A Short Guide to a Happy Life: Anna Quindlen on Work, Joy, and How to Live Rather Than Exist

A Short Guide to a Happy Life: Anna Quindlen on Work, Joy, and How to Live Rather Than Exist
The commencement address is a special kind of modern communication art, and its greatest masterpieces tend to either become a book – take, for instance, David Foster Wallace on the meaning of life, Neil Gaiman on the resilience of the creative spirit, Ann Patchett onstorytelling and belonging, and Joseph Brodsky on winning the game of life – or have originated from a book, such as Debbie Millman on courage and the creative life. One of the greatest commencement speeches of all time, however, has an unusual story that flies in the face of both traditional trajectories. Read more of this post

Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Crucial Difference Between Success and Mastery

Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Crucial Difference Between Success and Mastery

“You gotta be willing to fail… if you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far,” Steve Jobs cautioned. “There is no such thing as failure – failure is just life trying to move us in another direction,” Oprah counseled new Harvard graduates. In his wonderfully heartening letter of fatherly advice, F. Scott Fitzgerald gave his young daughter Scottie a list of things to worry and not worry about in life; among the unworriables, he listed failure, “unless it comes through your own fault.” And yet, as Debbie Millman observed in Fail Safe, her magnificent illustrated-essay-turned-commencement-address, most of us “like to operate within our abilities” – stepping outside of them risks failure, and we do worry about it, very much. How, then, can we transcend that mental block, that existential worry, that keeps us from the very capacity for creative crash that keeps us growing and innovating? Read more of this post

Philosopher Martha Nussbaum on How to Live with Our Human Fragility

Philosopher Martha Nussbaum on How to Live with Our Human Fragility

In 1988, Bill Moyers produced a series of intelligent, inspiring, provocative conversations with a diverse set of cultural icons, ranging from Isaac Asimov to Noam Chomsky to Chinua Achebe. It was unlike any public discourse to have ever graced the national television airwaves before. The following year, the interviews were transcribed and collected in the magnificent tome Bill Moyers: World of Ideas (public library). But for all its evenness of brilliance, one conversation in the series stands out for its depth, dimension, intensity, and timelessness – that with philosopher Martha Nussbaum, one of the most remarkable and luminous minds of our time, who sat down to talk with Moyers shortly after the publication of enormously stimulating book The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy.

Moyers begins by framing Nussbaum’s singular approach to philosophy and, by extension, to the art of living:

MOYERS: The common perception of a philosopher is of a thinker of abstract thoughts. But stories and myths seem to be important to you as a philosopher. NUSSBAUM: Very important, because I think that the language of philosophy has to come back from the abstract heights on which it so often lives to the richness of everyday discourse and humanity. It has to listen to the ways that people talk about themselves and what matters to them. One very good way to do this is to listen to stories. Read more of this post

Show Your Work: Austin Kleon on the Art of Getting Noticed

Show Your Work: Austin Kleon on the Art of Getting Noticed
In 2012, artist Austin Kleon gave us Steal Like an Artist, a modern manifesto for combinatorial creativity that went on to become one of the best art books that year. He now returns with Show Your Work! (public library) – “a book for people who hate the very idea of self-promotion,” in which Kleon addresses with equal parts humility, honesty, and humor one of the quintessential questions of the creative life: How do you get “discovered”? In some ways, the book is the mirror-image of Kleon’s debut – rather than encouraging you to “steal” from others, meaning be influenced by them, it offers a blueprint to making your work influential enough to be theft-worthy. Complementing the advice is Kleon’s own artwork – his signature “newspaper blackout” poems – as a sort of meta-case for sharing as a modern art that requires courage, commitment, and creative integrity. Read more of this post

35 and flat broke! Why 30-something high-flyers have zero savings and a mountain-load of debt

35 and flat broke!

Saturday, Mar 15, 2014

Sasha Gonzales

Her World

She’s 35, single and has worked for over a decade. She earns $5,000 a month and has no mortgage to worry about.

And yet Lisa*, a publishing executive, barely has any savings to her name. Read more of this post

How to Delegate the Right Way; Executives Have a Lot on Their Plates; Disbursing Work Poorly Can Backfire

How to Delegate the Right Way

Executives Have a Lot on Their Plates; Disbursing Work Poorly Can Backfire

JOANN S. LUBLIN

Updated March 13, 2014 10:18 a.m. ET

Dumping work on colleagues can turn into a dumb idea. The work often comes back to you.

Stressed by huge workloads and pinched resources, executives must unload tasks to get things done. But to succeed, you must delegate effectively. The fine art of delegation involves figuring out the right associates, marching orders and feedback. Read more of this post

Aon CFO: Risk and Reinvention; Aon has completely shifted its business model; sold its insurance underwriting business and acquired two companies that turned Aon into a risk-management and human resources consulting giant

March 14, 2014, 6:27 AM ET

Aon CFO: Risk and Reinvention

AonAON +0.26% plc has completely shifted its business model and its nationality. The firm sold its insurance underwriting business and acquired two companies that turned Aon into a risk-management and human resources consulting giant. In 2012, it moved its headquarters to London from Chicago. That strategic shift has also changed the focus of Aon’s chief financial officer, Christa Davies. Aon’s business kicks off more than $1.5 billion in free cash flow a year. She says her mission is to get the best rate of return on that money. Read more of this post

A professor of literature explains why he loves books; The Unexpected Professor: An Oxford Life in Books

A professor of literature explains why he loves books

Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition

The Unexpected Professor: An Oxford Life in Books. By John Carey. Faber & Faber; 361 pages; $23.81 and £18.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

IN HIS blog, which is largely dedicated to the keeping of bees, John Carey, for 30 years a professor of English literature at Oxford, states that he writes to “stimulate and involve the general reader”. This autobiography, written with sympathy, a light touch and a sardonic sense of humour, amply fulfils that aim. It suggests that this well-known book reviewer and author retains strong opinions and a love of controversy—writers who thought his reviews hurtful once formed an anti-Carey club—but also portrays a sensitive man dedicated to academic study and to reading. He admits that “courage matters more than understanding poetry” but, having read almost everything there is to read, he is unapologetic about trying to convey just what an enjoyable activity reading is. Read more of this post

Karl Ove Knausgaard: Northern light; One of Europe’s most remarkable literary talents explains the autobiography that made his name

Karl Ove Knausgaard: Northern light; One of Europe’s most remarkable literary talents explains the autobiography that made his name

Mar 15th 2014 | OSTERLEN, SWEDEN | From the print edition

THE man standing on the platform at Ystad station, in southern Sweden, looks more like a grunge rocker than a literary superstar: long hair, beard, scuffed boots, glowing cigarette, hat pulled down against the bitter cold. His white van is so grimy that it is almost black. The stereo blasts out at full volume. There is a fearsome-looking dog cage in the back. Read more of this post

Entrepreneurship: The art of the struggle; A new book about startups should be required reading for business-builders everywhere

Entrepreneurship: The art of the struggle; A new book about startups should be required reading for business-builders everywhere

Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition

The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers. By Ben Horowitz. Harper Business; 289 pages; $29.99. Buy from Amazon.com,Amazon.co.uk

THESE are halcyon days in Silicon Valley and other hives of entrepreneurship around the world. Barely a week goes by without some newly minted billionaire hitting the headlines and some bizarrely named young company getting an eye-wateringly high valuation from financiers. But for every starry success there will be a multitude of failures, and it is easy to forget that the job of an entrepreneur is often nasty, brutish and in danger of being cut short by impatient investors, rebellious co-founders and other hazards. Read more of this post

How To Make Stress Your Friend: This Incredible TED Talk Shows How Changing Your Perception Of Stress Could Save Your Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVTAoXEU

This Incredible TED Talk Shows How Changing Your Perception Of Stress Could Save Your Life

RICHARD FELONI STRATEGY  MAR. 14, 2014, 10:38 PM

When Kelly McGonigal first told her audience that a belief in the harmful effects of stress — and not stress itself — was a serious health risk, many people laughed. Read more of this post

The Beautifully Simple Method Archimedes Used To Find The First Digits Of Pi

The Beautifully Simple Method Archimedes Used To Find The First Digits Of Pi

ANDY KIERSZ FINANCE  MAR. 14, 2014, 10:47 PM

Happy Pi Day! It’s March 14, or 3/14, matching the first three digits of π.

π is one of the fundamental constants of mathematics: the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.  Read more of this post

The Imaginary Epidemic of Envy in America

3/12/2014 at 7:30 PM

The Imaginary Epidemic of Envy in America

By Jonathan Chait

Conservatives used to say all the time that envy doesn’t work in American politics, that Americans admire the rich rather than begrudge them their fortune. They rarely say that anymore. Instead they warn that Americans resent the rich too much, that our noxious resentment carries all sorts of dangerous side effects. American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks wrote a column in the Sunday New York Times earlier this month warning, “a national shift toward envy would be toxic for American culture,” and then asserted such a shift is already under way. Another Times column a week later, by Harvard economist Sendhil Mullainathan, who is not even a conservative, likewise frets that rampant envy “has made us less pragmatic and more dogmatic.” Read more of this post

8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today

8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today

Think hyperbole rhymes with Super Bowl? Don’t worry, it could be the start of something beautiful

David Shariatmadari

theguardian.com, Tuesday 11 March 2014 10.00 GMT

Someone I know tells a story about a very senior academic giving a speech. Students shouldn’t worry too much, she says, if their plans “go oar-y” after graduation. Confused glances are exchanged across the hall. Slowly the penny drops: the professor has been pronouncing “awry” wrong all through her long, glittering career. Read more of this post

Here’s Why A Former PayPal Exec Absolutely Hates Meetings

Here’s Why A Former PayPal Exec Absolutely Hates Meetings

JILLIAN D’ONFRO TECH  MAR. 15, 2014, 9:47 PM

In the early days of PayPal, David Sacksmanaged over 700 employees as the company’s COO.

According to an interesting Quora post, Sacks hated meetings while he was leading PayPal. Former senior executive Keith Rabois wrote that Sacks was skeptical of any meeting that included more than three or four people. He would randomly pop in on meetings, and immediately shut them down if he decided that they seemed inefficient. PayPal’s annual review forms in 2002 even rated employees on whether they avoided “imposing on others’ time, e.g. scheduling unnecessary meetings.” Read more of this post

An Investor’s Guide to Better Writing – Seriously

An Investor’s Guide to Better Writing — Seriously

11 MAR 2014 – VITALIY KATSENELSON

I never thought I’d be giving writing advice. I was always the worst student in my literature class in Russia. I never received a grade higher than a C on any Russian essay I ever wrote. I have a theory that my teachers got sick of reading and grading my horrible essays, so they stopped and automatically gave me a passing grade out of pity. I don’t blame them. Read more of this post

Startups Anonymous: A list of fears from the CEO of a startup in NYC

Startups Anonymous: A list of fears from the CEO of a startup in NYC

BY STARTUPS ANONYMOUS 
ON MARCH 12, 2014

[This is a weekly series that brings you raw, first-hand experiences from founders and investors in the trenches. Their story submissions are anonymous, allowing them to share openly without fear of retribution. Every Wednesday, we’ll run one new story chosen by Dana Severson, who operates StartupsAnonymous, a place for startups to share, ask questions, and  answer them in story-length posts, all anonymously.] Read more of this post

How to build a tribe and attract ‘supercustomers’: Vinomofo co-founder Andre Eikmeier

How to build a tribe and attract ‘supercustomers’: Vinomofo co-founder Andre Eikmeier

Published 14 March 2014 13:00, Updated 14 March 2014 21:27

Andre Eikmeier

I’m not a fan of mission statements, but I’m a big fan of missions.

What’s the difference? Authenticity, usually. One’s the creation of the marketing department, and one is the reason someone gets up in the morning and goes in to battle with a smile on their face. Read more of this post

Important Life Lessons: What’s The Most Important Life Lesson Older People Feel You Must Know?

APRIL 12, 2013 by ERIC BARKER

Important Life Lessons: What’s The Most Important Life Lesson Older People Feel You Must Know?

Yes, older people are agreed on the most important life lessons they want to pass on.

Karl Pillemer of Cornell University interviewed nearly 1500 people age 70 to 100+ for his book “30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans.” He asked them what life lessons they’d pass on. Read more of this post

Why companies shouldn’t focus on hires who will hit the ground running

Why companies shouldn’t focus on hires who will hit the ground running

By Max Nisen @MaxNisen March 14, 2014

“The thing that you start to hear as you get bigger, when someone talks about a candidate they want to hire, they often start talking about how they’re excited because this person will hit the ground running,” LinkedIn’s Dan Shapero tells Quartz. “And hitting the ground running is a very short-term benefit.” Read more of this post

Bill Gates says the success rate on venture capital is “pathetic” compared to development

Bill Gates says the success rate on venture capital is “pathetic” compared to development

By Max Nisen @MaxNisen March 14, 2014

Bill Gates is the richest man in the world and one of its biggest philanthropist. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Gates was critical of what he sees as a double standard when it comes to development. Read more of this post

The Science of ‘Paying It Forward’: How generosity among strangers becomes socially contagious

The Science of ‘Paying It Forward’

MARCH 14, 2014

By MILENA TSVETKOVA andMICHAEL MACY

ONE morning in December of 2012, at the drive-through window of a Tim Hortons coffee shop in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a customer paid for her order and then picked up the tab for the stranger in the car behind her in line. Then that customer paid the bill for the following customer in line — and so on, for the next 226 customers, in a three-hour sequence of spontaneous generosity. Read more of this post

3 Ways To Get More Out Of Every Single Hour

3/14/2014 @ 9:42AM |9,007 views

3 Ways To Get More Out Of Every Single Hour

“Lost time is never found again.” —Benjamin Franklin

Time is a key resource that we simply cannot replenish. The 24 hours of each day are all we are given—once spent, these hours are lost forever. This means that if you’re struggling to fit all of your priorities and “to-dos” into your day, it’s time to look for methods to use those hours and minutes more effectively. Read more of this post

Gauge Which Activities Aren’t in Sync with Your Strategy

Gauge Which Activities Aren’t in Sync with Your Strategy

by Nick Chipman  |   10:00 AM March 14, 2014

Take this brief assessment for feedback on how to improve strategic alignment in eight key areas.

Most organizational leaders struggle to align day-to-day activities with strategy, even though they know it’s important to do. Almost 80% of the more than 1,200 senior executives recently surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers believe that their organizations have the right strategic intent — but only 54% think they’re executing that strategy well. Read more of this post

Asking Whether Leaders Are Born or Made Is the Wrong Question; differentiate between leadership effectiveness (performance as a leader) and leadership emergence (being tapped for a leadership role)

Asking Whether Leaders Are Born or Made Is the Wrong Question

by Connson Chou Locke  |   9:00 AM March 14, 2014

Are leaders born or made?  When I pose this question to executives or HR professionals, the vast majority say that leaders are made; that is, leadership is something one can learn. Yet researchers have found traits, such as extraversion and intelligence, which differentiate leaders from others.  This seems to imply that we can identify future leaders by looking at their traits – but we must be cautious when drawing such conclusions. Read more of this post

So you fail, so what! The corporate athlete success formula

So you fail, so what! The corporate athlete success formula

By Patricia Sellers March 14, 2014: 12:51 PM ET

A group of star women with deep connections to sports know that if you learn to love failure, you’re more likely to become a successful leader.

FORTUNE — So You Fail, So What. That’s the title of a Fortune cover story that I wrote two decades ago. The story still has legs (readers ask me about it to this day) and is more relevant now than ever: The global flow of ideas and money enables anyone to innovate, test, fail, pivot and try again. Read more of this post

Alan Mulally, imported from the aircraft industry to modernize the Ford Motor Co., used management principles he could have learned in middle school to get the company through the financial crisis

SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014

The Long Road Back

By JACK FALVEY | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

Alan Mulally, imported from the aircraft industry to modernize the Ford Motor Co., used management principles he could have learned in middle school to get the company through the financial crisis.

In 2006, Ford Motor was headed into a long financial tunnel from which there might be no return. Chairman William Ford Jr., his family, and the board of directors knew they needed a new direction. One of the directors, John Thornton, made an overture to Alan Mulally, who had led Boeing back from the abyss. Did he think he could do the same for Ford? His answer was yes. Read more of this post

Buffett gets the better of everyone, version 4,762

Buffett gets the better of everyone, version 4,762

Dan McCrum

| Mar 14 15:12 | 16 comments | Share

We have always admired Warren Buffett’s ability to combine hard headed capitalism with incredible popularity. America’s favourite billionaire and all that. Read more of this post

What poet WH Auden can teach us in times of crisis

March 14, 2014 5:44 pm

What WH Auden can teach us in times of crisis

By Alexander McCall Smith

WH Auden in the Tom Quadrangle at Christ Church College, Oxford

Introduction

FT Weekend is proud to be the media partner of this year’s Oxford Literary Festival (March 22 to 30), one of the world’s most prestigious literary events. Read more of this post

Alejandro Zaffaroni, life scientist and entrepreneur, 1923-2014

March 14, 2014 6:02 pm

Alejandro Zaffaroni, life scientist and entrepreneur, 1923-2014

By Andrew Ward

As the second world war drew to a close in 1945, Alejandro Zaffaroni hitched a ride on a US military cargo ship from his native Uruguay to New York. It was the start of a journey that led to his becoming one of America’s most prolific biotechnology entrepreneurs, playing an important role in development of the birth control pill, the nicotine patch and DNA chips used in genetic research. Read more of this post