Episode summaryWe have more information, better technology and more powerful AI than ever, and leaders still struggle to solve problems. This episode is a leader’s guide to problem solving in the AI age. It covers why most problems stay unsolved, from not understanding the problem to treating symptoms to avoiding the hard work, and why gathering information and using AI isn’t the same as deciding. Then the six steps of problem solving, and why AI should help you think without doing the thinking for you.

Episode highlights

* Why understanding the problem comes before solving it, and the comparison trap leaders fall into

* Solving symptoms instead of causes: more marketing budget, more discounts, more software

* Fixing the problem or just avoiding the pain by pushing it to next quarter

* Why information and tools create an illusion of progress without decisions and execution

* Where AI helps and where it replaces your thinking

* The six steps: understand the problem, investigate causes, consider solutions, make a decision, implement it, evaluate the outcome

Hottest takes

* “That is why understanding the problem beats solving the problem initially.”

* “Information alone doesn’t change anything.”

* “I’m not saying don’t use AI. I’m saying don’t allow AI to do the thinking for you.”

* “They are just delaying the problem from becoming a full-blown crisis.”

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Episode summarySomeone reached out and asked how to deal with the weight of regret. They knew exactly what to do, chose otherwise, and now can’t forgive themselves. This episode looks at why regret doesn’t leave until you let yourself heal, and two ways of thinking that helped me recover: treating a mistake as a stepping stone instead of your whole life, and reading the gap in your decision making as something to grow into, not proof you can’t trust yourself.

Episode highlights

* Why regret never goes away if you never allow yourself to heal

* Why mistakes are necessary, and what a life spent avoiding every one looks like

* Tip 1: see the mistake as a stepping stone, not your entire life

* Tip 2: reframe “I can’t trust myself” as a gap in your thinking you can close

* What to do with regret over someone you lost, and over what you wish you’d said

Hottest takes

* “It’s not about not making mistakes. It’s about recovering quickly, taking the lessons and moving ahead.”

* “If you’re regretting, it means that you don’t see your mistakes as a stepping stone. You see them as your entire life.”

* “It shows that you still need to grow, not that you cannot be trusted to make the right decision.”

* “The mistakes and the challenges we face are what makes our life worth it.”

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Episode summaryThis conversation with social psychologist Andre Walton starts with a simple question. What does it really mean to build sustainably? We talk about creative thinking as a way of seeing the world, why stress pushes us to grab the first idea and stop looking, and what working yourself to death quietly takes out of your life. Then we get into AI, what Andre calls cognitive surrender, why he says to use AI as a brainstorming partner and not a decision maker, and how emotional intelligence ties all of it together.

Episode highlights

* Creative thinking as a way of thinking, not painting or writing, and how a narrow focus erodes empathy and emotional intelligence

* How stress shrinks our thinking down to the first idea we find

* What sustainable building looks like: recreation, critical friends and different viewpoints, not just long hours

* Cognitive surrender: what happens when AI does your writing and your deciding

* Why AI works from historical data and rarely says “I don’t know”

* Why emotional intelligence should regulate everything else

Hottest takes

* “The idea that the harder you work, the better you build your business has serious limitations.” (Andre)

* “There are ways of using AI as your brainstorming partner. Not your decision maker.” (Andre)

* “Those neural pathways that we use for decision-making, like any other neural pathways, if we don’t use them, we lose them.” (Andre)

* “If we know it’s a machine, we treat it as a machine, as a tool.” (You)

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Connect with Andre Walton. His book is Creative Thinking, A Coach’s Perspective, available on Amazon. Email: DrAndre@planforchange.org].