Don’t just ask whether you’re proud of what you’ve achieved. Ask whether you’re proud of how you’ve achieved it.
The ends don't justify the means. The means are the measure of your character. You reveal your values in the way you pursue your goals.
Here are some articles that have gotten me thinking about better ways to pursue our goals:
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1. It’s Never Too Late to Start a Brilliant Career (WSJ)
Good news for late bloomers: although information processing speed peaks when we're young, creativity, self-control, and social-emotional skills peak much later. Average age for Nobel Prize work: 39. For patent applicants: 47. Every career has a second act—and a third.
2. Love Your Job? Someone May Be Taking Advantage of You (Duke)
New research shows that if you love your job, people are more willing to ask you to do extra work unpaid—even if it's demeaning and not part of your role—and to sacrifice sleep and family time. It’s a passion tax, and it needs to be eliminated if you don’t want your most motivated people to burn out.
3. Doctors Who Are Kind Have Healthier Patients (WaPo)
When surgeons lack compassion, they make 3x as many errors. When doctors show compassion, patients heal faster—they're more likely to take prescribed medication, and less likely to need it post-surgery. Caring is not optional. It's a vital skill.
4. How to Overcome the Bias We Have Toward Our Own Ideas (HBR)
Managers: if you want creativity, stop falling in love with your own ideas and start listening to your employees. Hot off the presses: managers overvalue their ideas by 42%, while frontline employees undervalue theirs by 11%.
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From My Desk:
5. How to Deal with a Jerk Without Being a Jerk (NYT)
It's good to be demanding—by all means, have high standards. But there's no excuse for demeaning—making people feel disrespected and devalued. When someone is demeaning, it sometimes helps to have a conversation about the tone of the conversation.
6. If Your To-Do List Is Making You Nuts, Start a To-Don’t List (TED)
"If you want something done, give it to a busy person" means that the more productive you become, the longer your to-do list becomes. You need a to-don't list: a set of activities you permanently cross off your calendar. Here’s mine.
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Adam Grant, Ph.D.
Organizational psychologist at Wharton, author of ORIGINALS, GIVE AND TAKE, and OPTION B, and host of WorkLife, a TED original podcast
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