Critical Thinking
The way in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Sherlock Holmes solves even the most challenging of mysteries is more than just dazzling fun. In fact, says Maria Konnikova, author […]
“There is a kind of whispering campaign — more than a whispering campaign, sometimes a yelling campaign — against the value of objective truth.” So says biologist and author Richard […]
Peer pressure is a powerful thing, even for adults. In his Big Think+ video, “Generate Better Conversations,” economist Tim Harford tells the story of an instructive study done in the […]
Psychologist and author Dan Ariely understands the appeal of rational economics: If people can be expected to behave rationally, life is simple. You can predict their behavior and devise systems […]
“Everything in society today that can be solved by straightforward analysis gets solved immediately,” says Leonard Mlodinow, theoretical physicist and author of Elastic. Unfortunately, many problems aren’t that simple. To work […]
Angie McArthur, CEO of Professional Thinking Partners and the co-author of Collaborative Intelligence, talks about keeping a relationship “clean.” She’s talking about dealing with misunderstandings before they have a chance […]
Negotiating is often a white-knuckle affair, but the stakes are rarely higher than when the FBI is trying to come to terms with a kidnapper. Chris Voss, now CEO of […]
For a startup, growth is a straightforward matter of scaling up: adding employees, setting up distribution channels, and so on. But, says David Butler in his Big Think+ video “Design […]
Disagreements are inevitable — we all have different experiences that lead us to be who we are and to what we believe. Almost as inevitable are distrust, suspicion, and even […]
Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, is a programmer. When he got the idea to begin posting free online classes, he was able to get the basic infrastructure in place […]
Journalist Ronan Farrow says he’s not a great negotiator, but he’s certainly had a unique opportunity to see how one works. Just out of law school, he was recruited by […]
Weijian Shan, chairman of the PAG group, sees a bright future for investors in China, as long as they understand the evolving nature of the country’s economic growth. Though China’s […]
“History is always written by the winners,” goes the saying. It’s also true that history is continually being made, and the identity of the “winner” continually shifts. In his Big […]
An autistic woman, Judy Singer, coined the term ‘neurodiversity’ in her 1988 thesis as a label for the unique contribution made to the world by people whose brains are wired […]
Diversity without inclusion is largely pointless. Beyond superficially satisfying some hiring metric, bringing on an employee who has little chance of thriving deprives the company of diversity’s benefit and puts […]
Just because you have unconscious bias doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It just makes you human. Amway’s Claire Groen cites the quote that made her feel better about her […]
In Shane Snow’s Big Think+ video, “Harness Your Team’s Mental Toolkit,” he begins by asserting that “two heads are better than one” is a lie. Also — and as long […]
The first response to big, bad news is likely to be widespread panic — it’s human nature. Yet, says risk communication expert David Ropeik, you can actually strengthen a team’s […]
Brent Gleeson is a business consultant, author, and former Navy SEAL. In that last role, he’s learned about the importance of resiliency when working through challenges. He’s not just talking […]
Executive coach Alisa Cohn, in her Big Think+ video, “Understand Ownership and Accountability: What It Means to Be In Charge When Things Go Wrong,” uses her experience with a company […]
We don’t have to tell you that business is complicated. You know. Maintaining productive employee and client relationships, mastering challenges and opportunities, and navigating the future are things that don’t […]
Entrepreneurs and innovative businesses are always on the lookout for new ways to leverage existing technology or create an entirely new product or service market. In this way, innovation and […]
As humans, our minds constantly monitor the events that occur in our lives and interpret the meaning of the things that are happening. Our mindset is what dictates how we […]
Every day, you and your coworkers make countless decisions and tackle numerous problems. We know that many of these decisions or problems are so tacit that we don’t even consider […]
Innovation is often thought of as the result of rare genius. To create a new solution to an old problem that is both more efficient and practical than older methods […]