One of the biggest mistakes we make in life is convincing ourselves that our ideas are unique and ours alone. We rationalize keeping our ideas to ourselves because we are afraid that others will steal them, or worst—we believe our ideas aren’t good enough. Our ideas are precious, but they aren’t that unique nor that […]
Why do so many people believe they can become successful simply by copying what successful people do? Identifying a role model and then playing follow the leader is an age-old habit of looking for “shortcuts” to success. Why? Are They Smarter? Many people believe their role models are successful because they are smarter. Research shows […]
Ideas inspire people to change how we do the things we do. But ideas by themselves are just an inkling of what could be. Ideas that remain ideas forever eventually become ideas of the past, things we once thought could change the world. But never did. No one ever changed the world by just thinking […]
Ideas have power. They can change the world. They can open new windows of opportunity and inspire us to do things that we never thought possible. Ideas transform our perception of what is possible and inspire us to push on when we feel like giving up. Success can be just around the corner with one […]
As humans, we have a unique superpower. That superpower is our ability to convince ourselves that something is true — when it’s not. We act stupidly. Sometimes stupidity makes people act against their own best interests. When their belief in what is true is challenged by contradictory evidence, stupidity causes people to hold on to […]
The world our kids will need to compete in is radically different from the world ten years ago. The old adage about education that “what was good enough for you when you were a kid is good enough for today” gives comfort and justification that everything is fine. Everything is not fine. Our schools are […]
“What are you going to do about it?” My grandmother was chastising me for whining about how life wasn’t fair – or some other perceived injustice. What could I do about it! I was only a kid. It’s someone else’s job to fix it! Or at least I thought so. Instead of letting me pass […]
Given the esteem and trust we grant scientists and innovators, how could this happen? How could research fraud, falsified data, and unproven conclusions result in 1,800 papers in leading journals and peer review articles being retracted in 2020? And this is not an anomaly. [1] Two decades ago, journals were retracting roughly 40 papers per […]
“Dad – what’s that?” My daughter, 4 or 5, was in her car seat as we were running errands. She grew impatient with my delay in answering her question. “That!” she said as she pointed out her window at the curb. “It’s called a curb,” I explained. “What’s it made of?” “Cement.” “What’s cement?” I […]
I looked up and saw that look of disappointment. My 8-year-old self was staring into the face of my father. I had badgered him for weeks to let me cut the grass to earn the same allowance my older brother got for the same chore. My early activism in equal pay for equal work. His […]