What Builds Resilience—and Where to Find Your Niche
The hallmark of expertise is no longer how much you know. It’s how well you synthesize.
Information scarcity rewarded knowledge acquisition. Information abundance requires pattern recognition.
It’s not enough to connect facts. The future belongs to those who connect dots.
Some dot-connecting perspectives that struck a chord with me:
1. There’s a Place for Everyone (Adam Mastroianni, Experimental History)
A delightful read on why many people struggle to find their niche—and where yours might be hiding.
2. Why AI Isn’t Going to Make Art (Ted Chiang, New Yorker)
Even when machines produce something striking, we may not care.
3. Tell Me Why It Hurts (Danielle Carr, NY Magazine)
An insightful critique of popular understandings of the scars left by traumatic events.
4. Evidence hot off the presses:
Generosity is not just a sign of virtue—it’s a mark of intelligence.
Monitoring employees doesn’t raise their productivity—and it’s possible to shorten the work week without sacrificing quantity and quality.
In hard times, the best predictor of resilience is not mindfulness in the present—it’s hope for the future.
From my desk
5. New WorkLife episodes:
The secret to success isn’t power—it’s status. Apple | Spotify | Transcript
The wrong way to think about culture fit. Apple | Spotify | Transcript
How to design teams that don’t suck. Apple | Spotify | Transcript
6. Some favorite recent Re:Thinking conversations:
Trevor Noah on the importance of context. Apple | Spotify | Transcript
How to fight prejudice with Betsy Levy Paluck. Apple | Spotify | Transcript
How to build a great culture with restaurateur Danny Meyer. Apple | Spotify | Transcript
7. Kamala Harris Is Doing Something Brilliant Up There on the Tightrope
Alison Fragale and I analyzed how the VP is navigating the unfair expectations that women face to be both strong and sensitive.
In solidarity,
Adam
I used to be a fan of the word “resilience” u til I heard a university administrator who said that the word is problematic for students of color as well as other students historically marginalized on a college campus. That is, resilience is often framed as an individual endeavor; yet what would it mean for an institution to reduce or remove the barriers that demand so-called resilience day in and day out.
Ugh- as an architect still held up to knowledge acquisition as a form of expertise and measure of experience, but who excels at being a generalist good at FIGURING OUT solutions rather than KNOWING them, this really strikes a chord with me. It’s the lens I’ve used for years through which to view my CV- “I’m really good at Googling things”