Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture by Albert Bandura, arguably the greatest living psychologist. To almost anyone who ever took an undergraduate psychology course, he is best remembered for his Bobo doll study, where he found that young children who observed aggressive behavior being reinforced (on a doll), were more…
When I first heard the title of Sinead O’Connor’s song, “I do not want what I haven’t got”, I thought that she had identified the secret to happiness. Reflecting a bit, though, I realized I’m one of the happiest people I know and I want lots of things I haven’t got. I want to finish…
” … we may then define intellect in general as the power of good response from the point of view of truth or fact.” – Thorndike, 1921 Edward Tufte impresses me. His books on visual data show him as possessing in copious amounts that very rare commodity – truly original thoughts . So, when he tweeted…
I’m not much for reading management blogs. Most of them are just a collection of worn-out cliches, but the fifth of Cristina’s Five Things You Wish You Could Say to Employees, really caught my eye. 5. Your Work Is Sloppy! OK, don’t use the “s” word, it has all sorts of negative baggage. Employees who have this…
Apparently, I skipped from #7 to #9, so here are two more things I have learned in 55 years bringing me up to 13. #8 Kindness is never wasted Over the years, I have donated a lot of money, anonymously, to various causes. In more cases than I want to admit, I have seen signs…
This is number 12 of 55 things I have learned in almost 55 years, back by (believe it or not) popular demand. You can find #11, just accept that you can’t do everything, right here. I’ve had a fair bit of success lately, as well as in my life overall – made some money, published…
This is number 11 of 55 things I have learned in almost 55 years. You can find number 10 here , ten days ago, and that brings me to number 11. “Just accept that you can’t always do everything.” I’m very bad at taking this advice, as anyone who has ever met me can…
In The Christmas Choir, a nun asks a Wall Street businessman volunteering at the homeless shelter what the meaning of life is. He guesses to be happy. She says, “The meaning of life is to be useful.” I thought of that this week when someone on twitter commented on all of the different activities I…
Let’s make a deal. Would you trade me 30 years of your life for this house in Malibu? Say, you are 25 now, so, instead of living to 78, you’d live to be 48. Would you trade? If I threw in a really nice car, all the newest computers, iPhones, big-screen TVs and a new…
This is number seven. You can find 1, 2 & 3 here and 4-6 here. “I went to a strip club once. I looked around and thought, ‘All of these guys are complete losers.’ Then I asked myself what was I doing here. I must be a loser, too. I got up and left and…