Rhetorical Fallacies: Sliding down a Slippery Slope with Pigs

“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” George Bernard Shaw Beware of Pigs One tool of “pigs” in manipulative persuasion is the rhetorical fallacy.  A fallacy is a deliberate mis-use of logical argument.  You’ll find them regularly in political, social and family “discussions”.  Don’t … Read more

5 Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

These laws were identified and developed by Carlo M. Cipolla who was Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley up his death in the year 2000.  The full description and implication of these 5 basic laws can be read in his article The 5 Basic Laws of Human Stupidity The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. Law 1: Underestimation Always and … Read more

Simple Rules for Effective Meetings

Here’s a new rule for people who wish to create a meeting: Al Pittampalli asks “What difference could you make that requires no one’s permission other than your own?”  Do that first.  Don’t call the meeting until you have done that. What do you think?  Feasible? A Vaccination for The Meeting Virus? “Lets meet to … Read more

6 Steps for Business Problem Solving

The 6 steps for Business Problem Solving What is the Problem? What Alternatives exist? What Criteria are important? Analyse alternatives against criteria Choose the Best Option. Define the Execution Plan. These steps come from the IESE MBA Course Analysis of Business Problems (ABP).  Wikipedia has a great section on Structured Decision Making models.