Learn to Think in Color

How Do You Know When You’re Polishing a Turd? When effort starts disguising the real problem. Framing the Question: Knowing when you’re polishing a turd means spotting when improvement becomes camouflage. It asks whether more effort will create real value or make a weak idea look presentable. This matters in strategy, leadership, product work, and personal decisions because time is often wasted not on obvious failures, but on almost-promising ones. The phrase itself is a cliché for a reason: it is blunt, memorable, and slightly uncomfortable—exactly like the realization that effort can sometimes make a bad idea look better without making it good. The uncomfortable sign: effort rises, truth does not You know you are polishing a turd when the work keeps getting more refined, but the underlying problem stays the same. Think of it like repainting a house with a cracked foundation. The new color may look better from the street, but the structure is still shifting underneath. At work, this ...

What Makes a Problem Feel Urgent Enough to Act On? Why Fix a Problem? The hidden mix of pain, timing, ownership, and calm momentum Framing Box Problem urgency  is not just about how serious a problem is. It is about whether people believe the cost of waiting has become greater than the cost of acting. A problem feels urgent when it becomes visible, emotionally real, tied to a meaningful consequence, and connected to someone’s responsibility. But urgency has a shadow side: too much urgency can create panic, rushed decisions, and burnout. Healthy urgency should clarify action, not create chaos. Why Some Problems Get Ignored Some problems are like smoke alarms. They demand attention immediately. Others are like a slow leak behind a wall: damaging, expensive, and easy to ignore until the floor caves in. A problem feels urgent enough to act on when it crosses four thresholds: people can  see it , they can  feel it , they know  who owns it , and they believe  action c...

How Do You Ensure Your Data Will Solve Your Business Problem? Aligning Information With Intention: From Raw Data to Real Decisions Before diving into solutions, take a beat. The biggest mistake teams make isn’t bad data—it’s disconnected data. Ensuring your data solves your business problem requires asking better questions, aligning stakeholders, and translating business objectives into data models that actually drive decisions. This post walks through how to frame the right problem, structure your data thinking, test its effectiveness, and—critically—know when data won’t help at all. Step 0: Know When Data Won’t Help Not every problem needs more data. Before launching a data project, ask: Does this require quantitative analysis or strategic judgment? Leadership alignment issues, brand positioning, and creative direction often need qualitative insight, not dashboards. If stakeholders won’t act on results due to politics or if the analysis costs more than the problem’s worth, stop here....