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My Generosity Experiment
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Tag Archives: learning
33 voices
Moe Abdou runs a site called 33 voices and he recently posted an interview we did there. It was a far-flung conversation and Moe does the heavy lifting of boiling that down to 10 maxims – in addition to posting … Continue reading
We can’t argue about pinball any more
It was my first summer internship at my first real job. One day at lunch I had a mock-heated discussion with a colleague about whether pinball was a game of skill or luck. I argued for “skill” and as evidence … Continue reading
Which skills are you practicing?
Maybe today, right now, you’re in a prestigious job (or one that promises to be). It challenges you but it really isn’t your life’s work. What do you do? It’s especially hard to get out, because the pay is probably … Continue reading
Why am I not more…
A long time ago, I decided to take some time off from school to go live in Spain. I dutifully bought a copy of “Spanish in 15 Minutes a Day” and had worked my way through the first chapter when … Continue reading
Something new
How do you approach absolutely brand new, hey-I’ve-never-done-this-before-in-my-life situations? If you’re working with someone who HAS done this before, here’s something you might try: “Hey, friend, I’ve never once done this before. I’m excited to learn, I’m ready to jump … Continue reading
Willing and able
I had a professor once, a big fan of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, who was emphatic about the limits of didactic learning. “Try to learn how to farm from a book,” he’d say, “and you’ll discover when … Continue reading
Four ways to approach business school
Good students go and treat it like school. They’re good at school and it’s a familiar model: the teacher knows more than I do, assigns stuff to do, teaches me stuff. I try hard and get good grades because that’s … Continue reading
One good sign
In early 2008, about a year after I started at Acumen Fund, I noticed something surprising. Even though I was busier than I had ever been, I started reading again– first fiction, but then all sorts of things including a … Continue reading
School teaches
That expertise is out there and that it is narrowly defined. That we should narrow our focus and specialize. That if you, the student, don’t know the answer, that there’s an expert who knows better than you. It’s a sharpen-your-number-2-pencils … Continue reading
Cut away what you do not need to do
Michelangelo would see a block of marble and say that all he had to do was cut away what was not needed to release the statue within. Reaching your goals is just as much about what you DON’T do as … Continue reading
