Supritha S

But we all know the problem with buffets. They aren’t conducive to rational thinking. Clearly the savannah did not equip us to deal sensibly with forty glistening tubs of hot food. You see something you like, and you’re already stacking mini-quiches next to meatballs next to egg rolls sitting in tikka masala, reaching to every corner of the vast... See more

Second, it allows us to believe bad things shouldn’t happen, at least not to ourselves. The thought, “this shouldn’t be happening” implies that something outside of natural processes caused the problem, which leaves little explanation but that someone is doing something they shouldn’t be doing. If there’s a bad actor behind it, you don’t have to... See more

And in the modern workscape we desperately need people with the ability to see big picture solutions. That’s where being a polymath has certain advantages.

In my experience, there are two primary ways to change long-term behaviors and improve performance for good.Increase your performance by a little bit each day. (Most people take this to the extreme.)Change your environment to remove small distractions and barriers. (Most people never think about this.)

The time has come to acknowledge expertise as overvalued. There is no question that expertise and hedgehog logic are appropriate in certain domains (i.e. hard sciences), but they certainly appear less fitting for domains plagued with uncertainty, ambiguity, and poorly-defined dynamics (i.e. social sciences, business, etc.). The time has come for... See more

In other words, the faster you try to change, the more likely you are to backslide. The very pursuit of rapid change dials up a wide range of counteracting forces which are fighting to pull you back into your previous lifestyle. You might be able to beat equilibrium for a little while, but pretty soon your energy fades and the backsliding begins.

But if you want to maintain your sanity, reduce stress, and increase your odds of long-term success, then you need to plan for failure as well as focus on consistency.