The following is half-baked, but I’d rather share half-baked thoughts, take criticism, possibly embarrass myself, and learn than keep quiet and not learn. Since before Plato a major goal of philosophy has been to figure out how to make yourself happy, to understand what makes for a good life, and how to make one’s life a good life. I haven’t met many philosophers, but they don’t seem the happiest people.[…] Keep reading →
Do you have trouble making habits stick? Come to my seminar one month from today! Hosted by the Columbia Business School Alumni Club and NYU-Stern, I gave this seminar at NYU last month and people loved it. They learned things about themselves and about each other that made habits click for the first time. Date: Sunday, June 14, noon to 4pm Location: NYU-Stern, 40 West Fourth Street Whom better to[…] Keep reading →
Business schools teach a lot of leadership. Other vocational schools do too. I don’t know them as well, but I bet the following pattern applies to them. Say someone gets their MBA and gets a job in finance. They don’t start at the top of a hierarchy. If they do well they get promoted to manage people like they were. Then they get promoted to manage yet more people. They[…] Keep reading →
People often ask me if I use my physics education today. You face similar questions from others, I’m sure. You probably ask them of yourself. Nobody’s life follows a straight path from birth to where they are. I loved the field, but I don’t publish or do physics experiments. I still love the field and can’t believe everyone doesn’t study it more in school. But I teach and coach leadership[…] Keep reading →
Following up yesterday’s post, “The basics: more simple and valuable than you think” about how the masters tend to focus on basics, I found a series of videos made by a great basketball player, Michael Jordan. He’s made few instructional videos. He could do things no one else could and made them look easy. He can teach anything he wants. So what does he teach? Simple basics. Things like getting[…] Keep reading →
When I teach and coach basics, someone in the audience always wants to know about some advanced application of the material. I understand why they ask. When you’re learning the footwork to dance salsa, you really want to do the fancy spin moves, so you ask about that. The great dancers concentrate on their footwork, though. The masters seem always to suggest sticking with the basics. I find that the[…] Keep reading →
Following up yesterday’s post, “How lecturing is the opposite of how we learn,” on the counterproductivity of lecturing… What does it mean to teach someone? It seems to me something like you want someone to see things the way you do—to believe what you believe. The dictionary says it means to impart knowledge, not just facts. It’s similar to influencing someone. If you want someone to see things the way[…] Keep reading →