Creativity may be hard to nurture, but it's easy to thwart.
The mark of higher education isn't the knowledge you accumulate in your head. It's the skills you gain about how to learn.
From a motivation perspective, helping others enriches the meaning and purpose of our own lives, showing us that our contributions matter and energizing us to work harder, longer, and smarter.
Authenticity means erasing the gap between what you firmly believe inside and what you reveal to the outside world.
It's ironic that when you go through a tragedy, you appreciate more. You realize how fragile life is and that there are so many things to still be thankful for.
The culture of a workplace - an organization's values, norms and practices - has a huge impact on our happiness and success.
Originals are nonconformists, people who not only have new ideas but take action to champion them. They are people who stand out and speak up. Originals drive creativity and change in the world. They're the people you want to bet on.
I believe that the most meaningful way to succeed is to help other people succeed.
Being a nice person is about courtesy: you're friendly, polite, agreeable, and accommodating. When people believe they have to be nice in order to give, they fail to set boundaries, rarely say no, and become pushovers, letting others walk all over them.
By admitting your inadequacies, you show that you're self-aware enough to know your areas for improvement - and secure enough to be open about them.
When takers talk about mistakes, they're usually quick to place the blame on other people. Givers are more likely to say 'Here's the mistake I made; I learned the following from it. Here are the steps I'm taking to make sure I don't let people down in the future.'
Procrastination gives you time to consider divergent ideas, to think in nonlinear ways, to make unexpected leaps.
To get real diversity of thought, you need to find the people who genuinely hold different views and invite them into the conversation.
The opposite of an underminer is a supporter. When colleagues are supportive, they go out of their way to be givers rather than takers, working to enhance our productivity, make us look good, share ideas, and provide timely help.
When I think about voting, I can skip it and still see myself as a good citizen. But when I think about being a voter, now the choice reflects on my character. It casts a shadow.
Once people take ownership over the decision to receive feedback, they're less defensive about it.
Takers are self-serving in their interactions. It's all about what can you do for me.
Procrastinating is a vice when it comes to productivity, but it can be a virtue for creativity.
Bragging about yourself violates norms of modesty and politeness - and if you were really competent, your work would speak for itself.
If you want to be a generous giver, you have to watch out for selfish takers.
