A few weeks ago, I got an SMS message from a former colleague saying “Did you know that disguising brands is the new flex in marketing?” He linked to this nameless billboard with a red swirling background and the words ‘It Has To Be Fries.’ Color me confused. After a closer look, I realized the…
Ever heard of the buttered cat paradox? The buttered cat paradox is a humorous thought experiment which combines two common adages: While you may think it’s an urban legend, experiments have shown 81% of the time buttered toast lands on the floor butter side down. Also, a phenomenon known as the cat righting reflex has…
Whatever happened to the mantra: Work Smarter, Not Harder? Silicon Valley is flush with stories about tech companies adopting the 996 work schedule which refers to working 9am to 9pm, 6 days per week; a 72-hour work week. The 996 phenomenon originated in China a few years ago but has resulted in mass protests, with…
What happens if we relook at predictions from 100 years ago? Futurists usually aren’t judged on the accuracy of their predictions, and people rarely revisit the predictions many years later. Futurists can be wrong and unaccountable; just like meteorologists… The exception might be Ray Kurzweil who some have claimed to have a stunning 86% accuracy…
At the recommendation of a friend, I watched the Hindi-language film Shakuntala Devi about a woman who could make complex mathematical calculations in her head very quickly. Born in 1929 in India, Devi grew up to a poor family who couldn’t afford to formally educate her but, by the age of 5 years old, she became…
During my technology career, the phrase ‘the Russians used a pencil’ was a vivid reminder that the simplest solution is often the best one. For those who may not have heard the story about the Russian pencil, it goes something like this: When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered ballpoint pens did…
Despite the popularity of the saying, Sherlock Holmes never actually said “elementary, my dear Watson.” Regardless, we recognize the phrase refers to something which is easily understood – perhaps obvious – even if it seems confusing to others. Referring to the books, Watson is surprised and impressed when Holmes is able to figure out things from…
In the early 2010s, it became increasingly common to suggest that robots were stealing our jobs. Dozens of headlines breathlessly warned (e.g. MIT, BBC, The Conversation, Fast Company) nearly 50% of 700 common occupations would be completely automated – filled by machines, rather than mankind. Only it didn’t really happen. Turns out it wasn’t even…
Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised, but there has been an on-going debate on which is more important to an organization’s long term success: ideas or execution? Headquarter executives, strategy aficionados, and entrepreneurs often chime in on the side of creativity and ideas. Operational executives and line workers usually favor execution. Actually, debate might be too…
When people ask for advice or a second opinion, they give clues to the answer they are expecting so they don’t get a truly independent point of view. In a series of experiments, researchers found that people often add their own opinion when they ask for an opinion or advice, even though they are aware…