Richard Feynman: The Universe in a Glass of Wine
A poet once said, “The whole universe is in a glass of wine.” We will probably never know in what sense he meant that, for poets do not write to be understood. But it is true that if we look at a …
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Contagious: 6 Reasons Things Catch On
Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger spent the last 10 years looking into what makes things popular. Questions like: Why are some stories, ads, and rumors more infectious than others? Why do some …
5 Short Reads to Expand Your Mind
I’ve read almost 30 books so far this year. Here are five that expanded my mind. Tempo: Timing, Tactics and Strategy in Narrative-Driven Decision-Making A lot of books talk about the what and …
The Cookie Monster Knows More About Willpower Than You
I had no idea how much thought actually went into the programming of Sesame Street before reading Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. Willpower is important to life success and that’s why …
What Is Complexity?
While it seems more and more common these days, it’s important to determine when you’re operating in complexity. Complexity means that little things can have a big effect and big things …
Teddy Roosevelt’s 10 Rules For Reading
“A book must be interesting to the particular reader at that particular time.” *** Theodore Roosevelt was perhaps the most well-read president. On a normal day, he’d read a book before breakfast …
Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error
“It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I’m right.” — Molière *** “Why is it so fun to be right?” That’s the opening line from Kathryn Schulz’ excellent book …
Bird By Bird: Anne Lamott offers Some Instructions on Writing and Life
I stumbled across Anne Lamott’s beautiful Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Lamott’s advice is down to earth, real, and void of any pretentiousness. In fact, it’s …
Angela Duckworth on Why Grit Matters More than IQ
Angela Duckworth has advanced our understanding of how self-control and grit impact success more than most. When she applied to the PhD program at Penn, she wrote that her experiences working in …
Falsification: How to Destroy Incorrect Ideas
Sir Karl Popper wrote that the nature of scientific thought is that we could never be sure of anything. The only way to test the validity of any theory was to prove it wrong, a process he labeled …
Decision Journal: Template and Example Included
One of the strangest things about being human is that we can’t trust our own memories of what we were thinking. Not because we forget but rather because our brains actively edit the past to make …
Slow Down and Think
Sebastian Garcia made a mistake, but he couldn’t figure it out. At the 2011 National Junior High Chess Championship, he was looking strong and heading towards a victory. Then he made a mistake, …
Goal Induced Blindness
In 1996 a disaster of historic proportions happened at the peak of Mount Everest. In the entire climbing season of 1996, fifteen climbers died. Eight of those deaths took place on a single day. …
The Structure of a Story
“Human beings master the basics of storytelling as young children and retain this capability throughout their lives.” — Stephen Denning When psychologist T. A. Harley researched the academic …
Chris Hadfield on Life, the Universe and What’s Really Out There
A fantastic interview with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield on life, the universe and what’s really out there. Here’s an excerpt that really struck me and hits home on one of our key …
Passionate Prose: Balzac’s Love Letter
“I feel foolish and happy as soon as I let myself think of you.” — Honoré de Balzac *** Even in the age of email, texts, and snap chats nothing has replaced the power of a hand-written …