JoshuaWise.com

On Solving Hard Problems


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solving-hard-problems [2012/09/09 09:33]
joshuawise [Acknowledgements]
solving-hard-problems [2012/10/13 08:49] (current)
joshuawise
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 Hard problems are hard because, well, they're not easy.  This might seem obvious, but they require a qualitatively different skillset from the sorts of things that we use every day to deal with minor difficulties.  Hard problems require perseverance.  Hard problems require throwing every trick in the book at them.  Hard problems require an intimate knowledge of the system in which they appear... and sometimes systems outside those, too.  Hard problems require the people working with them to be at their best.  In this article, I've presented a handful of pieces of advice that can help to develop a methodology for working problems like the toughest I've encountered. Hard problems are hard because, well, they're not easy.  This might seem obvious, but they require a qualitatively different skillset from the sorts of things that we use every day to deal with minor difficulties.  Hard problems require perseverance.  Hard problems require throwing every trick in the book at them.  Hard problems require an intimate knowledge of the system in which they appear... and sometimes systems outside those, too.  Hard problems require the people working with them to be at their best.  In this article, I've presented a handful of pieces of advice that can help to develop a methodology for working problems like the toughest I've encountered.
  
-I solicit your feedback -- was this helpful?  Could I have been more clear in some places?  Do you have other poignant examples?  [[contact|Let me know.]]+I solicit your feedback -- was this helpful?  Could I have been more clear in some places?  Do you have other poignant examples?  [[contact|Let me know]], or feel free to leave comments below.
  
 **[[contact|joshua]]** **[[contact|joshua]]**
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 I would like to thank [[http://www.bswolf.com/|Ben Wolf]] for his expert proofreading of this article.  (He provided a handful of excellent stylistic suggestions, as well as a handful that I hardheadedly refused to take, so the remaining dysfluencies should be seen as my fault alone.)  I would also like to thank Luke Chang, my manager during the time I wrote this article, for his understanding in helping me walk the fine line between providing detail and revealing our trade secrets. I would like to thank [[http://www.bswolf.com/|Ben Wolf]] for his expert proofreading of this article.  (He provided a handful of excellent stylistic suggestions, as well as a handful that I hardheadedly refused to take, so the remaining dysfluencies should be seen as my fault alone.)  I would also like to thank Luke Chang, my manager during the time I wrote this article, for his understanding in helping me walk the fine line between providing detail and revealing our trade secrets.
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 +~~DISQUS~~