In his great book Range, David Epstein talks about how he had a chemistry professor who would throw in some oddball questions on an exam such as, "How many piano tuners are there in New York?" Epstein notes that the ultimate lesson behind using such questions was to show that detailed prior knowledge was less … Continue reading How Many Times Did You Blink Your Eyes Today?
I just refinished reading Range by David Epstein and one section of the book talks about the value of self-learning on a wide range of musical instruments, particularly in the fields of jazz and folk music. Epstein offered several examples of successful jazz musicians who followed unconventional paths on the road to success: Jack Cecchini, … Continue reading Music Monday: The Quintessential Jazz Tune of All Time
I am grateful, once again, for Dan Pink and his biweekly Pinkcast. The content is short and sweet, and always contains a nugget or two of useful, actionable information. Today's Pinkcast is no different. According to Dan, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman once said that if he could wave a magic wand and eliminate a single … Continue reading How to Increase Your Intellectual Humility
I am in the midst of reading a fascinating book - Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein - and I thought one of the stories he shares would fit in nicely with my Music Monday posts. Epstein tells the story of the figlie del coro, which means "daughters of the … Continue reading Music Monday: the Figlie del Coro
Between Dan Pink, Dan Ariely, Adam Grant, and Seth Godin, I've usually got material for about five or six blog posts a month. Add in my Music Monday posts, and I've got 10 posts covered. That still leaves 20 or so ideas that I need to come up with each month, but it's nice when … Continue reading Creating a Book of Small Experiments
Borden's Blather 