
Recently on a trip to New York, we were going to the Staten Island ferry on the subway. About three stops away, the conductor made an announcement: “If you want to get off for the Staten Island Ferry, you must move to the first five cars of this train!” Have you ever tried to figure…
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Flash of Panic
We enjoy watching a cooking show where participants are presented with a basket of random items and have an hour to cook an entrée that incorporates and exemplifies all the items in their basket. Many of the participants shared about the panic that beset them upon opening up their basket followed by solutions starting to…
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Throwing Away A Lottery Ticket
“We’re either on the verge of hitting it big or going under.” That’s how I updated my family several years in a row while working for a start-up. They reminded me that I said the same thing last year. Without a doubt, it was a roller coaster and I learned a lot — more what not…
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There Is No Normal
You have to know your preferences well, because no matter what you do, someone will tell you you’re wrong. – Derek Sivers Some Will Always Say You’re Wrong Back when I was in Junior High School, my friends and I would play with an invisible ball at lunch. We decided it wasn’t worth being “normal” and so…
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The Long Shortcut
On the way back to the hotel, I thought I should move our car from the designated parking lot to a spot closer to our room. Just a few minutes before, I had seen many spots open. So I walk to the car, start driving around and after a couple of U-turns, end up parking…
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The Asymmetry of Importance
In California, I started going to a barber near our office on a regular basis instead of finding some cheap place to get a haircut. So each time I went, it was with the same barber and not the usual stranger hacking at my head. So, at each haircut, I remembered the barber and our…
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Obviously Not Obvious
On my way back from the airport, I decided I need to get some gas and pulled up to a local gas station. I went through the usual paces: credit card, zip code, No, I do not want a car wash, nozzle, gas grade, pump. And nothing happened. After putting the nozzle back, pushing the…
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It Never Just Happens
Create several different teams consisting of several members. Have each team solve a problem and collect their answers for “grading”. Now, randomly tell half the groups that they did well and the other half that they did poorly and ask them to discuss how their team worked well or didn’t work well. Researchers conducted this…
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The 3oz Rule and Superstitions from Action
A man goes through the security line at the airport. Security looks at him suspiciously and asks him abruptly, is this your bag? He nods and the security guard interrogates him: do you have any liquids or gels in your bag? The man tells him he is bringing back homemade jam from his grandmother for his family. Sorry, this looks like more…
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Failure is not an Option, It’s a Given
There is not a day that goes by that I don’t fail, usually several times before lunch. It’s not that I enjoy failing or try to fail, it’s that I know it’s the only way I ever find success. The process of innovation requires all manner of trying things that are probably not going…