Episode 140: The problem with problem solving

Episode 140: The problem with problem solving

Author: Bart Vanderhaegen March 15, 2023 Duration: 12:36

It is not contested that managers rely on their teams to get problems solved.

However, in practise this turns out less easy than stated here. I go into some of the reasons why it is not trivial and concrete ways for improving this.


Bart Vanderhaegen hosts Rapid Idea Improvement, a podcast that digs into a powerful and practical question: how do ideas actually get better? Instead of staying in the abstract, it applies the principles of knowledge growth-particularly those from thinkers like Karl Popper and David Deutsch-to the messy, real-world domains of business, management, and economics, while also reaching into fields like physics for broader insight. Each episode is an exploration of critical rationalism in action, examining how we can systematically criticize and refine our thinking to solve problems more effectively. You’ll hear discussions that treat business challenges not as puzzles with fixed answers, but as opportunities for evolutionary idea improvement, where bold conjectures and rigorous error-correction drive progress. This isn't about motivational tips or surface-level analysis; it's about building a deeper framework for understanding how knowledge expands, and then using that framework to make your own thinking more potent and adaptable. The conversations in this podcast are for anyone who suspects that the way we approach problems-in leadership, strategy, or innovation-can be fundamentally upgraded. By weaving together epistemology with practical application, the show aims to provide listeners with a genuinely useful toolkit for accelerating the development of their most important ideas.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Rapid Idea Improvement
Podcast Episodes
Episode 92 - Management seems to be the science of approximations [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:36
What do I mean ? In management, we tend to “replace” actual ideas with approximations too easily and too quickly High level statements about goals, visions, attitudes Numbers about everything (dashboards, …) Why do we do…
Episode 91 - What is the role of ideas in sales management methods ? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:19
Sales management methods typically deal with procedures, practises, policies, dashboards with numbers (actuals vs target), etc But what is the role of the ideas of sales people in all of this ? And the role of improving…
Episode 87 - How do ideas spread in organisations ? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:44
So here is the key question that every CEO, leader or manager asks him/ herself: Given that I know where to go with this company, & how, ... how can my idea spread so everyone knows it ?
Episode 85 - Popper’s concept of what a problem is [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:34
According to Karl Popper: a problem is a conflict between ideas Think = solving problems = growing knowledge (knowledge containing less and less conflicts) Thinking is not : finding more arguments for your case, that is…