The Stonecutter’s Credo is both an allegory for persistence and a caution about false attribution: “When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split…
One of the advantages of living in Silicon Valley is you get to meet some amazing people. A recent meet-up with a friend reminded me of the time we got to meet Robert Joss, Dean Emeritus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. During his career, Professor Joss researched how people can be developed into…
Most people spend their lives avoiding things that scare them but the key to self-protection might be to trust your fear instinct. Fear is a natural response to physical and emotional danger, based on an evolutionary survival mechanism. The physical response, known as “fight or flight,” includes sweating, increased heart rate, and high adrenaline levels…
The benefits of having a mentor are well known and well documented, ranging from increased self-confidence to more promotions and higher pay. This is especially true when mentorship turns into sponsorship. But what about the benefits of an anti-mentor? A strong mentor provides guidance and advice to a less experienced and usually younger person, often…
In these days of extremisms on all sides, I’ve been thinking about the power of a committed few. In particular, what percentage of a population is required to change the perception of the majority? Alternatively, when does an idea shift from the minority to the majority? We tend to think of social progress and change…
We innately know how to hear but we need to learn to listen. While that might seem counter-intuitive, it’s like the difference between seeing words versus reading books. Overly simplified, to read (and understand) a book, we need to recognize letters, put them together into words, understand the connotation of sentences, and organize them into…
With the rise of the selfie culture, older adults often complain today’s youth are more narcissistic and self-obsessed than they were at that age. In fact, some have declared a narcissism epidemic. But are the young really more narcissistic? Recent research on a large sample of students in three U.S. universities suggests otherwise. The study…
We all like to think of ourselves as honest but, in fact, we all cheat a little bit. Especially when we think our peer group is cheating too. At least that’s the conclusion of Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. Dan researches the moral side of decision making and how…
If you adopt the language of an active mindset, you might act more decisively and take more responsibility for your actions. People with a passive mindset tend to shirk responsibility and think that life happens to them. They aren’t in control what happens. This attitude is reflective in their language: “It’s not my fault I…
In the book Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, there’s a vignette called ‘Beware of the Leopard’ which explains why it’s critical to provide convenient access to important information. The vignette is a useful way to explain information asymmetry, in which one person has relevant information not known by or available to the other person. Here’s…