At some point, we all get stuck. Maybe it’s in a job or career. Maybe it’s a relationship or business venture. Though it’s something we all experience, when it happens, we can feel alone and out of our depth. Emotions may overwhelm us. Mental traps lure is in. In no time at all, we can’t see a way out. Award-winning professor, researcher, and author, Adam Alter, has spent decades studying how successful people get unstuck. In his latest book, Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get...

When we’re feeling stuck, it’s tempting to believe more thinking is the answer. We stew and we ponder, and then we double down on solutions we’ve tried before. It’s no wonder we start to feel like we just can’t figure it out. But what would happen if we put thinking aside and tried something else? Author and researcher, Norman Farb, has learned that there’s an entire canvas of sensory experience we can access any time we want. And by tapping into our senses, we may find ways to feel...

When we think of geeks, we tend to think of the people who built the tech we use – from our smartphones to search engines to AI.   But if we just focus on the tech, we’re missing out on a lot. We’re overlooking how these same geeks reinvented corporate culture using a repeatable set of norms that ensure sustainable innovation. Andrew McAfee is a principal research scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management and cofounder and codirector of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy....

There’s more to being a workaholic than working long hours. Consider what motivates you to work more. Where you’re spending your energy. Think about the impact those longer hours have on family and friends. These are some of the distinctions Malissa Clark makes in her book, Never Not Working: Why the Always-on Culture is Bad for Business and How to Fix it. She not only shares a helpful framework for thinking about workaholism but gives us ways to recognize it. Equally helpful, she...

We associate the word epidemic with disease. Yet it’s a word we’re increasingly using to refer to a state of mind, namely, loneliness. Researchers have not only found a significant increase in people’s feelings of loneliness, but they’ve also learned how detrimental loneliness can be to our health and wellbeing. One of the most effective antidotes to loneliness is feeling like we belong. In fact, researchers have discovered that feelings of belonging can spill over into every area of our...

One-on-one meetings are the cornerstone of manager-employee relationships. For managers, they’re an opportunity to teach, coach, and mentor. For employees, they’re a chance to grow and develop. But given how important these meetings are, how well are we using them? How effectively do we plan and run them? Bottom line - are they an afterthought or a priority? These are just some of the questions, I asked meeting expert Steven Rogelberg, author of the book, Glad We Met: The Art and...

For many of us, the word addiction quickly conjures up images of drugs and alcohol. But we’re often slower to apply the term to compulsive, tech-induced behaviors like playing video games, checking social media, or shopping online. We prefer to think of these pleasure-seeking activities as harmless distractions. Yet they can just as easily lead to addictive behaviors. And with our ever-present smartphones, the chance of mindlessly engaging in these activities, to the point of addiction,...

We go to the dentist, get our eyes checked, and get our cars inspected. These regularly scheduled health and safety audits let us know how we’re doing. But we rarely audit how we spend our time. Sure, most of us have a calendar. Yet few of us study how these calendar events impact our happiness. We rarely track the connection between what we spend our time doing and how well we’re flourishing. As a result, we can find ourselves feeling unhappy, frustrated, and what scientists call...

I’ve spent a lot of time talking to guests about our relationships at work. For example, we’ve discussed how to listen better, how to navigate conflict, and how to influence others, just to name a few. What I’ve spent less time talking about are the relationships that go beyond work. That’s why I invited Kat Vellos on the show this week to talk about her amazing book, We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships.  Kat’s book is more than a callout to the power of...

In the U.S., we have laws and policies in place to prevent discrimination of Black workers. In addition, we have leaders who make public pledges in support of diversity goals. Yet the data continue to show that Black employees are less likely to be hired, more likely to stall out in mid-level positions, and stand little chance of gaining senior level positions. Why is that? Adia Harvey Winfield’s work lies at the intersection of labor and race, and her research reveals that, for Black...

A well-crafted story can fuel connection. It can inspire trust and entertain. Better still, it can have a ripple effect. Yet most of us avoid telling stories. Instead, we stick to the facts and emphasize the data. Now, even if we believe this is the best way to convey information, our brains, if they could talk, would disagree. That’s why, if we want to connect, persuade, or just keep our audience’s attention, we need to get better at storytelling. That’s why I wanted to speak with...

We’re often put on the spot to say something of value. And when it happens, it can catch us off guard. For example, you log in early to a conference call and need to make small talk with high status colleagues. Or you find out in a meeting that a co-worker is leaving the company, and you’re asked to say a few words. These kinds of spontaneous interactions happen more often than we think. But unlike formal presentations or pitches, there’s no time to practice. We wonder how to manage our...

Most of us are on a performance treadmill. We show up. We execute. Then tomorrow we do it all over again. But this relentless focus on execution leaves little time for learning. As a result, our skills stagnate, and we accomplish less. Soon we find ourselves working harder while falling further behind. Eduardo Briceno calls this The Performance Paradox: Turning the Power of Mindset into Action, a label that’s also the title of his book. In it, he shares how we can build learning into...

We live and work in a digital world where getting interrupted by communication tools is the norm. That means we shift our attention at least every 47 seconds. Then it takes us about 30 minutes to get back on task. At the same time, we continually interrupt ourselves – looking things up, tracking information down. While some view this as a problem to be solved, Gloria Mark sees it simply as a new reality. And she believes we’re using old language and frameworks to navigate it. Things like...

As humans, we have certain default settings that help us navigate the world. Yet those same default settings make us vulnerable to fraud and deception. For example, our ability to focus helps us concentrate on what’s right in front of us. But it also prevents us from seeing what’s missing. For example, we’re more willing to believe a presumed investment expert who touts a winning track record without thinking about the losses he never mentions. Our brains also rely on past experiences...

We’re often told that saying yes to everything will be the key to our success. It’ll strengthen our relationships, enhance our reputation, and help us achieve our goals. But what if the reverse were true? What if learning how to say no is the game changer? What if mastering this skill is the way to achieve our goals? Vanessa Patrick has written a book on the subject titled, The Power of Saying No: The New Science of How to Say No That Puts You in Charge of Your Life. There are so...

Aiming for perfection seems like a noble goal. It’s like we’re holding ourselves to a higher standard or standing out from the crowd. But striving for perfection means working toward the impossible. And the cost to our mental and physical health can be enormous. London School of Economics Professor, Thomas Curran, experienced the impact of perfectionism firsthand. As a recovering perfectionist, he’s made the field the focus of his research. Curran’s research led to his book, The...

For many, work is the centerpiece of our lives. It’s not only a source of status and fulfillment, but also central to our identity. But what do we miss out on when hold these expectations of our work? What does it cost us? That’s the question Simone Stolzoff asks in his book, The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work. In answering this question, he explains the drivers that got us here, the reasons society and culture reinforce them, and what life might look like if we reframed the...

Winning athletes and coaches have a lot to teach us. They’re asked to perform at the highest level, day in and day out, and they face enormous pressure to succeed. Faced with these expectations, the most successful ones must continually elevate their performance. But how? That’s a question Sally Jenkins has spent a career trying to answer. Through her work as a sportswriter at The Washington Post, she discovered the formula great players use to succeed, and she shares it with us in her...

There’s a lot to be said for the excitement we feel when we first set a goal for ourselves. The sense of exhilaration can give us the momentum we need to get started. But when the exhilaration wears off – and it usually does – we’re faced with a choice. Will we revert to old habits or develop new ones? These moments are what Jonathan Rhodes calls choice points, and the decisions we make can really add up. Ultimately, how we manage ourselves in these moments can be the difference between...

Coming up with good ideas is hard. But it’s not because we’re not creative or smart enough. It’s likely we just haven’t learned how. Fortunately, Sheena Iyengar, Professor at Columbia Business School, has written a playbook that answers the question, how can I get my best ideas? It’s her latest book, Think Bigger: How to Innovate. Sheena’s approach leads us, step by step, from generating ideas to assessing which ones are innovative enough to act on. It’s a method informed not only by...

Ambition is complicated. Yet the messages we receive from an early age are simple: “Winners never quit.” “Reach for the stars.” “Follow your dreams.” But like most simple messages, reality often paints a very different picture. Long hours that lead to burnout, or individual striving that results in loneliness. Rainesford Stauffer ran up against these realities. And, in her work as a journalist, she spoke to others who did, as well. That’s what led her to rethink what ambition could be,...

We’ve all had the experience of working toward goals today that would benefit us in the future. Goals like exercising more, losing weight, or saving for retirement. Yet when faced with early-morning alarms or tempting desserts, we may lose sight of our goals. But what if the answer to sticking with them was to form a relationship with a very special person – future you? Hal Hershfield, author of the book, Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today, has spent his career...

At some point, we all get stuck. Maybe it’s in a job or career. Maybe it’s a relationship or business venture. Though it’s something we all experience, when it happens, we can feel alone and out of our depth. Emotions may overwhelm us. Mental traps lure is in. In no time at all, we can’t see a way out. Award-winning professor, researcher, and author, Adam Alter, has spent decades studying how successful people get unstuck. In his latest book, Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get...