During the final hearing for my Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Chicago, my advisor, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi pulled me aside and whispered to me: “NEVER use the word heart in a job talk.” My Ph.D. dissertation was on how adults learn in everyday life and I’d mentioned the heart too many times. Mihaly could tell…
We’re the most human when we’re being creative. Whether it’s painting a masterpiece, solving a tricky problem, or reimagining a relationship, creativity is what makes us feel alive and connected. It’s not just about art—it’s about engaging with the world in a way that allows for possibility, growth, and transformation. But here’s the thing: creativity…
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…
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…
The artist Paul Reynard wrote: “A work of art is necessarily incomplete. It is a way of learning.” We’re all in this process of art-making, whether we think of ourselves as artists or not, because we’re all learners. Reynard was asked before he died, “What is the place of art in contemporary life?” He responded,…
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