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Simplifying complex ideas through fun and insightful sketches. Explore topics from science, creativity, psychology, and more explained in pictures.

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Three Types of "No"

Saying "no" isn't easy. But there are different ways to say "no" to someone's requests without feeling like you've let them down while being realistic and constructive and ensuring the requester feels heard. I really like this framework of three types of "no" from Judd Antin: 1. The Yes No With the Yes No, you say "yes" to the need and "no" to the specific ask. So, a child asking for an ice cream may indeed need something to eat even though they might not get an ice cream. Or the request to make the sign-up button larger might well indicate that it's easy to miss, though a better solution may be to change its colour or the layout of the page. 2. The Material No With the Material No, you are saying yes to the request if you have the time/budget/people/tools to do it. So, you would love to get the kite out of the tree if you had the tools to reach it. Or the request to make an additional change might be possible on the basis that you can push back the launch date or add another person to the team. 3. The Priority No With the Priority No, you are saying yes, we can do it as long as we're happy to drop something less important. So, you can take the extra cuddly bear in the car if we can choose a different one to leave behind. Or that you can do that project on the basis that we postpone another we had planned. In each type of "no", the intent is to support and meet the needs of the person requesting while clearly explaining the reasoning for what you'd need to get it done. In each case, the "no" leads to valuable discussions of larger issues of what the real need is, what's required to get a job done, and what's really important. Read Judd Antin's article, How to Say No, in his series One Big Thought. Here's a version with all three types of "no" in one image and individually The Yes No, The Material No, The Priority No.…Saying "no" isn't easy. But there are different ways to say "no" to someone's requests without feeling like you've let them down while being realistic and constructive and ensuring the requester feels heard. I really like this framework of three types of "no" from Judd Antin: 1. The Yes No With the Yes No, you say "yes" to the need and "no" to the specific ask. So, a child asking for an ice cream may indeed need something to eat even though they might not get an ice cream. Or the request to make the sign-up button larger might well indicate that it's easy to miss, though a better solution may be to change its colour or the layout of the page. 2. The Material No With the Material No, you are saying yes to the request if you have the time/budget/people/tools to do it. So, you would love to get the kite out of the tree if you had the tools to reach it. Or the request to make an additional change might be possible on the basis that you can push back the launch date or add another person to the team. 3. The Priority No With the Priority No, you are saying yes, we can do it as long as we're happy to drop something less important. So, you can take the extra cuddly bear in the car if we can choose a different one to leave behind. Or that you can do that project on the basis that we postpone another we had planned. In each type of "no", the intent is to support and meet the needs of the person requesting while clearly explaining the reasoning for what you'd need to get it done. In each case, the "no" leads to valuable discussions of larger issues of what the real need is, what's required to get a job done, and what's really important. Read Judd Antin's article, How to Say No, in his series One Big Thought. Here's a version with all three types of "no" in one image and individually The Yes No, The Material No, The Priority No.

1 Oct 2023

Hotel Drying Technique

Here's a helpful technique when you want to freshen-up some clothing at a hotel and need it to dry quickly. It's useful when you've packed one day short or need an extra day's wear out of something. The hotel drying technique: Wash the item in the sink/shower. Rinse out as much as you can directly with a squeeze. Lay a towel flat and place the item on top. Roll the towel up tight, making multiple layers of clothing, towel, clothing, towel. Wring the towel well, working your way up and down. A lot of the water will transfer from the clothes to the towel. Repeat as necessary, perhaps placing the item in a different, drier patch of the towel. Leave the item to dry that last bit overnight while you sleep. With any luck, your underwear will be wearable again in the morning. And if it's not quite there, there's often a hair dryer to help finish off. Of course, the technique works anywhere, but it's convenient in hotels where you don't have to worry about drying the towel afterwards. This tip was discovered by my wife—like many of my most handy lifehacks—in this case while backpacking together in Central America. Also see: Hotel HQ; Enjoy your hotel room more…Here's a helpful technique when you want to freshen-up some clothing at a hotel and need it to dry quickly. It's useful when you've packed one day short or need an extra day's wear out of something. The hotel drying technique: Wash the item in the sink/shower. Rinse out as much as you can directly with a squeeze. Lay a towel flat and place the item on top. Roll the towel up tight, making multiple layers of clothing, towel, clothing, towel. Wring the towel well, working your way up and down. A lot of the water will transfer from the clothes to the towel. Repeat as necessary, perhaps placing the item in a different, drier patch of the towel. Leave the item to dry that last bit overnight while you sleep. With any luck, your underwear will be wearable again in the morning. And if it's not quite there, there's often a hair dryer to help finish off. Of course, the technique works anywhere, but it's convenient in hotels where you don't have to worry about drying the towel afterwards. This tip was discovered by my wife—like many of my most handy lifehacks—in this case while backpacking together in Central America. Also see: Hotel HQ; Enjoy your hotel room more

24 Sep 2023

Self-serving bias

A self-serving bias is one where we attribute our failures to external factors and our successes to our own admirable qualities and efforts. So, a tennis player might internally credit their athleticism and skill for their victory, while the loser may blame the umpire's decisions, their racket or the court. You might have seen it in professional sports. Self-serving bias may be rational and positive, maintaining our self-esteem and a positive view of ourselves. Conversely, it can hide reality (and give referees and umpires a more draining job) or cause us to reject negative but objective feedback. Self-serving bias is a form of attribution bias where we misattribute behaviours or events to characteristics rather than circumstances or vice versa. Self-serving bias is covered nicely (pdf) by Donelson R. Forsyth in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2nd Edition.…A self-serving bias is one where we attribute our failures to external factors and our successes to our own admirable qualities and efforts. So, a tennis player might internally credit their athleticism and skill for their victory, while the loser may blame the umpire's decisions, their racket or the court. You might have seen it in professional sports. Self-serving bias may be rational and positive, maintaining our self-esteem and a positive view of ourselves. Conversely, it can hide reality (and give referees and umpires a more draining job) or cause us to reject negative but objective feedback. Self-serving bias is a form of attribution bias where we misattribute behaviours or events to characteristics rather than circumstances or vice versa. Self-serving bias is covered nicely (pdf) by Donelson R. Forsyth in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2nd Edition.

17 Sep 2023

The Overton Window

The Overton window is a simple device to consider the full spectrum of policy ideas and identify the range of politically acceptable ones. Attitudes generally change slowly, as does policy to support them—with exceptions. Ideas that seemed radical or unthinkable at one time may gradually become plausible and popular. As this happens, the Overton Window shifts or expands. Consider how attitudes have changed towards slavery, segregation, women's rights, animal welfare or gay marriage. Or consider policies made alongside the development of driverless cars or supporting sustainable energy. At one time, prohibition—banning the production and sale of alcohol—was popular enough to become policy in the US, though it would be unlikely to be proposed now. Generally, the public is unlikely to elect politicians if they stand on policies too far outside the Overton window. And elected politicians will have difficulty enacting policies outside the window. Named after Joseph Overton of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the original model was a cardboard window that could slide over paper, and looking through the window, you could see policy options in one direction towards more government control and in the other towards less government control. He called it the window of political possibilities. The Centre named it after him after his death. He made the slider vertical to avoid associations with the political left or right.…The Overton window is a simple device to consider the full spectrum of policy ideas and identify the range of politically acceptable ones. Attitudes generally change slowly, as does policy to support them—with exceptions. Ideas that seemed radical or unthinkable at one time may gradually become plausible and popular. As this happens, the Overton Window shifts or expands. Consider how attitudes have changed towards slavery, segregation, women's rights, animal welfare or gay marriage. Or consider policies made alongside the development of driverless cars or supporting sustainable energy. At one time, prohibition—banning the production and sale of alcohol—was popular enough to become policy in the US, though it would be unlikely to be proposed now. Generally, the public is unlikely to elect politicians if they stand on policies too far outside the Overton window. And elected politicians will have difficulty enacting policies outside the window. Named after Joseph Overton of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the original model was a cardboard window that could slide over paper, and looking through the window, you could see policy options in one direction towards more government control and in the other towards less government control. He called it the window of political possibilities. The Centre named it after him after his death. He made the slider vertical to avoid associations with the political left or right.

10 Sep 2023

Design by committee

A camel is a horse designed by a committee, so the saying goes. It's not fair on camels, which are remarkable animals, but the idea that meeting everyone's requirements leads to a weaker product without a strong vision has a lot of truth to it. Like a remote control with 50 buttons or a policy so watered-down by different requirements that it has no effect, design by committee can be the death of an initiative. Part of strong product leadership and creating designs that wow is having an opinion, saying no, and not trying to please everybody. Much easier said than done. To bring it home, the movie Pentagon Wars has an entertaining satirical scene about the evolution of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (11 mins). The clip shows how the plan for an infantry transport vehicle became "a troop transport that can't carry troops, a reconnaissance vehicle that's too conspicuous to do reconnaissance. And a quasi-tank that has less armor than a snow-blower but has enough ammo to take out half of D.C." Perhaps most informative is the effect on the motivation and morale of the designers—"Can you make it amphibious?" Also see: groupthink, the tyranny of small decisions, the Abilene paradox, the bandwagon effect. Or Jeff Bezos' guidance: Be stubborn on vision. Be flexible on details.…A camel is a horse designed by a committee, so the saying goes. It's not fair on camels, which are remarkable animals, but the idea that meeting everyone's requirements leads to a weaker product without a strong vision has a lot of truth to it. Like a remote control with 50 buttons or a policy so watered-down by different requirements that it has no effect, design by committee can be the death of an initiative. Part of strong product leadership and creating designs that wow is having an opinion, saying no, and not trying to please everybody. Much easier said than done. To bring it home, the movie Pentagon Wars has an entertaining satirical scene about the evolution of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (11 mins). The clip shows how the plan for an infantry transport vehicle became "a troop transport that can't carry troops, a reconnaissance vehicle that's too conspicuous to do reconnaissance. And a quasi-tank that has less armor than a snow-blower but has enough ammo to take out half of D.C." Perhaps most informative is the effect on the motivation and morale of the designers—"Can you make it amphibious?" Also see: groupthink, the tyranny of small decisions, the Abilene paradox, the bandwagon effect. Or Jeff Bezos' guidance: Be stubborn on vision. Be flexible on details.

3 Sep 2023

The Droste effect

The Droste effect is an endless picture-in-picture—a part of the picture contains the whole picture, which contains the picture, which contains the picture, and on. Most of us are likely familiar with it from the fun visual effect you often see when sharing your screen on a video call, which contains the video call where you're sharing your screen, on which is the video call where... Always entertaining. Google calls it an infinity mirror. The name derives from a Dutch brand of cocoa powder, Droste, where the classic advert was a picture of a nurse carrying a tray with a box of the cocoa powder, with the picture of the woman on it carrying the tray with a box of the cocoa... Articles about the Droste effect often mention the amazing M.C. Escher's Print gallery, a picture without beginning or end.…The Droste effect is an endless picture-in-picture—a part of the picture contains the whole picture, which contains the picture, which contains the picture, and on. Most of us are likely familiar with it from the fun visual effect you often see when sharing your screen on a video call, which contains the video call where you're sharing your screen, on which is the video call where... Always entertaining. Google calls it an infinity mirror. The name derives from a Dutch brand of cocoa powder, Droste, where the classic advert was a picture of a nurse carrying a tray with a box of the cocoa powder, with the picture of the woman on it carrying the tray with a box of the cocoa... Articles about the Droste effect often mention the amazing M.C. Escher's Print gallery, a picture without beginning or end.

27 Aug 2023

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