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There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.

There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs. This is a sentiment expressed by the American economist Thomas Sowell, which informed his approach to difficult social and economic policy decisions. When faced with complicated issues, there are no perfect solutions, only trade-offs between different outcomes. The reserve bank faces trade-offs when setting the repo rate. Executives face trade-offs when driving growth and profitability. Every day, we face trade-offs when we decide what to prioritise. Important and complicated decisions don’t have easy choices, and often, because there is no perfect solution, no decision is made at all. This is related to the concept of “wicked problems”. One of the key attributes of wicked problems is that different stakeholders have different interests, and reasonable people will disagree on the best course of action. In a world where trade-offs are inescapable, the ability to navigate them becomes a powerful skill.  As the comedian Stephan Wright...
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There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.

There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.

This is a sentiment expressed by the American economist Thomas Sowell, which informed his approach to difficult social and economic policy decisions. When faced with complicated issues, there are no perfect solutions, only trade-offs between different outcomes.

The reserve bank faces trade-offs when setting the repo rate.

Executives face trade-offs when driving growth and profitability.

Every day, we face trade-offs when we decide what to prioritise.

Important and complicated decisions don’t have easy choices, and often, because there is no perfect solution, no decision is made at all.

This is related to the concept of “wicked problems”. One of the key attributes of wicked problems is that different stakeholders have different interests, and reasonable people will disagree on the best course of action.

In a world where trade-offs are inescapable, the ability to navigate them becomes a powerful skill. 

As the comedian Stephan Wright puts it, “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?”

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