High stress, little reward

Ronaldo gets paid an obscene amount of money because he can deliver at the highest standard. The high levels of stress are worth it because he gets rewarded handsomely in fortune and fame. It's the same with financial traders, the riskier the trade the higher the reward. When this scale is out of balance it's … Continue reading High stress, little reward →

Helter skelter

Back in the 60's Paul Macartney read a review of a song. The reviewer described the song as just a bunch of shouting and screaming. Macartney thought this was a good idea for a song. He also listened to the reviewed song and found he could have a better go off it. And so the … Continue reading Helter skelter →

Charleville red cheddar

In Tesco, Charleville red cheddar (200g) is €3.15. Now if you want it grated it will cost you 15 cents more. It's the exact same brand and the exact same weight, the only difference is that you're paying 15cents more for the physical work it took to turn the cheese from one piece into many. … Continue reading Charleville red cheddar →

Badminton

The mind is like a badminton game: There's a back and forth moving at a near inhuman pace. Half the time is spent reacting and half the time is spent attempting to control. But thankfully every now and then there's a break in play to catch your breath and get some head space because if … Continue reading Badminton →

Assumptions in problem solving

In the book, pig wrestling, (which is a great read by the way) they tell you that it is your assumptions that get in the way of your problem solving. If you're stuck then you need to examine the approaches you are taking at the moment. When examining these approaches you need to look for … Continue reading Assumptions in problem solving →

Shouting at the ref

A referee (in sport) never appreciates negative feedback. They rarely, rarely, overturn decisions and if they did, it wasn't because you roared your head off at him. I can't imagine a ref ever saying: "Thank you for shouting at me, I shall award your team all the points!" They are the authority figure that has … Continue reading Shouting at the ref →

Problem 5

Result: Fail Time limit: 45 minutes Question: A man who lives on the tenth floor takes the elevator down to the first floor every morning and goes to work. In the evening, when he comes back; on a rainy day, or if there are other people in the elevator, he goes to his floor directly. … Continue reading Problem 5 →

Terrified Peter

Peter is terrified of not knowing and he rarely ventures out of his comfort zone. He consults others extensively to ensure he is doing the right thing. He rarely faces the void and consistently does lengthy research before taking any action. His willingness to prepare is admirable but there's only so much you can do, … Continue reading Terrified Peter →

Problem 4

Result: Success Time limit: 5 minutes Reflection: Shortening the time limit did add to the difficulty as it forced me to think quicker

Tightly scheduled Day

The tightly scheduled day doesn't allow for the unexpected, it provides minimal flexibility and should something urgent arise, it requires you to make sacrifices to react. All it takes is a delay in one activity for you to spend the rest of the day trying to catch up. It relies on everything going to plan … Continue reading Tightly scheduled Day →