Quotes from Daniel H. Pink

In the American Regret Survey, twenty-year-olds had equal numbers of action and inaction regrets. But as people grew older, inaction regrets began to dominate. By age fifty, inaction regrets were twice as common as action regrets. Indeed, according to the data, age was by far the strongest predictor of regrets of inaction. When the universe of opportunities before them has dwindled (as it has with older folks), people seem to regret what they haven't done.

This is one of the central findings on regret: it can deepen persistence, which almost always elevates performance.

You might be surprised. Searching for similarities—Hey, I've got a dachshund, too!—may seem trivial. We dismiss such things as "small talk." But that's a mistake. Similarity—the genuine, not the manufactured, variety—is a key form of human connection. People are more likely to move together when they share common ground.

The left hemisphere is sequential; the right hemisphere is simultaneous. Consider another dimension of the alphabetic mind: it processes sounds and symbols in sequence. When you read this sentence, you begin with the "when," move to the "you," and decode every letter, every syllable, every word in progression. This, too, is an ability at which your brain's left hemisphere excels.

Instead, they spent considerable time accomplishing almost nothing—until they experienced a surge of activity that always came at "the temporal midpoint" of a project.14

do and what people can do. When what they must do exceeds their capabilities, the result is anxiety. When what they must do falls short of their capabilities, the result is boredom. (Indeed, Csikszentmihalyi titled his first book on autotelic experiences Beyond Boredom and Anxiety.) But when the match is just right, the results can be glorious. This is the essence of flow.

Each team member takes thirty seconds to report on their progress.

Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility BY JAMES P. CARSE

hora sexta, which means "sixth hour.

I'm convinced that Type I is the natural state—the default setting—for most human beings. By contrast, Type X behavior is something people learn through their experiences

T]he left hemisphere [is] particularly good at recognizing serial events—events whose elements occur one after the other—and controlling sequences of behavior. The left hemisphere is also involved in controlling serial behaviors. The serial functions performed by the left hemisphere include verbal activities, such as talking, understanding the speech of other people, reading, and writing.

Unchecked levity leaves you flighty, ungrounded, and unreal. Unchecked gravity leaves you collapsed in a heap of misery," she writes. "Yet when properly combined, these two opposing forces leave you buoyant.

Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else BY GEOFF COLVIN

Type I's like being recognized for their accomplishments—because recognition is a form of feedback. But for them, unlike for Type X's, recognition is not a goal in itself.

Even "sophisticated economic agents acting in real and highly incentivized settings are influenced by diurnal rhythms in the performance of their professional duties.

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience BY MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI

Deci found that those oriented toward control and extrinsic rewards showed greater public self-consciousness, acted more defensively, and were more likely to exhibit the Type A behavior pattern.5

slipped on a cognitive banana peel

In most people, language originates in the left hemisphere. (This is true of about 95 percent of right-handers and 70 percent of left-handers. In the rest—about 8 percent of the population—the division of linguistic labor is more complicated.) But the right hemisphere doesn't cede full responsibility to the left. Instead, the two sides carry out complementary functions.

Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation BY EDWARD L. DECI WITH RICHARD FLASTE

Breaks and recess are not deviations from learning. They are part of learning.

The left hemisphere specializes in text; the right hemisphere specializes in context.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success BY CAROL DWECK

the balance of power has shifted—and how we've moved from a world of caveat emptor, buyer beware, to one of caveat venditor, seller beware—where honesty, fairness, and transparency are often the only viable path.