95. Puzzle Setting, Not Goal Setting
From The Operations Room: A Podcast for COO’s by Bethany Ayers & Brandon Mensinga
March 12, 2026 · 57 min · Season 2 · Episode 95
About this episode
The episode discusses the concept of puzzle setting as an alternative to traditional goal setting, featuring insights from guest Radhika Dutt.
In this episode we discuss: Puzzle setting, not goal setting. We are joined by Radhika Dutt, Author, Speaker, Consultant. Love The Operations Room? Please support us by rating and reviewing it here . We chat about the following with Radhika Dutt: What if traditional goal setting is actually limiting innovation rather than driving it? How might teams think differently if they framed challenges as “puzzles” instead of targets to hit? Are OKRs pushing organisations toward short-term optimisation instead of real problem-solving? How can leaders create space for curiosity and exploration in environments obsessed with metrics? What would change inside your company if teams focused on solving the right problem rather than just hitting the next KPI? References https://www.linkedin.com/in/radhika-dutt/ https://www.radicalproduct.com/ 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…
People in this episode
Hosts: Bethany Ayers, Brandon Mensinga
Guest: Radhika Dutt
Topics covered
- puzzle setting
- goal setting
- innovation
- team dynamics
- leadership
- problem-solving
Keywords
- puzzle setting
- goal setting
- innovation
- OKRs
- leadership
- metrics
- problem-solving
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Operations Room, Monetary Authority of Singapore
Books & works: Radical Product Thinking: The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter
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