I had a lightbulb moment the other day.

Twice, in short succession, with two different groups of people, I was sharing the conclusions I had formed from the proceeding discussions. In each case, my answer was simple and to me it was obvious that it was the only conclusion to draw. But in each case, every member of the group was dumbstruck with silence, they each cocked their heads to one side and stared at me incredulously. Gradually they started with questions like, “Why do you say that?” or “How do you figure?” All I could think of was, “What are they missing?” I did not even know where to begin and started to question myself.

The light bulb came on later while I coincidentally happened to be going through some of the groups personality preferences as exhibited by their Myers-Briggs assessment results because of some team studies I was doing. It turned out that I was the only “N” in a group of “S” types. That is, I was intuiting while they were sensing. I was looking at interrelationships and theorizing future possibilities. They were looking at the facts and details of the present reality. Our two different perspectives kept us from seeing the same conclusion. The one that was intuitively obvious to me was not even a possibility to them.

To be clear, this was not a matter of intelligence, but purely a matter of the way they preferred to take in information from the world and what kind of information they trust. At the same time, it was not about right and wrong. I can cite many exam problems that are designed to trip up intuitives and remind them to focus on the facts presented. However, sometimes when there is not sufficient detail to draw a conclusion, intuition is all you have to work with to make progress.

The light bulb was that something that is intuitively obvious is only obvious if you are intuitive.

I realized I had an extra burden to illustrate my vision. I would have to do it in a way that would show how it was rooted in reality. That would let them sense the concrete connections to the details they could see without trying to persuade them with logic.

The next time you discover an answer that is intuitively obvious, do not assume that your answer is actually obvious. Be prepared to show your work.

What feedback do you have for your team about the work you have asked them to do?

We say we want to be nimble. A system that is nimble has rapid, quality feedback. The sooner you give feedback, the less time your team will waste pursuing the wrong answer.

The further the feedback is from the event, the more time it takes to fix it. Think of it like this. I am sure that a long time ago you wrote some code. What if I told you there was a bug in it I wanted you to fix? It would be very difficult for you to find and fix. That is an extreme example. Suppose it was only a year ago. Certainly you know of projects that lasted more than a year. Even after a year, it can be a real challenge to find and fix errors you created.

Now suppose it was yesterday. It would be fresh in your mind. It would be easy to find and fix. So you can see that the further the feedback is from the event, the more time it takes to fix it. Timely feedback makes your team more efficient by eliminating time wasted in pursuing the wrong approach as well as reducing the time spent finding and fixing errors.

By not providing timely feedback, we create a system that wastes effort and causes unnecessary delays.

Even more than that, distance in time changes the way the creator perceives the feedback. If you tell me right away that what I have done is not what you want, the feedback is about the product. I can correct it and we will both be happy.

If you wait, and I go on and do other work, perhaps a lot of other work, work that is based on that wrong start, I have wasted my time. Any good feelings I had about myself based on my progress are dashed. Suddenly the feedback is about me and not the product. I have done bad work. I am not good at this. I am stupid.

People do not want to feel stupid and for the most part they are not. The reason they feel that way is that we create a system that makes them feel that way. People so strongly do not want to feel stupid that they stop contributing rather than risking contributing something that will make them feel stupid.

Some of us think in terms of reward and punishment. What if we punish people for not contributing? Even if they are punished for not contributing, the punishment is likely better than feeling stupid. It allows them to take the moral high ground and say, “I know I am right, you just do not care and you are lashing out at me to compensate for your own shortcomings. If you cared, you would have been paying attention.” Do you see how even undesirable behavior is rewarded?

By not providing timely feedback, we create a system that encourages people to not contribute.

I know you care. Show you care. Provide timely, quality feedback. Praise the product if it is praiseworthy. Suggest changes to the product if you want something different. Make it about the product and not the person. Help us be nimble and efficient. Create a system that encourages people to contribute.

Six Rules for Effective Forecasting – Harvard Business Review:

The role of the forecaster in the real world is quite different from that of the mythical seer. Prediction is concerned with future certainty; forecasting looks at how hidden currents in the present signal possible changes in direction for companies, societies, or the world at large. Thus, the primary goal of forecasting is to identify the full range of possibilities, not a limited set of illusory certainties. Whether a specific forecast actually turns out to be accurate is only part of the picture — even a broken clock is right twice a day. Above all, the forecaster’s task is to map uncertainty, for in a world where our actions in the present influence the future, uncertainty is opportunity.

(Via Justin Fox.)

YANSS Podcast – Episode Two « You Are Not So Smart:

The illusion of knowledge is believing familiarity is the same as wisdom. You’ve probably felt it when trying to do something like fix a sink or explain to a child how taco shells are made. Just because you’ve become familiar with the operation and function of a thing doesn’t mean you truly understand how it works.

Crucial Skills: Finding Fault with the Facts:

[We] suggest that people record important decisions—particularly at the end of a conversation when they decide who does what by when and how to follow-up. Why is this important? Memory is unsafe. Memory can be unreliable. Memory can diminish in the rush of other urgencies and deadlines. So write down the facts. What commitments were made? What decisions were made?

Sir Jonathan Ive: The iMan cometh – London Life – Life & Style – Evening Standard:

If something is going to be better, it is new, and if it’s new you are confronting problems and challenges you don’t have references for. To solve and address those requires a remarkable focus. There’s a sense of being inquisitive and optimistic, and you don’t see those in combination very often.

Project Planning Is Unnecessary, Boring, Dangerous… – PM Hut

Plans are not needed in projects. A simpler and more usual method is to do projects twice or go on doing them till it is politically suitable to stop.

Great Design: What is Design? (First Draft) – Joel on Software:

You know those gorgeous old brownstones in New York City? With the elaborate carvings, gargoyles, and beautiful iron fences? Well, if you dig up the old architectural plans, the architect would often just write something like “beautiful fretwork” on the drawing, and leave it up to the artisan, the old craftsman from Italy to come up with something, fully expecting that it will be beautiful.

That’s not design. That’s decoration. What we, in the… industry, collectively refer to as Lipstick on a Chicken. If you have been thinking that there is anything whatsoever in design that requires artistic skill, well, banish the thought. Immediately, swiftly, and promptly. Art can enhance design but the design itself is strictly an engineering problem…

Design, for my purposes, is about making tradeoffs.

(Via marco.org. (Via @mrgan.))

Seth’s Blog: Optimistic enthusiasm as a form of realism:

If your organization is both pessimistic and operationally focused, then every new idea is a threat. It represents more work, something that could go wrong, a chance for disaster. People work to protect against the downside, to insulate against the market, to be sure that they won’t get blamed for anything that challenges the system. In organizations like this, a new idea has to be proven to be better than the current status quo in all situations before it gets launched.