It ain’t what you do; it’s the way that you reflect on it

In his book, “Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else”, published in 2008, Geoff Colvin presented an extraordinarily well researched argument that demonstrated that the key characteristic that distinguished people who were widely recognised as world… Continue reading

Zeta-Jones, bipolar, and other high-performance ‘disorders’

Thank you all for the positive comments both public and private around my article, published yesterday, about Catherine Zeta-Jones and bipolar disorder. My own particular interest is in the contribution of mental health extremes to productivity (deliberately avoiding labelling it… Continue reading

Zeta-Jones is one of many creatives to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but what is it?

Catherine Zeta-Jones is one of many creatives to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but what is it? Imagine that you have three states of being in your day-to-day life. In one, everything is perfectly normal – life goes on pretty… Continue reading

“Why a lack of empathy is the root of all evil”

From casual violence to genocide, acts of cruelty can be traced back to how the perpetrator identifies with other people, argues psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen. Is he right? An interesting article about the work of one of the country’s leading psychologists… Continue reading

The Beauty of Diagrams – The Vitruvian Man – Art, Architecture, Anatomy combined mathematically

If you haven’t already seen it, you might like to watch the BBC documentary series, The Beauty of Diagrams. The first episode is on the drawing “The Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo da Vinci. It’s available on iplayer until 10pm on… Continue reading

Business Book of the Week – Kanzi – The ape at the brink of the Human mind

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh – Kanzi: The ape at the brink of the Human mind I can hear my critics speaking right now… “What exactly has THIS got to do with Business, Graham?” Well, almost every month, I find myself in conversation… Continue reading

Business Book of the Week – Christakis – Connected = The science of social media networks

Our understanding of behaviour in groups has been evolving for many years. Much of the earliest scientific study was based on animal populations and formed a subset of the science of ethology. These studies usually revolved around small groups that… Continue reading