Index
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Leadership
Vision, influence and the craft of leading people.
7 Reasons Your Team Isn’t Listening
Some people listen because they’re afraid not to. It’s self-preservation, not respect. What if people couldn’t wait for you to open your mouth? When people can’t wait for you to stop talking, they already stopped listening. Say things that make life better for others. More...
The Unexpected Blunder
Learning from mistakes is hard. Ego, defensiveness, blame, avoidance, and fear prolong stupidity. Learning from success is nearly impossible. Workaholics succeed. Manipulators get ahead. Cutting corners pays for a while. Failure asks questions. Success makes stupid look smart. The Unexpected Blunder of Letting Success....
The 5:1 Challenge
Take the 5:1 challenge. Every negative comment requires five positives. Don’t ignore problems. Make encouragement your default. Make as many negative comments as you like. The challenge isn’t restraint. Find balance by saying 5 positives for every negative. Gain insight here...
Courage Isn’t a Feeling
Fear doesn’t say, “Be a coward.” It says, “Be careful.” You need more information. The timing isn’t right. People might disapprove. Fear says save yourself. Courage is action when fear invites retreat. Courage isn’t feeling brave. It's answering the call while fear is on the line.
The Blindside Express
The hardest situation is the one you don’t see coming. You prepare for trains you see coming. Scheduled meetings. Client appointments. Performance issues. The Blindside Express turns a manageable issue into a crisis. Determine how to show up when the inevitable happens. Here's how...
Overcome the Disease to Please
Wanting approval is normal. Depending on it limits leadership. Psychologist Harriet Braiker says the disease to please is compulsively saying “yes” when you want to say “no.” Leaders do things others don’t like. You can’t please all the people even some of the time. How to overcome people-pleasing...
The Myth of Extraordinary
Jack was a normal boy before he climbed the beanstalk. Alice was a normal girl before she went down the rabbit hole. Dorothy was an ordinary Kansas girl until she went to Oz. Modern stories often feature extraordinary heroes. But ordinary heroes give us hope. How to find extraordinary people?
Cure Chronic Help-Seekers
The self-sufficient are doomed. Everyone needs help. But, chronic dependency turns daily responsibilities into requests for help. Chronic help-seekers transfer ownership to supporters. Don’t reward those who choose assistance over empowerment. The goal of help is more than comfort. It’s capability. Click to learn how.
Management by Toothache
Everyone knows what happens when you don’t brush your teeth. But some don’t do it. Wise leaders act with the future in mind. Foolish leaders wait for toothaches. They… Postpone the difficult conversation. Ignore declining performance. Tolerate destructive behavior. Delay developing people. Pain motivates fools. Wisdom acts before it hurts. Here's how...
Feeling Unappreciated
Praise expresses approval. “Good job.” Appreciation expresses value. “What you did matters.” Praise and appreciation overlap. But praise leans toward performance. Appreciation leans toward the person. Praise: “You handled that difficult conversation well.” Appreciation: “I appreciate the courage you bring to difficult situations.” Appreciation is fuel. Dangers of being unappreciated?
Beware the Accountability Gap
Informal leaders influence decisions without official consequences. They shape organizational direction outside formal structure. Influence Without Accountability Authority and accountability belong together. Formal leaders are officially responsible for decisions. When things go poorly,… Continue reading →
Team Management
Coordinating, delegating and getting the best from teams.
Author Talks: How a CEO got faster in his 40s
CEO Nick Thompson ran marathons at the same pace for a decade—until the right coach, mindset, and routine helped him break through. Here’s what he learned about life and leadership from getting faster against the odds.
Will you fly—or freeze? How founders can build enduring companies beyond $10 billion
Many founder-led companies freeze at the $1 billion to $10 billion valuation stage. Those that scale reinvent their business, people—and themselves—at five key inflection points.
The CEO’s role in transformation
Transformations often falter due to internal dynamics that divide organizations, such as misaligned incentives, siloed efforts, and risk aversion. CEOs are uniquely positioned to address these challenges by tackling the root causes of collective-action problems and uniting their organizations around bold aspirations. Join Meagan Hill, Mathew Lee, and Kurt Strovink as they explore the role of the CEO in driving enterprise-wide transformation and embedding lasting change into the fabric of their organizations.
The operating model advantage: Why AI winners are rewiring their organizations
The real AI advantage comes from redesigning how work is done and how decisions are made. Ultimately, success will depend on people and operating models supported by technology.
AI’s next big mission is rewiring your workplace
Artificial intelligence is reshaping every business, but the hardest challenge is rewiring the company around it. Companies that bet on equipping good staff with extraordinary technology will have a golden opportunity, while those that treat this moment as a headcount problem will shrink to fit it
Organizational Culture
Values, workplace climate and company DNA.
Leadership’s Blind Spot in the Age of AI
Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images In 1951, philosopher Martin Heidegger told a small audience, “The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking.” Few understood him then. Seventy-five years later, the observation has become unavoidable because AI has forced e...
Organizational Culture
GenAI Success Metrics: Look Beyond Reduced Workload
Matt Harrison Clough / Ikon Images The Research The authors performed a four-year, fixed-window observational analysis of administrative work inside a large U.S. public higher-education institution. Generative AI tools were introduced to executive leaders, operational leaders, and student-facing professionals throughout the organization in 2026. Staffing levels and work hours remained stable across the period studied. […]
Organizational Culture
The Hidden Cost of AI-Assisted Creativity
Chris Gash/theispot.com The Research The authors synthesized findings from four studies spanning short-story writing, circular-economy solutions, humor caption contests, and collaborative storytelling. Across all four studies, AI assistance improved individual output quality, but it reduced collective diversity, resulting in more similar, convergent ideas across groups. AI had the greatest positive effect on individuals with lower […]
Organizational Culture
How GenAI Can and Can’t Help Manage Customer Insights
Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images To understand their customers and markets, a growing number of customer-oriented companies are using generative AI tools, alongside the language and reasoning capabilities of popular large language models (LLMs), to access and analyze their own internal content. These hybrid knowledge approaches, which typically employ a technique called retrieval-augmented generation […]
Organizational Culture
The Global Scaling Gap: Why Strategic Clarity Is Crucial in the Age of AI
Michael Glenwood Gibbs/theispot.com Digital platforms and generative AI have lowered the barriers to accessing global talent, capital, and knowledge for companies everywhere while making it possible to reach customers across languages and cultures. Research my colleagues and I have conducted suggests that such tools make it easier for entrepreneurs to serve global markets and for […]
Productivity
Focus, habits and time management for leaders.
Why Reading Matters
Last week, Rose Horowitch published a splashy Atlantic article titled “The End of Reading is Here.” (Ironically, given the subject matter, it weighed in at ... Read more The post Why Reading Matters appeared first on Cal Newport.
Strategy
Decisions, business and long-term thinking.
How Retailers Adapt When Growth Slows
Professor Marshall Fisher explains how successful retailers adapt their strategies when growth slows.…Read More
Personal Growth
Growth, mindset and the habits of a leader.
The Best Summary of Atlas Shrugged
A brief, no-fluff, summary of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. If you want to learn how capitalist countries become socialist, this book will help you. Let’s dive in. Atlas Shrugged: The Simple Version The world depends on a relatively small number of people who build, invent, and produce. They are the entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, industrialists, … The post The Best Summary of Atlas Shrugged appeared first on Farnam Street.
Truth Over Feelings: Inside Opendoor’s Massive Turnaround
Most companies don’t fail overnight. They fail one decision, one compromise, and one comfortable lie at a time. Kaz Nejatian knows what it looks like from the inside. He took over Opendoor when it was just months away from bankruptcy and set out to rebuild it from the ground up. What followed wasn’t a traditional … The...
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Index
Tap a section to jump to it
Leadership
Vision, influence and the craft of leading people.
7 Reasons Your Team Isn’t Listening
Some people listen because they’re afraid not to. It’s self-preservation, not respect. What if people couldn’t wait for you to open your mouth? When people can’t wait for you to stop talking, they already stopped listening. Say things that make life better for others. More...
The Unexpected Blunder
Learning from mistakes is hard. Ego, defensiveness, blame, avoidance, and fear prolong stupidity. Learning from success is nearly impossible. Workaholics succeed. Manipulators get ahead. Cutting corners pays for a while. Failure asks questions. Success makes stupid look smart. The Unexpected Blunder of Letting Success....
The 5:1 Challenge
Take the 5:1 challenge. Every negative comment requires five positives. Don’t ignore problems. Make encouragement your default. Make as many negative comments as you like. The challenge isn’t restraint. Find balance by saying 5 positives for every negative. Gain insight here...
Courage Isn’t a Feeling
Fear doesn’t say, “Be a coward.” It says, “Be careful.” You need more information. The timing isn’t right. People might disapprove. Fear says save yourself. Courage is action when fear invites retreat. Courage isn’t feeling brave. It's answering the call while fear is on the line.
The Blindside Express
The hardest situation is the one you don’t see coming. You prepare for trains you see coming. Scheduled meetings. Client appointments. Performance issues. The Blindside Express turns a manageable issue into a crisis. Determine how to show up when the inevitable happens. Here's how...
Overcome the Disease to Please
Wanting approval is normal. Depending on it limits leadership. Psychologist Harriet Braiker says the disease to please is compulsively saying “yes” when you want to say “no.” Leaders do things others don’t like. You can’t please all the people even some of the time. How to overcome people-pleasing...
The Myth of Extraordinary
Jack was a normal boy before he climbed the beanstalk. Alice was a normal girl before she went down the rabbit hole. Dorothy was an ordinary Kansas girl until she went to Oz. Modern stories often feature extraordinary heroes. But ordinary heroes give us hope. How to find extraordinary people?
Cure Chronic Help-Seekers
The self-sufficient are doomed. Everyone needs help. But, chronic dependency turns daily responsibilities into requests for help. Chronic help-seekers transfer ownership to supporters. Don’t reward those who choose assistance over empowerment. The goal of help is more than comfort. It’s capability. Click to learn how.
Management by Toothache
Everyone knows what happens when you don’t brush your teeth. But some don’t do it. Wise leaders act with the future in mind. Foolish leaders wait for toothaches. They… Postpone the difficult conversation. Ignore declining performance. Tolerate destructive behavior. Delay developing people. Pain motivates fools. Wisdom acts before it hurts. Here's how...
Feeling Unappreciated
Praise expresses approval. “Good job.” Appreciation expresses value. “What you did matters.” Praise and appreciation overlap. But praise leans toward performance. Appreciation leans toward the person. Praise: “You handled that difficult conversation well.” Appreciation: “I appreciate the courage you bring to difficult situations.” Appreciation is fuel. Dangers of being unappreciated?
Beware the Accountability Gap
Informal leaders influence decisions without official consequences. They shape organizational direction outside formal structure. Influence Without Accountability Authority and accountability belong together. Formal leaders are officially responsible for decisions. When things go poorly,… Continue reading →
Team Management
Coordinating, delegating and getting the best from teams.
Author Talks: How a CEO got faster in his 40s
CEO Nick Thompson ran marathons at the same pace for a decade—until the right coach, mindset, and routine helped him break through. Here’s what he learned about life and leadership from getting faster against the odds.
Will you fly—or freeze? How founders can build enduring companies beyond $10 billion
Many founder-led companies freeze at the $1 billion to $10 billion valuation stage. Those that scale reinvent their business, people—and themselves—at five key inflection points.
The CEO’s role in transformation
Transformations often falter due to internal dynamics that divide organizations, such as misaligned incentives, siloed efforts, and risk aversion. CEOs are uniquely positioned to address these challenges by tackling the root causes of collective-action problems and uniting their organizations around bold aspirations. Join Meagan Hill, Mathew Lee, and Kurt Strovink as they explore the role of the CEO in driving enterprise-wide transformation and embedding lasting change into the fabric of their organizations.
The operating model advantage: Why AI winners are rewiring their organizations
The real AI advantage comes from redesigning how work is done and how decisions are made. Ultimately, success will depend on people and operating models supported by technology.
AI’s next big mission is rewiring your workplace
Artificial intelligence is reshaping every business, but the hardest challenge is rewiring the company around it. Companies that bet on equipping good staff with extraordinary technology will have a golden opportunity, while those that treat this moment as a headcount problem will shrink to fit it
Organizational Culture
Values, workplace climate and company DNA.
Leadership’s Blind Spot in the Age of AI
Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images In 1951, philosopher Martin Heidegger told a small audience, “The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking.” Few understood him then. Seventy-five years later, the observation has become unavoidable because AI has forced e...
Organizational Culture
GenAI Success Metrics: Look Beyond Reduced Workload
Matt Harrison Clough / Ikon Images The Research The authors performed a four-year, fixed-window observational analysis of administrative work inside a large U.S. public higher-education institution. Generative AI tools were introduced to executive leaders, operational leaders, and student-facing professionals throughout the organization in 2026. Staffing levels and work hours remained stable across the period studied. […]
Organizational Culture
The Hidden Cost of AI-Assisted Creativity
Chris Gash/theispot.com The Research The authors synthesized findings from four studies spanning short-story writing, circular-economy solutions, humor caption contests, and collaborative storytelling. Across all four studies, AI assistance improved individual output quality, but it reduced collective diversity, resulting in more similar, convergent ideas across groups. AI had the greatest positive effect on individuals with lower […]
Organizational Culture
How GenAI Can and Can’t Help Manage Customer Insights
Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images To understand their customers and markets, a growing number of customer-oriented companies are using generative AI tools, alongside the language and reasoning capabilities of popular large language models (LLMs), to access and analyze their own internal content. These hybrid knowledge approaches, which typically employ a technique called retrieval-augmented generation […]
Organizational Culture
The Global Scaling Gap: Why Strategic Clarity Is Crucial in the Age of AI
Michael Glenwood Gibbs/theispot.com Digital platforms and generative AI have lowered the barriers to accessing global talent, capital, and knowledge for companies everywhere while making it possible to reach customers across languages and cultures. Research my colleagues and I have conducted suggests that such tools make it easier for entrepreneurs to serve global markets and for […]
Productivity
Focus, habits and time management for leaders.
Why Reading Matters
Last week, Rose Horowitch published a splashy Atlantic article titled “The End of Reading is Here.” (Ironically, given the subject matter, it weighed in at ... Read more The post Why Reading Matters appeared first on Cal Newport.
Strategy
Decisions, business and long-term thinking.
How Retailers Adapt When Growth Slows
Professor Marshall Fisher explains how successful retailers adapt their strategies when growth slows.…Read More
Personal Growth
Growth, mindset and the habits of a leader.
The Best Summary of Atlas Shrugged
A brief, no-fluff, summary of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. If you want to learn how capitalist countries become socialist, this book will help you. Let’s dive in. Atlas Shrugged: The Simple Version The world depends on a relatively small number of people who build, invent, and produce. They are the entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, industrialists, … The post The Best Summary of Atlas Shrugged appeared first on Farnam Street.
Truth Over Feelings: Inside Opendoor’s Massive Turnaround
Most companies don’t fail overnight. They fail one decision, one compromise, and one comfortable lie at a time. Kaz Nejatian knows what it looks like from the inside. He took over Opendoor when it was just months away from bankruptcy and set out to rebuild it from the ground up. What followed wasn’t a traditional … The...
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