Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Dan Pink when he spoke at a lunch event here in St. Louis. While we were eating lunch waiting for the main event, my friend Gene said to me, “You should write a book.” Like many people I know, my initial reaction was along the lines of, […]
Monthly Archives: January 2010
This is my brain on the web
During a New Year’s Day seminar in which he spoke about some things he would be tracking and doing in 2010, Dan Pink made an offhand comment that “I like lists”. This comment, along with the coming of the new year and the inspiration from the seminar, prompted me to create a new “brain” – […]
Being ready to die, he was more likely to live
Last night I attended my first kendo class. As a beginner, I felt clumsy and awkward as I tried to coordinate my footwork, proper holding of the shinai, and basic overhead strikes. And awed as I watched the senior members of the club do some free sparring toward the end of class. I am looking […]
Uncertainty is far more challenging
In How Life Imitates Chess: Making the Right Moves, from the Board to the Boardroom, former world chess champion Gary Kasparov discusses the challenges of solving “puzzles”: Knowing a solution is at hand is a huge advantage; it’s like not having a “none of the above” option. Anyone with reasonable competence and adequate resources can […]
James Gleick’s “Isaac Newton” a great introduction
After reading Quicksilver, the first book in Neal Stephenson‘s Baroque Cycle, I became very interested to learn more about some the historical figures around whom the story revolved – Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, John Wilkens, Christopher Wren, …, and Isaac Newton, the founders and early members of the Royal Society. Given my interest in physics, […]
A tale of two trainers (in which one is a factory worker and the other an artist)
The following descriptions are of two personal trainers who provide training to their clients using equipment and methods based on the work of Joseph Pilates. Trainer 1: Received training from one school. Her approach to training: This is the way I learned it, this is the way I’m teaching it to you. Don’t question me, […]
The end of my beginning
Today is an interesting day for me. It is the first day that I am living beyond the age that my dad was when he died. Although I don’t feel old – and my kids would tell you I don’t act old, or at least not my age – knowing that I have now outlived […]
Dissatisfied? Dan Pink tells you why, Seth Godin tells you what you can do about it
In his new book, Drive, author Dan Pink talks about what really motivates us, the “instrinsic drive” that we want to – but don’t always – follow. He describes the three pillars of this instrinsic motivation: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. These three, working in concert, provide the foundation for satisfaction, and if any of these […]
Seth Godin wants you to become indispensable
When I was young, I went to see Raiders of the Lost Ark with my mom. At the conclusion of the opening sequence, as Indy’s escape plane flies away, my mom leaned over and said, “Oh my God. Is the whole movie going to be like this?” I had a very similar feeling when – on […]
Compliance or engagement: Which do you prefer for your kids?
Like many parents, I always enjoyed taking my sons to their first day of school when they were young. One year in particular stands out. My elder son was just starting the second grade, his second year at this school. As we walked in on the first day of class, it seemed as if a […]