Mental Representations: The Art of Finding The Elephant
In 1501, the Church of Florence commissioned Michelangelo to sculpt a marble statue of David the Biblical shepherd boy. Because the...
Shattering the Three Myths of Expertise
In the last twenty years we’ve learned a tremendous amount about how expertise is created. Scientists like K Anders Ericsson from Florida...
The Three Things Every Leader Needs
What is a leader? The simplest and perhaps most literal definition is “someone with followers.” But the presence of followers alone...
The Pros and Cons of Positive Thinking
What’s the best way to gear up for a new habit? There are two common approaches. One is to imagine the positive outcome of solving a...
The Lure of the Irrational: Why Basketball Players and Birds Fall Prey to Superstition
Irrational behavior is commonplace in sports. Michael Jordan wore his "lucky" University of North Carolina practice shorts under his...
How to Learn, or, Your Brain: A User's Manual
The concept of studying is at the core of our learning institutions. It's what you're supposed to be doing in college. Still, just how...
Edison's Errors: When Genius is 99 Percent Flop Sweat
When you think of inventors, the iconic example might be Thomas Edison, who brought us the electric lightbulb. In the process, he...
Push-ups, Pyramids, and You
The Great Pyramid of Giza was built around 2500 BC. Its individual stone blocks weigh up to 50 tons, and its base contains roughly...
The Seinfeld Productivity Problem, and the Power of "Nothing"
When you think about Seinfeld, it's likely you think of his perpetually rerun TV show by the same name. His comedy was built on seemingly...
Sacrifice, Mastery and a Deal with the Devil
Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner, in examining the lives of Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, T. S....
