Category Archives: Develop Understanding

Reality Check: If only you had come with an instruction manual…

You know those instruction manuals that come with electronics, appliances, and other complicated products? Even though they are friendlier than they used to be, many people ignore the manuals and just push buttons till the thing does what you want … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Help Yourself? Here are some resources…

Self-help may not be as effective as professional help. But if you can’t, or don’t want to find a suitable professional to help you work through your challenges, then self-help is better than no help at all. Last column, I … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Joy of Groundrules

How’s the new job, Sara? It’s ok, but there are an awful lot of rules. There’s a rule for when you come in, when you leave, what you can say to customers, what you do during slow times…There is a … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Joy of Mastery

In a talk on mastery, Sal Khan discusses the difficulty inherent in an educational process that pushes people to learn new material before they’ve mastered fundamentals. Mastery of learning is an appropriate topic for Khan. He’s the founder of khanacademy.org, … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Wisdom from Whys

The “5 Whys” is a technique that’s sometimes used in workplaces to analyze and solve problems. We use 5 Whys because it can help us figure out the “the root cause” of a problem. The root cause is like the … Continue reading

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Reality Check: When I Grow Up

“I’m still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up.” You’d expect that from children, teenagers, and young adults. Yet I hear it from folks who are well into their working lives or even in retirement. … Continue reading

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