Breakthroughs don’t come from thinking harder. No matter how much we push or force, our greatest insights rarely arrive through sheer effort. Instead, they emerge when we create space—space for the unknown, for curiosity, and for something beyond our usual ways of thinking. The key to breakthroughs isn’t harder thinking—it’s creating space for new possibilities…
Navigating uncertain terrain. Six years ago, I was diagnosed with an ovarian tumor the size of a cantaloupe. I was (understandably) scared. I work with metaphor with my clients. The metaphor that showed up was an image: I saw myself walking through uncertain terrain, but there was solid ground under my feet. The image said:…
There’s a reason bank buildings are square. There’s a reason that when we need rest we go to a large body of water… or the desert. There’s a reason web designers use lots of white space. (Space allows readers’ eyes — and brains! — to stay calm so they can absorb the material.) There’s a…
Physicist Arthur Zajonc suggests that our culture urgently needs the cognitive capacities of artists. But what exactly are those capacities, and why are they so vital to us now? Perhaps these capacities begin with an artist’s willingness to dwell in uncertainty. Where others seek clarity and definitive answers, the artist embraces confusion, allowing it to…
Metaphor is at the core of nearly all scientific breakthroughs and acts of genius. Celebrated scientists like Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, and Albert Einstein relied on metaphor to help them make new discoveries. Metaphors play a crucial role in transforming how we see the world and approach problems. By connecting seemingly unrelated ideas, they open…
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