A story about constraint programming in production I work at an EdTech company serving medical students. A few years ago, we set out to solve a problem: Students in their dedicated period (4-8 weeks of full-time study for a very important exam) had trouble planning their study. They needed to schedule hours of material each day while accounting for other schoolwork and life. So could we do better than the existing options of buying a plan or making a big excel sheet and modifying it evertime life got in the way? Read more...

My daily Wordle habit reminds me of a challenge/game from my volleyball coaching days. After a short service practice (2 minutes), line everyone up to serve from one side at a target on the other. Regular targets were 1) a hula-hoop in the plane of the net and 2) me sitting on the other side of the court. Players serve one at a time and get one chance. Make it very clear that each server gets one and only one attempt. Read more...

When a free-ball drops between players, the problem is often poor understanding of the team’s system —not a lack of talk. Short yells can confirm action or announce deviation from the norm, but talk is not the foundation of great play. Team coordination emerges from players who —observing and thinking independently— share a mental model of what to do, how to do it, and who does what. Beginners have simple mental models; they’re more like rules or impulses than guidelines or reactions: Read more...

Expectations Spark Frustrations Frustration sparks when our performance doesn’t match our expectations. Unfortunately, our expectations often differ from the realities of learning. The simplest, wrongest view of progress is the expectation of linearity. The belief that more time in -> better performance: 5 units of time always creating to 5 units of ability. This model of progress is clearly wrong to anyone who’s ever been tired, stressed, or sore. Some practice is better than others. Read more...

Awareness and Technique You can have a lot of fun listening to the crowd at a high-level match. Amazed younger players exclaim “I would die if that serve came at me” or “She jumps so high!” But I think the most meaningful phrase to hear is “How did they know that was going to happen!” Professional athletes excute advanced techniques with strength, grace, and consistency. But the real differentiator between professional and beginner is mental, not physical. Read more...

On evaluation