It’s been over two since I last worked in regular physical proximity with folks beyond my immediate team at Stanford. Of all the things I miss the most, I must say that eavesdropping is near the top of the list. And no, I don’t just mean overhearing others’ conversations (although…

Last week, I was taking care of some errands, driving around with way too much stuff in my car. Even the passenger seat was filled to the brim, so that the empty cooler that I had balanced on top of the Jenga pile kept slamming into my shoulder every time…

“Your job is to 1) learn and 2) share. Never forget that.” That’s what a post-it affixed to my computer monitor constantly reminds me. At some point during the pandemic, I realized that the world expects teachers to teach. Which means that most meetings I attend, where I’m the “teacher,”…

Nobody ever said, “I want less breakthroughs.” Yet few understand where breakthroughs come from. Here’s a useful model: Preparation-> Incubation-> Illumination-> Verification In the psychology literature, the breakthrough is often referred to as the moment of “illumination.” Whether we acknowledge it explicitly, we are all seeking “illumination” on various problems…

The “two pizza team” — the core of Amazon’s famous “fly wheel” — is one of Jeff Bezos’ legendary organizational innovations. Ever wonder where it came from? Unexpectedly, it came from time away. “In early 2002, as part of a new personal ritual, he took time after the holidays to…

In a fabulous conversation with Adam Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda shared a key insight his wife discovered as she observed the writing process up close: “The best idea you had (the idea to make a musical Hamilton) actually happened when we were on vacation — on a pool float with a…

Little did Andy Papathanassiou know that his career-ending football injury would open the door to the future. He describes his epiphany moment, laying in a hospital bed, in a new piece published in this month’s Stanford Magazine: “I saw this uniformed group performing this coordinated team activity in competition with…

With college graduation weekend coming up, lots of fresh perspectives are pouring into the job market, many into established organizations (if you don’t have a job yet, don’t worry — you’re in good company: Einstein didn’t have a job when he graduated, either). They’re young, inexperienced, and optimistic. …

“Hope you don’t get claustrophobic,” the radiologist said. “You’re gonna be in there for 20–30 minutes. Some people freak out, so hit this little button if you start to panic…” and with that, he sucked my head, shoulders, torso, and legs into the narrow opening of the MRI machine. I…