Before the Covid-19 Pandemic, Southwest Airlines was profitable for forty-seven consecutive years. A rare and astonishing feat, given the volatility of the aviation industry. According to the late Herb Kelleher, the company’s former CEO, one of the many reasons for Southwest’s success was its deliberateness in making strategic trade-offs. Greg Mckeown summarizes Kelleher’s approach in […]
Words Into Works #057 | The Hedgehog Concept
In 1953, Isaiah Berlin wrote an essay, “The Hedgehog and The Fox,” based on the ancient Greek parable: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” The parable is about the myriad of ways a wily fox tries to catch a hedgehog. Yet, despite its cunning, it fails with each attempt […]
Words Into Works #056 | The Fresh Start Effect
Google had a problem. It was 2012, and the then 50 billion dollar company had implemented several workplace initiatives to improve its employees’ lives, including feeling more productive and saving for retirement. But for reasons beyond Prasad Setty, Google’s then-vice president, the programs were largely ignored. His hypothesis, which he explained to Katy Milkman, the […]
Words Into Works #055 | The Passion Hypothesis
It was 1671, and Christopher Wren, the architect commissioned to rebuild St Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire of London in 1666, was observing three bricklayers working on completing one of the many cathedrals destroyed during the conflagration. To each bricklayer, Wren asked, “What are you doing?” The first bricklayer replied, “I’m a bricklayer. I’m […]
Words Into Works #054 | Life Task
Robert Greene knew from a young age he wanted to be a writer. He loved books and words and aspired to be a novelist. But he was also a realist and had to make a living, so he moved to New York and landed a job as a journalist. One day, while dining at lunch, […]
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