The National Football League was founded in 1920. But football wasn’t always the most popular sport in the United States. For years, the sport couldn’t even draw a crowd, much less turn a profit. In 1926, twenty-two teams were competing. By 1931, the NFL consisted of just 10 active teams. Our latest Instaread tells the […]
Are You Juggling Too Much?
Finding the perfect equilibrium between work and family is a myth that has haunted workers for decades. Here’s the hard truth: they cannot be balanced. The actual model we have is more like work-life Jenga. It consists of making the best strategic moves and hoping that the whole pile doesn’t come crashing down. A lot […]
Try This Proven Investment Strategy
At 92 years old, Warren Buffett has yet to retire from his role as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He became one of the richest investors in the world by sticking with a strategy: only buying into businesses that he truly believes in. Part of Buffett’s secret is that he approaches the processes of […]
Customer Service is a Long Game
Jeff Bezos launched his online retail shop in 1995. Within two years, it was the market’s leading bookstore. It expanded from there, serving 20 million customers by 2000. Through it all, Bezos has remained laser-focused on customer experience. Soon after Amazon launched, it started prompting customers to leave product reviews, a process that has helped […]
Peer Inside a Brilliant Mind
When international affairs icon Madeline Albright died last March, the world lost a powerful political mind. As the first female Secretary of State, Albright served on Bill Clinton’s cabinet and guided the country through many crises. It had been a long path to the top. Albright was born in Prague, just before the start of […]
Manage Your Time Like it’s Money
What would you say if you could give one last talk before you die? This question was the premise of a lecture series at Carnegie Mellon University, where professors were asked to speak as if it was their last lecture. For most professors, it was just a thought exercise. But for Randy Pausch, a computer […]
Was WeWork a Unicorn? Or a Cult?
Adam Neumann, WeWork’s co-founder, never learned to code and rarely used a computer. So how did he seemingly take over Silicon Valley? Moreover, why was he paid so much to leave? It may seem like ancient history now, but more than a decade ago, when WeWork started attracting deep-pocket investors, Neumann was described as the […]
Being Tough Doesn’t Make Things Easier
Adam Brown, one of the most famed Navy SEALs, was born tough. A breech birth necessitated dislocating his shoulder in order to take him out of the womb. The newborn didn’t shed a single tear, but we can imagine how much it hurt. Adam’s tough spirit served him well as a young adult, when he […]
Have You Hit Your Optimal Speed?
Kenyans have dominated the world running scene for decades. Fascinated by their superiority, journalist and cross-country runner Adharanand Finn moved his family from their home in England to Kenya for six months so he could train with the best. One of the techniques that Finn learned was barefoot running. Our bodies are made to run […]
The Other Pandemic
Elton John is accustomed to singing for audiences all over the world. But the scariest performances he’s ever had to put on were for the US government. Over the years, he’s made a number of nerve-wracking presentations to urge leaders to help him in the fight against HIV and AIDS. One of John’s key points […]
