it often required waiting around for other people to get things done. That drove Korinne crazy.

I knew nothing about them at all, nothing, but after that I just had to know more.”

Eventually we got picked up, but we got help because someone saw us walking and everybody likes to see someone moving forward. But nobody likes to see someone standing around with their thumb out, waiting to get picked up.”

A jagged profile is any human quality composed of multiple dimensions, with low correlations between the dimensions.

But the only way to know for sure is to make your own active choices.

Number one, by the time you finally get there, your understanding of your micro-motives may have changed. And number two, the opportunity itself may have changed.

She had always looked forward to the bustle and excitement of working around people who were trying to make a difference. But after toiling at every level of government for more than a decade, she was beginning to realize that the true nature of her motivation might be different from what she had once assumed.

Dark horses evaluate how well their personal pattern of micro-motives matches up with the features of an opportunity.

The Standardization Covenant demands, with apparent prudence, that we suppress our yearnings and delay our happiness in the name of a long, dutiful march toward professional proficiency. Under the covenant, happiness is the reward for working hard and staying the course.