95. Puzzle Setting, Not Goal Setting

In this episode we discuss: Puzzle setting, not goal setting. We are joined by Radhika Dutt, Author, Speaker, Consultant.

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We chat about the following with Radhika Dutt:

1. What if traditional goal setting is actually limiting innovation rather than driving it?
2. How might teams think differently if they framed challenges as “puzzles” instead of targets to hit?
3. Are OKRs pushing organisations toward short-term optimisation instead of real problem-solving?
4. How can leaders create space for curiosity and exploration in environments obsessed with metrics?
5. What would change inside your company if teams focused on solving the right problem rather than just hitting the next KPI?

References

1. https://www.linkedin.com/in/radhika-dutt/
2. https://www.radicalproduct.com/
3. https://www.radicalproduct.com/toolkit/#OHLToolkit

Biography

Radhika Dutt is the author of Radical Product Thinking: The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter which has been translated into Chinese and Japanese. The methodology she introduced in her first book is now used in over 40 countries. She is an entrepreneur, speaker, and product leader who has participated in five acquisitions, two of which were companies that she founded. She is currently Advisor on Product Thinking to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator), and does consulting and training for organizations ranging from high-tech startups to multinationals on building radical products that create a fundamental change. Radhika has built products in a wide range of industries including broadcast, media and entertainment, telecom, advertising technology, government, consumer apps, robotics, and even wine. She graduated from MIT with an SB and M.Eng in Electrical Engineering, and speaks nine languages.

Radhika is now working on her second book – it’s about why goals and targets backfire and what actually works.

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Summary

14:25 — Introducing the concept of “puzzle setting”

24:06 — What puzzle setting actually means

26:46 — Why puzzles embrace uncertainty

27:49 — The Rubik’s Cube analogy

33:22 — The “Three O’s” of puzzle setting

35:17 — Turning growth goals into puzzles

38:08 — Breaking big puzzles into smaller ones

42:46 — The shift from proving to learning

47:25 — Building critical thinking into teams

54:44 — Real business impact of puzzle thinking

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