Tag: inventors

Posted on

Claude Shannon plays games, searches for truth, invents Information Theory

Elite mathematicians are as creative as painters and entrepreneurs. Maybe more so.

It’s a small sample, but the brilliant people I know and have known share two underappreciated traits: a sense of humor and a quirky passion for following their curiosity, no matter what. These two qualities can get you into a lot of trouble. Continue reading “Claude Shannon plays games, searches for truth, invents Information Theory”

Posted on

Creating new worlds vs. the myth of problem solving

The term problem-solving assumes you are adopting someone else’s view of  the world.

Despite its popularity, the current obsession with problem solving is way off the mark. Ditto finding out what your customers want and giving it to them. This is fine for fine tuning and tweaking what already works, but it’s not what changes the world. Not even close.

As Henry Ford reportedly said, “If I’d listened to my customers, I would have invented a faster horse.” Continue reading “Creating new worlds vs. the myth of problem solving”