Saturday, August 30, 2014

The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People


Want to develop a better work routine? Discover how some of the world's greatest minds organized their days.
Click image to see the interactive version (via Podio).


Check it out in Podio. Thanks, +David Chen 

Living With Less. A Lot Less.

Read more in the NYT.

... also perfect for the "simple living" module in Sea Change this month.

And his 5 min TED Talk:

Playboy's guide to catcalling is actually really great

"A young lady walks by, who you find sexually attractive. You're probably not clever enough to come up with an original thought, so the only remaining option is to yell out at her, like you are not a smart person. Should you do it?"

Well played, Playboy.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Bastille - Pompeii // Acoustic, live in Paris


I loved this.

MoneyThink in the press

MoneyThink has gotten a lot of great press recently. Ted Gonder was recently awarded as a 2014 BHSI fellow, and IDEO published a post on the MT social media app.

HBR Daily Stat: To Feel Greater Power, Add Some Decibels to the Bass

This made me smile -- never thought about this before:
Research participants who listened to a generic piece of music with the bass turned up 15 decibels reported greater feelings of power than those who heard the same music but with the bass turned down 15 decibels (an average of 6.06 versus 5.15 on a 7-point dominant-feelings scale), says a team led by Dennis Y. Hsu of Northwestern University. Moreover, the feelings lasted after the music had stopped. Listening to heavy bass tones and other kinds of powerful music may be an effective and convenient way for people to activate their personal sense of power, the researchers say.
Read more in the HBR Daily Stat.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Gillibrand: Congressmen Called Me 'Fat' After Baby

If there was any question as to whether sexual harassment exists among members of Congress, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) confirmed the answer in a new interview with People magazine.

Thanks, +Tom Janssens 

The one word men never receive in their performance reviews

Fascinating analysis. An excerpt:
Perhaps unsurprisingly critical feedback was doled out in a much higher ratio to women: 58.9% of men’s reviews contained critical feedback, while an overwhelming 87.9% of the reviews received by women did. 
 Not only did women receive more criticism in their performance reviews, it was less constructive and more personal. For example, the critical feedback men received was mostly geared toward suggestions to develop additional skills.

Read more in FastCompany.

Nice find, +Lucas Chapin 

Sunday, August 24, 2014

At Haas, Big Returns On Socially Responsible Investing

Impressive: "Since then [2008], HSRIF has maintained a return of nearly 50 percent—all while facing 100 percent turnover every 18 months."

Read more in Poets and Quants.

College Tuition Costs Soar: Chart of the Day

Whoa:

Read more in Bloomberg. Thanks, +Zuhair Khan 

... and then what happens after the student goes to college?

The Ivy League, Mental Illness, and the Meaning of Life

William Deresiewicz explains how an elite education can lead to a cycle of grandiosity and depression. This line:
These students are made to understand that they have to be perfect, that they have to do everything perfectly, but they haven’t turned to themselves to ask why they’re doing it. It’s almost like a cruel experiment with animals that we’re performing—every time the red light goes on, you have to push the bar. Of course they’re stressed.
Read more of the interview with William in the Atlantic. It's a follow-up to this article from last month.

It also reminds me of one of my all time favorite pieces of work on the inverse power of praise.

Opting Out of Climbing the Career Ladder

This excerpt:
...While seventy percent of workers sit in open-office plans, no one really likes it. Workers in open-plan offices get sick more often (due to a lack of privacy and stress), are irritated by noises from conversations and machines, and are less productive due to reduced motivation and decreased job satisfaction.
There is no real thought or inquiry that goes into what composes a great work experience. While I have no desire to sit in a cubicle for eight hours a day, I have even less desire to sit on display in front of twenty other people for eight hours a day.
Frankly, I don’t want to sit for eight hours in any capacity. I want to be outside. I want to lie down at 3 pm and read a book. I want to meditate. I want to go for a run at 10:30 am. I want to build something. I want to meet friends. Since when do we believe that being in one spot for our whole lives is meaningful? The Internet is a poor substitute for life.

Read more of Kourtney's blog post.

Thanks, +Brandon Kearse and +Anu Parvatiyar 

Henry Miller on Turning 80, Fighting Evil, And Why Life is the Best Teacher

"Only 200 copies of Henry Miller’s 1972 chapbook, On Turning Eighty, were ever printed; each hand-numbered and signed. How I ended up with copy 48 is a story for another day." Read more on Farnam Street.

Thanks, +Ted Gonder 

Birds Attach Golden Gate Park Goers


For all of you living in SF hanging out in the park... check out the Bold Italic.

Thanks, +Samantha Pearlman 

The Average Tech Worker Now Makes $291,497 In San Mateo County

Median would probably be better here than mean... but still a high number! Read more in Gawker.

Thanks, +Samantha Pearlman 

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The Ice Bucket Challenge Has Raised More Than $13 Million -- Meanwhile, Medical Research Has Been Cut By Billions

Check out this important re-framing in HuffPo.

The next Internet monopoly: Uber, the transportation network


Read more in VentureBeat news. Thanks, +Samantha Pearlman 

HBR Daily Stat: The Benefits of Male Small-Talk

In a hypothetical scenario, research participants were willing to pay 6% more for a parcel of land if the male seller engaged in friendly small-talk before negotiating the deal, demonstrating that men benefit from striking up casual conversation before negotiations, says a team led by Brooke Shaughnessy of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Germany. For women, chitchat provides no such effect, though it does no harm. Chitchatting men may benefit from countering male stereotypes of reticence, the researchers suggest.

Read more in HBR.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Friday, August 15, 2014

Meet the First Woman to Win Math’s Most Prestigious Prize



Inspiring story. Read more in WIRED. Thanks, +Tom Janssens 

It's More Important to Be Kind than Clever

"One of the more heart-warming stories to zoom around the Internet lately involves a young man, his dying grandmother, and a bowl of clam chowder from Panera Bread. It’s a little story that offers big lessons about service, brands, and the human side of business — a story that underscores why efficiency should never come at the expense of humanity."

Read more in HBRThanks, +Gloria Ahn 

The Science Behind the Most Successful Careers

Fascinating:
If you doubt the power of belief - even for just one moment - you are forsaking your most powerful ally: your brain. If you doubt that changing a few beliefs can dramatically alter the trajectory of your career, then your career may fall far short of its true potential. 
I recently read a research study, Placebo Sleep Affects Cognitive Functioning, in which researchers made up an elaborate ruse to convince people who got a bad night's sleep that they actually got a good night's sleep. Here's a bit of what the researchers told their test subjects... 
(Participants were) informed of a new technique whereby the previous night’s percentage of REM sleep could be determined by measuring the lingering biological measurements of heart rate, pulse, and brainwave frequency the next day. 
P.S. This is all nonsense; the researchers made it up. 
Sure enough, sleep-deprived subjects who were told they slept soundly actually performed better on the PASAT test of auditory attention and speed of processing.

Thanks, Kevin

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Evidence Of Racial, Gender Biases Found In Faculty Mentoring


Research found faculty in academic departments linked to more lucrative professions are more likely to discriminate against women and minorities, particularly Asian students, than faculty in fields linked to less lucrative jobs. Check out the 4 min clip in NPR.

Thanks, +Zuhair Khan 

How male allies help the gender equality movement

These men put their feminist words into action, and how that "gender quality is smart economics." Read more in FastCompany.

Thanks, +Leslie Labruto 

‘I have a meeting in Westchester’ and other essential code words for PE newbies

Check out the lingo in PE Hub.

Thanks, +Brandon Kearse 

Female Intern Finds Venture Capital ‘No Place For A Woman’

MBA student Erica Swallow thought a summer internship at a well-known venture-capital firm would be a perfect way to determine if this should be her career path. It turned out to be educational, but not in the way she expected.

Read more in the WSJ. Also check out Erica's original post in the MIT Sloan blog.

Thanks, +Brandon Kearse 

Meet The Bay Area's Top Female Venture Capitalists

A bunch of the big names, like Kristen Green, are missing, but it's a good list on 7x7.

Thanks, +Connor McCarthy 

Introspective or Narcissistic?

David Brooks wrote a fascinating reflection in the NYT this week. Here's an excerpt:
Some people like to keep a journal. Some people think it’s a bad idea. 
People who keep a journal often see it as part of the process of self-understanding and personal growth. They don’t want insights and events to slip through their minds. They think with their fingers and have to write to process experiences and become aware of their feelings.
People who oppose journal-keeping fear it contributes to self-absorption and narcissism. C.S. Lewis, who kept a journal at times, feared that it just aggravated sadness and reinforced neurosis. Gen. George Marshall did not keep a diary during World War II because he thought it would lead to “self-deception or hesitation in reaching decisions.” 
The question is: How do you succeed in being introspective without being self-absorbed?
There are a couple great examples of how to distinguish the two in his full Op-Ed.

Thanks, +Zuhair Khan 

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Workers In Windowless Offices Lose 46 Minutes Of Sleep A Night


Sigh. #workingworldproblems.

Read details in FastCompany.

Here's What Happened When Six Corgi Puppies Visited a College Campus


Read more in Jezebel.

Thanks, +Claire Packer 

... and the belly flop

Embedding is not allowed by owner -- check out this adorable YouTube corgi clip.

Thanks, +Claire Packer 

The most hackable cars

Well, this is terrifying. Consider this real life example:
A driver accidentally downloads a virus onto his phone, then pairs his phone to his car via Bluetooth. If his car's brakes are running on the same network as the Bluetooth, a hacker potentially has a way in, and can stop the car. 
"Once they have code running on the Bluetooth computer [in your car], they can then do things like send out messages to tell the other components of the car to do stuff, like engage the brakes," says Miller.Read 
The least secure vehicles are the Cherokee, Escalade and Prius, while the most secure includes Audi’s A8. The reason? Individual networks. Read more in Autonet.ca.

The next generation of hacker hunting will happen in real time

IP Viking is the world’s first cyber risk intelligence system that is able to monitor cyber attacks as they happen, in real time, anywhere on the planet – and then stop them within minutes. Check out the map -- it's mesmerizing.

Read more in Digital TrendsThanks, +Jason Begleiter 

Why I am leaving the best job I ever had | Max Schireson's blog

Takes a lot of courage to do this.

Thanks, +Megan Gardner

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

The Global One-Room Schoolhouse: John Seely Brown

The Global One-Room Schoolhouse: John Seely Brown (Highlights from his "Entrepreneurial Learner" Keynote at DML2012) from Connected Learning Alliance on Vimeo.


Highlights from his "Entrepreneurial Learner" Keynote at DML2012.

Thanks, +Cassie Coravos 

How to Pick Your Life Partner – Part 2

Check out the reflection in Wait But Why.

The Ivy League Was Another Planet

Many talented rural students don't go to elite schools, because they are unaware of the options.

Read more in the NYT. Thanks, +Julia Chou 

Should Affirmative Action Be Based on Income?

Will the Supreme Court decision on race-based preferences push colleges to resort to less effective methods to promote to diversity?

Read more in the NYT. Thanks, +Julia Chou

Nobody Is That Busy (Even in Silicon Valley)​

"Busy is a choice." Read more in HuffPo.

Inspired me to try TogglThanks, +Megan Gardner 

Mom tries to put her twins to bed in hilarious time-lapse


Hahaha, wow -- maybe someday I will have the patience to be a mom like this. Read more on ABC.

Monday, August 4, 2014

How we end up marrying the wrong people

Surprisingly insightful. Read the reflection in the Philosopher's Mail.

Great find, +Brandon Kearse and +Anu Parvatiyar 

ZenHabits: Making Yourself Work

Excerpt:
One of the biggest problems you need to solve if you work for yourself is how to make yourself do work. 
The best entrepreneurs have figured it out and just pound out the work they need to do. 
But many others put off their dream careers, or stay in jobs they like, because they’re afraid to figure this out. Being in a job, or staying in college, means that you have someone else imposing work and deadlines on you, and you’ll get fired (or dropped from school) if you don’t do the work. So you put off doing the work until you can’t anymore because of the fear of being fired.
Read more in ZenHabits.

HBR Daily Stat: Morality and Competence Are Universal Concepts Among Humans

A team of researchers looking for ubiquitous human concepts in a dozen languages as diverse as the Afro-Asiatic tongue Afar and the Australian language Wik-mungkan discovered that ideas of morality — reflected in words that translate as “good,” “bad,” “disobedient,” and “ashamed” — occur in all 12.

Also common are concepts of competence, or lack thereof: “strong,” “weak,” “useless,” and “stupid,” says the team, led by Gerard Saucier of the University of Oregon. The ubiquity of the concept of shame may indicate that a central part of the human experience is the response to behavioral constraints imposed by social groups, the researchers suggest.

Read more in today's HBR.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Attention, Shoplifters

Some of the millions of security cameras installed in stores across the US can automatically detect behavior that might indicate shoplifting.

Read more in Bloomberg.

Creepy Internet-Style Tracking and Targeting Analytics Are Moving into Real Life

"A company is using cameras and heat sensors to track people in their store." Read more in Smithsonian. (Thanks, Greg)

A bigger logo?

An excerpt:
If you are angling to make your logo bigger but your customers don't care (or resist), if your customers aren't eager to say, "I bought this," then you're doing the wrong angling. The work that needs to be done is to create a product and a story that makes your customers want you to make the logo more prominent.
 Read more in Seth Godin's blog. (Thanks, Reade)

Look Up

At First I Thought These Were Regular Paintings.

Then I kept looking and...whoa!

See more a A+Nice work, +Kendall Dabaghi 

FTSE joins Blackrock to help investors avoid fossil fuels

"BlackRock, the world’s biggest fund manager, has teamed up with London’s FTSE Group to help investors avoid coal, oil and gas companies without putting their money at risk."

Innovative work +Clare Murray. Congrats! Read more in the Financial Times. Also covered in HuffPo. And Bloomberg.

I understood gender discrimination once I added “Mr.” to my resume and landed a job

Mr. Kim O’Grady is a freelance management consultant assisting businesses in the small to medium enterprise sector. He is based in Perth, Australia.

Read O'Grady's reflection in Quartz.

Friday, August 1, 2014

HBR Daily Stat // When Misfortune Happens to Us, We Believe We Deserve It

Research participants who were informed they had gotten an unlucky break and would have to forfeit £3, rather than win the same amount, subsequently viewed themselves significantly more negatively and believed they were more deserving of bad outcomes, showing that random misfortune damages people’s self-esteem, says a team led by Mitchell J. Callan of the University of Essex in the UK. This low self-esteem, which can lead to self-defeating beliefs and behaviors, stems from people’s need to believe that the world is just and predictable and that bad fortune is meted out to those who deserve it, the researchers say.

Read more at HBR.

"Why doesn't she just leave?"


Watch the resolution (video part 2) in UpWorthy.

Why Women Aren’t C.E.O.s, According to Women Who Almost Were

"It’s not a pipeline problem. It’s about loneliness, competition and deeply rooted barriers." Read more in the NYT .