Known as "law of the instrument" or "law of the hammer," this cognitive bias is perhaps most familiar as a quip, one usually attributed to Abraham Maslow (yes, he of the hierarchy of needs): If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail. … Continue reading On the law of the instrument
Category: Psyched Out
On valuing your time vs. keeping a client happy
Over the past four Mondays, I've sat in on a series of "bootcamps" for the firm's project managers on a variety of topics. Given that I don't do any project work, these bootcamps weren't all that relevant to me. But—they were very illuminating when it came to understanding my colleagues. The most recent bootcamp focused … Continue reading On valuing your time vs. keeping a client happy
On improving experiences by focusing on endings
When my wife and I purchased a new car a few weeks ago, there wasn't much negotiating we could do: supply was low, demand was high, and our salesman shrugged off our attempts at moving the price down with a final "I'll sell this car by 2 p.m. today if you don't want it now." … Continue reading On improving experiences by focusing on endings
On creating action cues
Yesterday, I wrote about the two-minute rule from David Allen. Today, I reflect on another tool I’ve found immeasurably helpful in the past week. I think of these as “action cues”—but first encountered them as “Gibsonian affordances” in the Daniel Levitin book The Organized Mind. (I would link to the Wikipedia page, but it’s a … Continue reading On creating action cues
On doing the thing that needs to be done when you notice it
The best advice in David Allen’s productivity book (or “bible,” to the many who have a cultlike affinity for it) Getting Things Done has nothing to do with his complex organizational framework. It’s a simple heuristic: If a task will take you less than two minutes, do it now. It’s what has me emptying the … Continue reading On doing the thing that needs to be done when you notice it
On the danger of asking your interview panel to take out their phones
There's a clip somewhere online of Simon Sinek bemoaning a new reality that many of us have come to groan about in this post-COVID era: QR codes for menus in restaurants. But Sinek doesn't wax nostalgic about paper menus or the poor structure of the new digital ones—he's concerned about how QR code menus are … Continue reading On the danger of asking your interview panel to take out their phones
On feeling hangry
I forgot my lunch the other day. An irregular schedule—along with a schedule’s habits—is one of those odd pitfalls of hybrid work that I didn’t see coming. So it’s become a pattern for me, on those two days each week that I drive into my office, to forget to pack a lunch. Annoyed, I figured … Continue reading On feeling hangry
What if context switching is part of my job?
One of the most powerful shortcuts to greater work productivity is simple: avoid context switching. Related to multitasking—the fool's errand of attempting to do two (or more!) things at once—context switching is switching different work contexts: screen and paper, Outlook and Teams, Word and Excel, etc. The problem with context switching? "Attention residue." Every time … Continue reading What if context switching is part of my job?
When was the last time you admitted you were wrong about something?
As someone who leads way too many meetings for work, I'm always on the look-out for good icebreaker questions. This one popped into my head the other day: When was the last time you were wrong about something? Too hard, of course, for a casual icebreaker. And—potentially—with answers a little too revealing for the workplace... … Continue reading When was the last time you admitted you were wrong about something?
How many people does it take to “make a tiger”?
I came across a wonderful Chinese proverb recently—one of those proverbs mysterious enough to demand an explanation and, even better, deliver with an excellent historical parable. From Wikipedia: "Three men make a tiger" refers to an individual's tendency to accept absurd information as long as it is repeated by enough people. It refers to the … Continue reading How many people does it take to “make a tiger”?
