“Being willing to expose your ignorance can be hard, until you learn the costs of not doing so.” — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“Even when diving into a problem, there’s a fear of looking ignorant or “stupid” by asking questions one is “supposed to know.” — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“They realized they were on the frontier of understanding, and the assumptions they formed from past experience were detrimental.” — Nat Greene Learning Copy Share Image
“Always check that you are operating at the right level and get the facts to confirm that, even when you are not… — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“When you move down your tree, keep in mind there may be multiple variables contributing to the failure.” — Nat Greene Failure Copy Share Image
“Staying on target means understanding and measuring only what you need to in order to drill to the root cause and find… — Nat Greene Goal Copy Share Image
“Defining the acceptable and unacceptable ranges for this variable means that the problem definition is objective and immune to opinion.” — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“The practice of guessing so obviously fails in detective work that it’s almost shocking that we guess when we have important problems… — Nat Greene Detective work Copy Share Image
“Perhaps many aid organizations make assumptions about the problem they are solving, and throw hundreds of billions of dollars at the problem… — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“It is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent… — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“By eliminating the variables closest to the primary variable, we immediately eliminate many potential root causes, and we can avoid collecting data… — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“The “curse of knowledge” is a cognitive bias that leads people highly informed about a topic to be unable to think about… — Nat Greene Bias Copy Share Image
“For problems of any significant difficulty, you need to start with your hands in your pockets, and your senses open. You need… — Nat Greene Adversity Copy Share Image
“If you believe that complex solutions are better than simple ones, or if you believe it’s better to take a simple guessing… — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“So what is a relevant fact? It’s a fact that’s going to answer the question you’re asking that takes you to the… — Nat Greene Habits Copy Share Image
“Great problem-solvers know that they must become masters of the unique problem and the process it affects, and that when they walk… — Nat Greene Education Copy Share Image
“People mythologize hard problems in this way because it is comforting. If a problem becomes a supernatural titan, we can tell ourselves… — Nat Greene Root cause Copy Share Image
“Know what problem you’re solving. Often, people work on the wrong problem entirely by making some implicit assumption about what’s causing it.… — Nat Greene Problem solvers Copy Share Image
“As some of my Canadian friends have told me: “There is no such thing as bad weather; just the wrong clothes.” This… — Nat Greene Bad weather Copy Share Image
“Great problem-solvers aren’t afraid of their ignorance, and they’re not afraid of others seeing it. Great questions shatter assumptions, provoke new insight,… — Nat Greene Ignorance Copy Share Image
“When a system isn’t working right, someone has to understand how it’s meant to work, at the right depth, in order to… — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“Utilizing an expert means asking them questions that will help you understand a science, process, or asset; it means getting their help… — Nat Greene Expert Copy Share Image
“Successfully solving hard problems requires knowing what problem you’re solving. You should put great care into defining the problem in an accurate… — Nat Greene Problem solving Copy Share Image
“most methods disguise the guessing stage in some fancy language, such as “determine possible root causes.” This is making a list of… — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“If you believe that success is inevitable, you’re less likely to work your tail off in order to achieve it. Hard problems… — Nat Greene Faith Copy Share Image
“Variable Analysis 1. Define the problem. a. What problem are you trying to solve? b. Determine the primary variable • Closely inspect… — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“Perhaps the most useful approach for defining the problem well is structuring it as a measurable variable.” — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“Great problem-solvers avoid being trapped into solving the wrong problem by defining the problem without prejudice or assumption” — Nat Greene Problem solvers Copy Share Image
“Many people accept the world the way it is, and don’t see the incredible potential that is locked behind hard problems.” — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right. —HENRY FORD, AMERICAN INDUSTRIALIST” — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“most people believe they’re making fact-based decisions, when they are, in fact, making opinion-based ones.” — Nat Greene Decision making Copy Share Image
“Noticing and eliminating distractions will enable you to stay on target when you’re facing down your next complex problem.” — Nat Greene Distractions Copy Share Image
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. —LEONARDO DA VINCI, 15TH-CENTURY PAINTER AND INVENTOR” — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“I never guess. It is a shocking habit—destructive to the logical faculty.1 —SHERLOCK HOLMES, IN SIGN OF THE FOUR” — Nat Greene Sherlock Copy Share Image
“People are socialized not to “challenge” what respected people believe.” — Nat Greene Respect Copy Share Image
“Don’t ask SMEs to make business decisions for you without stepping back and considering a possible conflict of interest.” — Nat Greene Business Copy Share Image
“To solve truly hard problems, you’ll need to use a method that doesn’t involve guessing in any step.” — Nat Greene Copy Share Image
“Brainstorming might be useful in situations where creativity is required. However, solving hard problems is not one of these.” — Nat Greene Brainstorming Copy Share Image
“We need to understand what variables most directly control our primary variable by understanding the science behind how the system works.” — Nat Greene Science Copy Share Image
“Great problem-solvers also have opinions; what makes them different is that they recognize them for what they are and then set them… — Nat Greene Opinions Copy Share Image
