...I grew up thinking that being smart was the thing most to be desired. Perhaps you did too. But I bet it's not what you really want. Imagine you had a choice between being really smart but discovering nothing new, and being less smart but discovering lots of new ideas...
...As I reflect on my evolution in leadership, I can’t help but think of the early days; back when I had “no clue what I was doing”. What stands out is the troublesome perception of leadership that I started with, extracted from pattern-matching the “leaders of our day”...
...Leverage is everywhere. You felt it as a kid shooting peas across the room with a spoon. Or when you first used a calculator, and wondered why your teachers made you do long division by hand for 3 years...
...In the spirit of multidisciplinary learning, Seeking Wisdom is a compendium of ideas from biology, psychology, statistics, physics, economics, and human behavior...
...Instead of focussing on making our work bigger, we focus on making it work harder. Instead of aiming to maximise our impact, we aim to minimise our waste...
...Regardless of how the options may change, the effectiveness of this framework and exercise seems to endure. I hope you leverage this approach for yourself and to talk through career or work moves with your team, your leader, your friends - anyone who is looking for some structure in their thinking...
...The empty part of the drawer is what makes it a useful tool...
...When you hold an option and the world moves with you, you enjoy the benefits; when the world moves against you, you are shielded from the bad outcome since you are not obligated to do anything. Optionality is the state of enjoying possibilities without being on the hook to do anything...
...An unmotivated student is unlikely to learn much at school. But there’s a wide range of opinion on what parents and teachers can do to instill that motivation. Some swear by rewards and prizes. Others lavish praise or dole it out judiciously...
...While we all hold an opinion on almost everything, how many of us actually do the work required to have an opinion?...
...Most approaches to time management make things worse. Start by acknowledging your limits...
...Simpler solutions are generally better than more complex ones and can help us hone in on what really matters by blocking out the noise and more effectively capturing the underlying structure of a given situation...
...This is an answer we’ve heard before — after all, most leaders wax over the stories of their careers with a thick coat of grit and determination. And whether it takes the form of an inspirational quote splashed across a striking stock photo or an encouraging blog post about the startup grind, discipline is always cast as a recurring character when entrepreneurs talk about success...
...While finding “the right time” to prepare for change can be difficult, there are myriad ways to get started. The author presents four steps leaders can take to prepare their organizations to thrive amid constant change...
...Too often, we imagine life to be like the hero’s journey, and leave out its crucial last step: letting go...
...Our obsession with being informed makes it hard to think long-term. We spend hours consuming news because we want to be informed. The problem is, the news doesn’t make us informed – quite the opposite. The more news we consume, the more misinformed we become...
...Perhaps this is what your team needs from you...
...We make hundreds of decisions every single day. With that in mind, even a small upgrade to your decision-making skills will create a staggering difference in your long-term trajectory. And yet, most people don’t bother building those skills...
...A mathematician on how to get the mind into motion...
...To get what you want, deserve what you want. Trust, success, and admiration are earned...
