Asking for a “Quack! Quack!”
Now and then, I hit a wall. It feels like I’ve tried everything, thought through every angle, and still nothing works. The problem before me becomes heavy and immovable — and I feel stuck. I’ve learned that the way out isn’t always to push harder. Sometimes, it’s to speak. Out loud. A colleague many years ago showed me this in the quirkiest way: he kept a tiny rubber duck glued to the top of his computer screen. Whenever he got stuck on a problem and couldn’t find a colleague to listen, he’d explain it to the duck — a strange thing to witness! More often than not, he’d already uncovered the answer by the time he’d finished talking it through. ...