Caspian with a riff on:

Being able to make sense out of complex matters is one of the most appreciated skills to have in my experience. To help people understand and make something out of an experience or even a couple of experiences is hard at times and at times we need help doing it.

It’s something you can practice. So please do, because your life will be easier.

There seems to be a difference between perception and observation, even though they’re quite similar.

Observing something when you need an output that’s quick and easy isn’t always a good idea. Similarly, perceiving something that needs detailed examination might not always work the best.

I've had a hangup on design for quite some time now, and want to spend some time discussing the ideas that have passed through me during that time. 

Design has two parameters that we judge design by: beauty and functionality. Sometimes they interact and combine in the same product or process, sometimes they leverage each other and sometimes you have to choose. 

Most importantly from this episode, I'd like you to think about how you design processes for yourself. Sometimes we forget to put ourselves in the centre of the design process when we're designing for ourselves. Whatever you're trying to accomplish, spending some time to understand yourself is always key. 

I've been actively working with becoming better at both offering and asking for help for the past 4 years. It's been one of the most prominent things for me, and it all started with one single question: 

What do you need help with? 

In this episode, I describe a way in which we can all become better at asking people what they need help with. I riff on why there are ways that are worse to offer help in, and why I think it's important to talk about how we offer help to one another. 

I think passion can be a choice, rather than something that just happens to you. Of course, there are times at which we might be struck or even stuck with a passion that's impossible to explain. But more often I think it's possible to choose passion as a way of doing things. 

Grit and stubbornness are two vastly different things, although they might seem similar.

Being stubborn is, for the most part, not constructive and nobody gains from it. When you’re stubborn, you’re not using all of the information coming to you, like in a rage. Grit, on the other hand, is the ability to push through when needed yet being able to give up when it’s time to do so.

Giving up might be hard, but at times it’s necessary

Soldiers are often trained to do one single thing. They learn to shoot, and shoot really well. Of course, that’s a complex action as it involves a lot of small skills and a precision that’s uncanny. Not to talk of the morality of the whole thing. Still, they’ve learned to master one tool - shooting. Of course, that’s a simplification of what makes up a soldier, but for the case, we’ll stick to this premise.

In the HBO-series Westworld, there’s a scene where soldiers are encountered with a problem. They have a bunch or raging bulls coming at them with short notice. The bulls are coming in with full speed and they’re about 10 metres away when the soldiers first see them. The soldiers are stunned, but then get to use their tool - shooting. They open fire.

The problem for the soldiers is that at that distance, there’s little they can do about the bulls with that tool. The bulls have such speed that the bullets are doing little to stop therefrom running straight in to the soldiers. The soldiers die, as do the bulls.

The soldiers had a real, potentially lethal problem at their hands with the bulls. They decided to solve it with the tool closest at hand, both literally and figuratively, their guns. Hed they stopped for a second to think about it, they’d probably jumped out of the way or started running.

The point is that the soldiers are incredibly specialised in one thing - responding quickly with gunfire. They’ve practiced their reflexes and aim for hours and hours. It’s just not that great of a solution all the time.

The specialist has a real competence in something, in this case, firing a gun. That’s a really great tool in wars. The specialist is really good at doing what they do. But the tool isn’t at all effective in other situations, such as with the bulls.

The challenge for a specialist is to know what situations the tool is applicable in and what to do if their tool isn’t the best in that particular situation. They can, of course, ask for help. But that requires them to know whether or not their tool is applicable, and what tool might be if theirs isn’t.

The generalist, on the other hand, have challenges of their own. A generalist might have a sufficient knowledge of a number of tools, but they’re rarely as good at using them as the specialist. A generalist programmer might do okay in a number of different coding languages, but the specialist will outdo them in their specific language.

The difference is about as prominent as it can be in athletics. In all of the individual competitions, there are great runners, jumpers and shot putters. They’ve trained in one or a few branches of athletics. But in the competition of heptathlon, Usain Bolt wouldn’t stand a chance. There are people that are good enough at all of the things except running that would beat him in that.

The generalist knows what tools and skills are required to solve a number of problems. The specialist is great at using one or a few tools to solve a very specific problem.

Now, ask yourself: Are you more of a generalist or a specialist? And more importantly, which would you like to be?

I think inspiration is highly overrated, mostly because it's become an excuse not to act and do. "I wasn't feeling inspired". I don't ever want to say that. 

On the other hand, I think inspiration is inevitable. You can't not have it. 

Responsibility can mean so many different things. It can mean "You get the blame if this goes south", or "You're going to have to carry this all by yourself.". 

The way I see it, responsibility is a way to get impact. If you have responsibility, you're able to impact. You have the opportunity to make your mark and to do what needs to be done. It also means that you can ask your personal advisory board for help, and grow from their experience. 

To have responsibility is to take initiative, and to lead. 

Episode 3 is here, with a riff on Creativity and Creative Work.

I have loads of friends who want to write a book. Or record a song. Or learn knitting. Most of those friends also struggle with starting that, and I think most people are struggling with starting.

When you've started, the rest comes a lot easier. Until you need to ship. That's often tricky as well, as you can't really say when you're done.

I think we need to start things often, and ship them more often than that. Move fast and break things, and learn from that.