Truth Demands To Be Lived, by Richard Whittaker
few years ago Americ Azevedo sat in a college classroom with about 15 students. It was a meditation class and he was the instructor. This past fall, that same class enrolled 603 students and took place in one of the largest lecture halls on the UC Berkeley campus. A philosopher, author and lecturer of peace studies, Americ slips through all of these categories. Serendipitously he became the acting CEO of a company in a field for which he had no formal training. He's taught an unlikely mix of university classes (philosophy, religion, leadership, finance, business and information systems), developed several virtual companies, directed the Innovation Center at Golden Gate Univer... posted on Nov 12 2013 (29,580 reads)

How to Think Like A Wise Person, by Adam Grant
I asked you to judge how smart someone is, you’d know where to start. But if you were going to assess how wise that person is, what qualities would you consider? Wisdom is the ability to make sound judgments and choices based on experience. It’s a virtue according to every great philosophical and religious tradition, from Aristotle to Confucius and Christianity to Judaism, Islam to Buddhism, and Taoism to Hinduism. According to the book From Smart to Wise, wisdom distinguishes great leaders from the rest of the pack. So what does it take to cultivate wisdom? In an enlightening study led by psychologists Paul Baltes and Ursula Staudinger, a group of leading journalist... posted on Nov 20 2013 (58,163 reads)

This Will Make You Smarter, by Maria Popova
Will Make You Smarter: 151 Big Thinkers Each Pick a Concept to Enhance Your Cognitive Toolkit The importance of “the umwelt,” or why failure and uncertainty are essential for science and life. Every year for more than a decade, intellectual impresario and Edge editor John Brockman has been asking the era’s greatest thinkers a single annual question, designed to illuminate some important aspect of how we understand the world. In 2010, he asked how the Internet is changing the way we think. In 2011, with the help of psycholinguist Steven Pinker and legendary psychologist Daniel Kahneman, he posed an even grander question: “What scientific concept will improve... posted on Jan 14 2014 (35,425 reads)

A Labor of Love, by MAUREEN PURTILL
September 26, 2013, a mass movement succeeded in persuading Governor Jerry Brown to sign the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. How did they do it? By inventing a new way of combating injustice. Credit: Maureen Purtill. All rights reserved. Elizabeth Flores leaned forward to the microphone and fixed the crowd with a smile. “Why is it acceptable that dogs are treated with more dignity and respect than I am”, she said, “as an undocumented immigrant domestic worker in America?” Half-laughing, she pulled away to watch the audience react. Her words might suggest a disempowered victim, but her smile and laughter said something more prof... posted on Jan 9 2014 (15,499 reads)

Six boys, one cop, and the road to restorative justice, by Molly Rowan Leach
a warm summer night in Longmont, Colorado, a vibrant midsized city in the Rocky Mountains.  On a dare, six young men aged between ten and thirteen years plan to break into a giant chemical processing plant. High levels of alcohol and testosterone, peer pressure and a moonless night propel the group towards the locked gates of the factory, and they break in. Across town at the Police Department, Officer Greg Ruprecht is about to embark on night patrol.  A former Army Captain and top of his class at the Police Academy, Ruprecht believes his job is to arrest everyone who commits a crime and throw away the key. Justice means punishment: an eye for an eye, no questions... posted on Dec 21 2013 (26,323 reads)

The Pain & Beauty of Life Changes, by Leo Babauta
reason for our suffering is our resistance to the changes in life. And life is all changes. While I resist change (and suffer) just like anyone else, I have learned to adapt. I’ve learned some flexibility. I’ve realized this: Everything changes, and this is beautiful. The Pain of Life’s Changes What do I mean that our suffering comes from resistance to the changes in life? Let’s take a look at some things that give us trouble: Someone yells at you at work. The change is rooted in the fact that we expect people to treat us kindly and fairly and with respect, but the reality is that they don’t always. When they don&rs... posted on Feb 13 2014 (44,773 reads)

6 Habits of Highly Grateful People, by Jeremy Adam Smith
terrible at gratitude. How bad am I? I’m so bad at gratitude that most days, I don’t notice the sunlight on the leaves of the Berkeley oaks as I ride my bike down the street. I forget to be thankful for the guy who hand-brews that delicious cup of coffee I drink mid-way through every weekday morning. I don’t even know the dude’s name! I usually take for granted that I have legs to walk on, eyes to see with, arms I can use to hug my son. I forget my son! Well, I don’t actually forget about him, at least as a physical presence; I generally remember to pick him up from school and feed him dinner. But as I face the quotidian slings and arrows of pare... posted on Mar 19 2014 (182,254 reads)

The Ancient Heart of Forgiveness, by Jack Kornfield
Kornfield shares extraordinary stories of forgiveness--and explains how the next story could be yours. On the train from Washington to Philadelphia, while on my way to my father’s memorial funeral service, I sat down next to an interesting fellow who worked with young boys, particularly those in jail and prison, as part of an inner-city project in Washington, DC. He told me this story. A young kid, 14 years old, wanted to get into a gang. The way that he proved himself to enter the gang was to shoot somebody—it was an initiation rite. He shot this kid he didn’t know. He was apprehended, brought to trial, and at the end of the trial, convicted. Just bef... posted on Mar 15 2014 (63,195 reads)

Brene Brown on Shame & The Courage to be Vulnerable, by On Being
Tippett, host: In a culture where we like to fix or prevent vulnerability, Brené Brown is reviving the knowledge that our struggles make us who we are. And it's based on data — social scientific research she conducted first into shame and then into qualities that distinguish lives with a strong sense of worthiness. She's frank about the resistance her own findings awakened in her, a classic American perfectionist who wore exhaustion as a status symbol. She also discovered a stark gulf between what we want to be true — and what is true — in vulnerability between men and women. And she exquisitely uncomfortably describes the difference between m... posted on Mar 21 2014 (33,601 reads)

The Honest Truth About Dishonesty, by Knowledge@Wharton
cheats a little from time to time. But most major betrayals within organizations – from accounting fraud to doping in sports – start with a first step that crosses the line, according to Dan Ariely, a leading behavioral economist at Duke and author of The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone – Especially Ourselves. That step can start people on a “slippery slope.” In this interview with Wharton management professor Adam Grant, Ariely helps leaders understand how to prevent people from taking that first step, how to create a code of conduct that makes rules and expectations clear and why good rules are critical to organizations. A... posted on Apr 8 2014 (25,359 reads)

How To Become Productively Generous, by Adam Grant
Western culture, many people define success narrowly as money and power. In her uplifting book Thrive, Arianna Huffington argues that this leaves us sitting on a two-legged stool, which will tip over if we don’t add a third leg. She makes a passionate case, supported by science, for expanding our definition of what it means to succeed. One of her new metrics is giving: a truly rewarding life involves contributing to and caring for others. I love this message. It’s a powerful call for us to become more generous and compassionate. Unfortunately, when people answer this call, they sacrifice their own success. Burning the midnight oil for other people, they fall behind on their... posted on Apr 24 2014 (30,842 reads)

Advice From Artists On How To Overcome Creative Block, by Maria Popova
is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work,” Chuck Close scoffed. “A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood,” Tchaikovsky admonished.“Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too,” Isabel Allende urged. But true as this general sentiment may be, it isn’t always an easy or a livable truth — most creative people do get stuck every once in a while, or at the very least hit the OK plateau. What then? Not too long ago, Alex Cornell rallied some of our time’s most celebrated artists, writers, and designers, and asked them to share t... posted on Apr 22 2014 (26,762 reads)

Leaders Open Doors, by BJ Gallagher
Treasurer is one of my favorite business authors - not just because his books are good - but because he reminds me of the Wizard of Oz - his work always offers three important elements: brains, heart, and courage. His newest book, "Leaders Open Doors" is no exception. I've been eager to talk to Bill about it and he graciously made time for an interview. BJ: I love the story behind your new book, "Leaders Open Doors." Would you share it with me again, for the benefit of my readers? Bill: For over two decades I've been a senior ranking member of the Legion of Leadership Complexifiers (LLC). We're the folks who make our living out of plumbing, parsing,... posted on Jun 21 2014 (20,255 reads)

Sophisticated Simplicity, by Duane Elgin
kind of "stewardship" fits our emerging world? When we consider the powerful forces transforming our world — climate change, peak oil, water and food shortages, species extinction, and more — we require far more than either crude or cosmetic changes in our manner of living. If we are to maintain the integ­rity of the Earth as a living system, we require deep and creative changes in our overall levels and patterns of living and consum­ing. Simplicity is not an alternative lifestyle for a marginal few. It is a creative choice for the mainstream majority, particularly in developed nations. If we are to pull together as a human commu­nity, it will be cr... posted on Apr 29 2014 (19,731 reads)

6 Things Shy People Can Teach Us About Success, by Lindsay Holmes
are we’ve all experienced a bout of shyness in our lives, whether it’s when we've walked into a party full of strangers or tried to shine in a job interview. And if you identify as a shy person, you’re definitely not the only one -- approximately 40 percent of American adults feel the same way. And yes, shyness has been associated with negative outcomes -- characteristics like difficulty maintaining eye contact, feelings of humiliation and sometimes even detachment are all known to be part of a shy person's M.O. It's these traits that tend to affect some shy individuals' ability to connect, says C. Barr Taylor, a professor of psychology at Sta... posted on May 22 2014 (24,307 reads)

Three Young Activists & Their Causes, by Christine St. Pierre, Miles Becker
three young activists found creative ways to tackle issues from climate change to voting rights. 1. Olivia Bouler: Painting to rescue birds and restore habitat Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Olivia Bouler asked the National Audubon Society how her skill as an artist and her love of birds could be put to use. The fifth grader from Islip, N.Y., created a web page offering her vibrantly colored and lively paintings in exchange for donations. Five hundred of Bouler's watercolors of pelicans, warblers, buntings, and other North American birds were claimed within three weeks, and donors eventually contributed $200,000 to ... posted on Jul 4 2014 (14,077 reads)

Meditations On An Apple, by Janet Brown
essay was first presented during a Bioneers conference workshop. Before the meditation, each participant was given a Red Rome Beauty apple. Here in Northern California, in the early fall, while the leaves are still on the trees and a single frost has not yet touched the field, the apple harvesters are bringing in a treasure. In a place in the world known as Ladakh, before each meal, members of the community take a moment to close their eyes. In the quiet moment, they give thanks for the meal by picturing the face of each person who contributed to bringing the meal to the table and remembering them. As you hold the apple, remember that the ancestor of all apple trees... posted on Jun 28 2014 (21,547 reads)

Don't Be So Sure, by Margaret Wheatley
people I meet want to develop more harmonious and satisfying relationships. But we may not realize that this can only be achieved by partnering with two new and strange allies: uncertainty and confusion. Most of us weren’t trained to like confusion or to admit when we feel hesitant and uncertain. In our schools and organizations, we place value on sounding assured and confident. People are rewarded for stating opinions as if they’re facts. Quick answers abound; pensive questions have disappeared. Confusion has yet to emerge as a higher order value or behavior that organizations eagerly reward. As life continues to speed up (adding to our confusion), we don’t ... posted on May 19 2014 (28,331 reads)

7 Keys to A Good Death, by Charles Garfield
Garfield draws on decades of experience to explore how to create the conditions for a good death. Some years ago, I helped tend to a friend of mine who was dying of cancer. Near the end of his life, he had reached a place of equanimity around dying. But instead of honoring his wishes for a peaceful death, his doctors ordered aggressive chemotherapy treatment, which did nothing to halt his cancer. The treatments caused him immense suffering, rendering him unable to sleep, eat, or converse with family and friends as he was dying. Unfortunately, deaths like my friend’s are not that rare. Though more than 70 percent of Americans surveyed say they want to die in their o... posted on Jun 24 2014 (85,289 reads)

Cartographies of Time, by Maptia, Co-founder Team
of Time: Part II We believe that places are like people and that each has a unique personality. A defining and often delightful aspect of each place’s personality is the way in which time is understood, measured and perceived by the people who live there. Cross the globe and you will encounter many different rhythms of life - some slow, some frantic, some chaotic and changeable, some melodic and rich, and just a few where time goes by entirely untracked. Many farmers use the subtle variations in seasonal weather patterns to measure the passing of time, while others’ religious beliefs can lead them to live their lives according to the waxing and waning of t... posted on Jun 23 2014 (14,540 reads)