Ideas are free, execution is priceless.

I was reading a neuroscience study about how certain people are genetically predisposed to respond more strongly to unfairness than others. It’s called equity sensitivity. The degree to which people have a strong, automatic reaction when they encounter a situation that’s unfair. And it’s funny, because if you read some of the questions on the assessment tool, they’re fundamentally flawed. The language perpetuates a mindset of constant comparison and…

In my late thirties, I got laid off four times from four jobs, back to back to back to back. The first one was a workforce reduction, the second was an acquisition, the third was a private equity buyout, and the fourth was a prefundraising downsizing. Naturally, I felt sad, lonely, confused, angry, rejected and unappreciated. This was textbook unfairness. Because I knew in my heart that I did…

The problem is not that life is unfair, but that fairness doesn’t exist. Look around. We live in an unjust society, not in a world with impartial and just treatment without favoritism or discrimination. Being a human means accepting that the scales of justice don’t balance simply because we expect them to. In fact, I find that the more hung up people get on how the world should work,…

I want to break down three dimensions of intellectual humility. For each one, I offer suggestions for raising awareness of your cognitive fallibility. The first piece of intellectual humility is independence of intellect and ego. This refers to our ability to separate our beliefs and opinions from our sense of worthiness. We accept and evaluate ideas and information objectively, without letting personal emotions cloud our judgment. This one is…

Aristotle said it is the mark of an educated mind to entertain an idea without accepting it. This is the habit of what psychologists call intellectual humility. It’s the awareness of our own cognitive shortcomings. Recent research has shown this trait is correlated with improved wellbeing, stronger relationships, lower stress and greater resilience. Here’s a quote a from a study in a positive psychology journal that resonated with me….