Farnam Street
Mastering the best of what other people have already figured out
Knowledge workers often think they produce emails (and meetings), but this misses something fundamental. As Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman explained to journalist Jason Zweig, what knowledge workers …
There are three steps to effectively taking notes while reading: At the end of each chapter write a few bullet points that summarize what you’ve read and make it personal if you can — …
During a recent interview Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger had some interesting comments on how to outsmart people who are smarter than you. Munger: We’ve learned how to outsmart people who are …
If you’re a knowledge worker you make decisions every day. In fact, whether you realize it or not, decisions are your job. Decisions are how you make a living. Of course, not every decision is …
Empty suits share three things in common. First, they are blind to the limits of their own knowledge. Second, they oversimplify the problem. Finally, they never utter the phrase “I don’t …
Sleep is way more important than we realize. It’s also, according to David Randall in Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep, “the largest overlooked part of your life and …
Equations are the lifeblood of mathematics, science, and technology. Without them, our world would not exist in its present form. However, equations have a reputation for being scary: Stephen …
“Friendships are the least institutionalized and most voluntary social relationship we have.” In Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are, Carlin Flora explores …
“Geniuses … were believed to possess rare and special powers: the power to create, redeem, and destroy; the power to penetrate the fabric of the universe; the power to see into the future, …
In Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect, neuroscientist Matthew Lieberman, sets out to “get clear about ‘who we are’ as social creatures and to reveal how a more accurate …
Following, beauty, and honors, the final part of Canadian filmmaker Reid Gower’s trilogy on Richard Feynman, covers curiosity. The world is strange. The whole universe is very strange, but you …
Here is a short list of books that literally changed the way I see the world. 1. Man’s Search For MeaningA gift from a friend. As hard as you think your life is, it pales in comparison to …
The stoics used their understanding of perception, action, and will to create an operating system for life. The Three Disciplines A common thread central to the philosophy of the meditations and …
Bruce Feiler’s book — The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More — explores the hidden secrets of improving your …
“There can be no great genius without a touch of madness.” — Seneca This is a beautiful passage from Giacomo Leopardi’s Zibaldone on the conflict between reason and nature. Reason is the …
It’s easy to make your organization more innovative if you stop trying to show everyone how innovative you are. What can you do to add more innovation to your organization? A question, no doubt, …