Brown, S. L. (Penguin, 2009). Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul.

based goal would home in on the end result – ‘Lose 5kg by the end of the year’, ‘Hit the bestseller list with my book’ – an input-based goal would focus on what we can do in the here and now – ‘Go for a ten-minute walk everyday’, ‘Write 100 words each morning for my novel’. Controllable: We want to focus on goals that are within our control. ‘Spend

My preferred method doesn’t involve fixating on an external outcome or destination, but instead emphasises the feel-good journey. It’s based on what I call NICE goals. Near-term: Near-term goals ensure that we’re concentrating on the immediate steps we need to take along our journey. They help us avoid being overwhelmed by the bigger picture. I fin

My twist on Toyoda’s method is to use the five whys not only to explain mistakes, but to determine whether a task is worth doing in the first place. Whenever somebody in my team suggests we embark on a new project, I ask ‘why’ five times. The first time, the answer usually relates to completing a short-term objective. But if it is really worth doin

Commander’s intent is rooted in the German military tradition, dating back to the Prussian Army of the late nineteenth century. German military strategists realised that no battle plan could ever predict the chaotic realities of war. ‘No plan survives first contact with the enemy,’ as Field Marshal Moltke the Elder put it. (To be precise, he said,

Gable and her colleagues found that responding to good news in an active-constructive way makes the sharer of the good news happier, and makes the relationship stronger. Indeed, in a 2006 study, researchers videotaped seventy-nine couples who were dating10 to examine how they discussed good news and bad news with each other. It turns out that how p

This concept is today known as the ‘Benjamin Franklin effect’. It suggests that when we ask someone for help, it’s likely to make them think better of us. It’s the flipside of the transformative effects of helping others: we can ask others to help us, which will help them feel better, too.

The helper’s high also shows us that asking for help from others can actually be a gift to them, rather than the burden we usually assume it will be.

If you’re in the world of business, shoshin might mean embracing innovation and experimentation, reminding yourself that ‘masters’ become limited by their beliefs in what’s been done and how, while beginners seek new approaches to problem-solving and explore new markets or opportunities.