Sublime

Life consists of solving a series of problems.

the design thinking methodology: manifest a bias toward action, and don’t be afraid of failure.

The ideas in this book are rooted in the design thinking tradition. Whereas others have applied its tenets in organizational innovation and change,3 I have chosen to focus on personal transformation and empowerment.

Design thinking emphasizes that you always make sure you are working on the real problem.

At the heart of the course is a self-selected term project: students must either do something they have wanted to do but never done, or handle something that is a problem in their lives. I am available to discuss their choices.

In my class he learned not to recoil or procrastinate when a new idea arose, but to act. Just that small insight, which we call bias toward action (which we’ll discuss later), has changed his worldview and pushed him down several roads in the last two years.

take the view that life is basically a problem-solving activity, and you can learn to make both the process and the result better. My goal with this book has been to give you tools and concepts that you can use to achieve a fuller, more fruitful, more satisfying life.

The best way to fix the world is to fix yourself.

Functional and dysfunctional behavior both result from choices people make based on meanings they create.