The byline in Gail Golden’s book, ‘Curating your Life’ speaks about ending the struggle for work-life balance. In the Modern Wisdom podcast, Gail shares numerous ideas and insights to end that struggle. To me, the one that stood out was – embracing mediocrity. Our quest for excellence makes us indiscriminate in a way. We want to be fantastic in everything we do, put in a lot of effort. In our mind, it is a reflection of our commitment and sincerity. Gail invites us to accept a liberating truth : Most of what we do in our life is mediocre. We slog it out in the quest for perfection. Not content with good. In fact, we don’t even need to be good. Just well-enough is acceptable. Once you realize that you can be passable in multiple areas that are not core in your life, so much is unlocked for you! Free of the mediocre things by not doing it at all or doing just well-enough; you can now pour out your time and effort doing the few things you are truly…
Organizing Ignorance
Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance is the death of knowledge. – Alfred North Whitehead Indeed, Peter Drucker used to emphasize that what matters more is not how much you know, but how aware you are of what you do not know. He used to say that we should organize our ignorance. Organising helps us become aware of the structure of our knowledge and understanding and the limits thereof. For example. All of our knowledge of AI and robotics and it’s potential impact is important. What is it that we do not know and are perhaps not even aware of?! What we do not know or not strongly aware of is our own self-conception of being human and how intimately our ‘self-efficacy’ as a species is tied up with technology. We are ignorant about how profoundly AI and robotics is going to interrogate the meaning of being human. The more we explore and organize ignorance, the more we make visible the dark space within which the Knowledge Universe exists.
Innovation & Philosophy – Closer than we think
Want a breakthrough as an innovator? Ask a philosopher! I am forever delighted in knowing how wisdom cuts across boundaries. It is wisdom that spurs real breakthroughs. Consider this: We are more ready to try the untried when what we do is inconsequential. Hence the fact that many inventions had their birth as toys. – Eric Hoffer Eric Hoffer is a philosopher. By all means, people will seek inspiration from the legend of Steve Jobs. And that is good. What about the inner ideals of Steve Jobs; the intangible, unconscious forces within that made him who he became? How can we open ourselves up to experience the same forces? By being open to philosophy. Philosophy explores meaning. Hoffer contributes wisdom ; the meaning that is timeless & universal. Rather than the specific how-to’s of innovation & creativity, it is the uncertain path of philosophy that offers the mysterious something, that can change everything. Hoffer might not have invented anything material, but he contributes something far more powerful: the philosophy that is the creative womb of infinite innovative embryos. What is…