“You can get 12 months of work done in 11 months but you can’t get 12 months of work done in 12 months.” Please re-read the above sentence. At first glance, it doesn’t make any sense. Upon reflection, however, you may come to see the wisdom embedded within the statement. If you are constantly working,…

Most of us are familiar with the famous classroom dictum: i before e except after c. It is helpful most of the time but not always. For example, do you find it weird that the word “weird” isn’t spelled wierd? If you wish to stay open to unlearning, it’s helpful to remember that every rule…

In the picture to the right, count the bars from the top and then count them from the bottom. Did you count ten the first time and seven the second time? I love optical illusions such as this one because they force us to acknowledge that the world isn’t always so black-or-white. Often, our starting…

Yesterday, on my other website, I shared how Google’s new “Project Glass” might soon allow users to receive real-time voice translations of foreign conversations and, thus, render the need to learn a second language unnecessary. Many people–especially pessimists–immediately grasp how the technology might cause some foreign language instructors to lose their jobs. This is overly…

One of my favorite authors and thinkers, Daniel Pink, has a wonderful post on New Year’s Resolutions. Instead of making a resolution to do something new this year, Pink suggests making a resolution not to change something. Interestingly, by reversing your thinking and asking a different question, you can get human psychology working for you…

I travel frequently and it is not uncommon that I must use public restrooms. On occasion, I encounter a disgusting and unsanitary toilet (such as the picture to the right). My initial reaction — pardon the pun — is to get pissed off at the person who did it. This is only natural. What isn’t…

Are you open-minded? If so, when was the last time you changed your mind about a long-held belief? When was the last time you publicly admitted you were wrong? When was the last time you acknowledged that another person could look at the exact same thing and come to an equally valid — but opposite —…

Years ago, I recall one of the more hotly contested issues among the readers of "Dear Abby" (or, perhaps, it was Ann Landers) was the issue of whether toilet paper should be rolled over the top or the bottom. Personally, I have my own preference but I'm a firm believer that in order to stay…

I enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, which discusses the value of heeding your intuition. It's a powerful idea. Unfortunately, it is incomplete. Often our intuition is wrong. The problem with Gladwell's book is that it never provides a counter narrative. That is he never tells those stories of people who trusted…

What do you do if you want to sell more carrots? One thing, apparently, is to begin viewing the world from a different perspective. Recently, Fast Company, published this insightful article describing how the creative team at Crispin (an advertising firm) helped BoltHouse Farms increase sales of its pre-cut baby carrots. How did they do…