Strategy Waves - August 2020

Is the pandemic over yet” The YouTube-famous Holderness Family released a parody of Earth, Wind, and Fire’s, “September” with the opening line of, “Do you remember?  When we thought it would be gone by September”?  They "sing" for many of us.
 
As we look to the fall, some short-term solutions to problems presented by the pandemic are no longer relevant.  We’ve now spent nearly half the year in shut-down mode.  And importantly, the upheaval after George Floyd’s death spurred deeper reflection about necessary changes in our society and economy. 
 
We need new solutions to old and new problems.  August’s newsletter is about thinking differently to solve problems.  I’ve selected two articles that outline creative approaches to problem solving – ones that we don’t regularly use.  And the third is a great story about how Dixie Cups became wildly successful during the 1918 Spanish Flu; it’s a lesson about the importance of timing.

I wrap up this month’s newsletter with a summary of Ozan Varol’s, “Think Like a Rocket Scientist.   He describes specific techniques borrowed from rocket scientists that can help us mere office workers be more creative when solving problems.