Whitepapers

One of the most popular mantras for innovation is “avoid criticism.” The underlying assumption is that criticism kills the flow of creativity and the enthusiasm of a team. Aversion to criticism has significantly spread in the last 20 years, especially through the advocates of design thinking. (In 1999, in the ABC Nightline video “The Deep Dive,” which ignited…

Meaningful work is experienced as an accumulation of moments, not through all-day experiences of transcendent bliss. Thankfully we don't need meaning all of the time in order to love our work, as I discussed in a recent article. Research shows that if just 20% of our moments at work feel meaningful, we're less likely to burn out and more likely to feel engaged in our jobs. Put differently,…

Because self-discipline isn’t always innate, these tips may help to stay resolute and on track toward your goals.   Self-discipline doesn’t come naturally to everyone. In fact, if you weren’t taught discipline as a child, it can be extremely difficult to learn it on your own as an adult. You’re essentially playing the role of both the parent and the kid—you…

A happy employee is a productive employee, but what does it take to create an enjoyable work culture? Mathilde Collin is the co-founder and CEO of Front, a San Francisco based company in business since 2013. Front offers an inbox for teams that replaces tools like Outlook, Gmail and instant messaging. The company claims to have raised approximately $80 million in funding to date and have more than…

There are numerous perspectives and fundamental disagreement about the true definition of leadership. The good news is, most definitions of leadership fit into two broad categories. On one hand, we can think of a person who has a supervisory or management title as being a leader. On the other hand, we can think of a person who supports and guides a group to work toward common goals as being a leader.…