How to solve a problem
I was interviewed on How I Write about the craft of writing essays. You can watch or listen to the episode on YouTube, Substack, Spotify or Apple Podcasts. I wrote today’s essay with the one and only Johanna Karlsson. It is about solving messy problems. /Henrik Every problem cries in its own language Go like a blood hound where the truth has trampled —Tomas Tranströmer, “About History” Like most people, I was really bad at making decisions when I was 25. If I was confronted with a complicated problem, like figuring out what to do with my life, I would pick a solution on a whim, more or less, or, if that was too hard, I would straightforwardly just ignore the problem. This made my life feel less than good at times. But then something fell in place. Or no, it wasn’t a specific moment like that. It was more the cumulative effect of spending 36 years trying things and failing and learning a little bit here and there, and—mostly over the last four and a half years—having a few conceptual br
I wrote this essay with Johanna Karlsson, so it is a collaboration but I narrate. /Henrik Every problem cries in its own language Go like a blood hound where the truth has trampled —Tomas Tranströmer, “About History” Like most people, I was really bad at making decisions when I was 25. If I was confronted with a complicated problem, like figuring out what to do with my life, I would pick a solution on a whim, more or less, or, if that was too hard, I would straightforwardly just ignore the problem. This made my life feel less than good at times. But then something fell in place. Or no,…
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