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What Makes You Feel Smart and What Makes You Feel Less Smart?

I was working on visualizations of cycle time for my other blog (how long each item of work takes over time). That’s when I realized I needed to create a conditional formula in my spreadsheet. Conditional formulas are if statements. With my software background, I think in if statements. (If then, else other.) So, I

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How Can We Create Alternatives to Happiness as Our “Best” Goal?

International Happiness Day occurred this week. While I’m normally a fairly happy person, I cannot express how much I hate this holiday. I hate, hate, hate this holiday. Happiness puts too much pressure on people to be happy. When we’re happy, supposedly, we smile until our faces hurt. Or we’re jubilant and joyous all the

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How Can We Balance Our Assumptions and Convictions to Start With Empathy?

Do you feel as if the various world events happen faster than you can understand them? I do. That means I start with assumptions and strongly held convictions—even if it turns out I’m wrong. I don’t like to be wrong—and I suspect you don’t either. That’s why I’m considering how I can change my reaction

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Great Minds: When Do We Gain from Thinking Alike or Differently?

I’ve participated in two panels in the past few weeks: one about agile approaches and the other about management. In each case, my fellow panelists echoed each other for several questions, thinking alike. I did not. Not only did I disagree with the other panelists—I explained my claims with data. I thought differently. And because

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When Is a Small Application of Money the Right Tool to Solve This Problem?

(I can’t write about the shooting in Texas. My heart is too heavy. Instead, I’ll write about problems we can solve.) At a recent dinner, friends described this problem: “On a recent flight, we took off late. Many people on the plane had connecting flights. The flight attendants made the obligatory announcement about waiting for

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