Category: Story
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Streetlight Effect
Late one night, a policeman sees a man looking for something under a streetlight. The policeman asks the man what he’s looking for. “My keys,” he says. Both of them look under the streetlight together. After a while, the policeman asks the man if he is sure he has lost the keys near the streetlight.…
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Choosing to look
In 1928, Scottish physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming went on a two-week vacation. He left a stack of Petri dishes for a bacteria study in his hospital lab in London. When he returned, he realized the dishes were never placed in an incubator as intended. Mold grew. The dishes were ruined. Amid the mess, however, he noticed…
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Go Forward
Florence Nightingale founded modern nursing. In the mid-1800s, she drastically improved hygiene standard and reduced the death rate in hospitals. But before that, Nightingale was torn by the idea of leaving her comfortable home for service. In fact, it took her almost 16 years to respond to what she later referred to as “the call.” Healthcare work…
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Karate Lessons
When I was a kid, I practiced karate for a few years. I focused on kata, basically a choreography of martial arts movements. Like most Japanese art forms, precision, control, and accuracy are key to a great kata performance. One year I participated in a kata competition. My body was tense that day. The moves were not smooth. I lost balance…
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Did He Waste 27 Years?
Before Nelson Mandela helped end apartheid and became the first democratically elected in South Africa, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his political involvement. His bed in prison was a straw mat. The prison guard physically and verbally harassed him. As a prisoner, he was required to do hard labor and break rocks into…
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What They Didn’t See in This Problem Child
When Gillian was eight, she struggled with school. Her classmates found her noisy and disturbing. Homework was never on time. The teacher told her parents she had a learning disorder. The school was concerned. They sent her to a specialist to assess whether she should attend a special school instead. At the doctor’s office, Gillian…
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From Firewood Sales to Presidency
In between his mediocre military career and his presidency, Ulysses S. Grant went through a period of setbacks and financial difficulty. To support his family at one point, he had to sell firewood—hardly a glamorous venture for a West Point graduate. His ex-army colleague was shocked, and said, “Great god, Grant, what are you doing?”…
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When Winning Isn’t Winning
Pyrrhus of Epirus was an ambitious Greek king and a strong opponent against early Rome. In the Battle of Asculum in 279 BC, he triumphed against the Romans but destroyed most of his own forces. In Pyrrhus’s own words, it was “a victory that is not worth winning because so much is lost to achieve it…If…
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Two Mini Stories on Learning
Story 1 In secondary school, I sat in a Chinese history and literature class for five years. I recited poems, dictated answers, and memorized emperors’ names. 15 years later: I have forgotten 98% of my studies. What’s left of it has little bearing on my life today. Story 2 In my last year of secondary…
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Creativity without Fear: The Pixar Way
Pixar has produced two dozen films since the animation studio was founded in 1986. Almost all of its movies—such as Toy Story, Inside Out, and Incredibles—became instant blockbusters. While Pixar spends millions of hours[1] on each movie attending to every detail, perfectionism does not guide its creative process. On the contrary, every day Pixar shows unfinished work internally to the…
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Failure is Not the End
While writing her first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, author J.K. Rowling went through a dark period in her life. At one point, she was jobless. Her short-lived marriage ended. She lived in a mouse-ridden apartment as a single parent on government assistance. She reflected on those difficult times: “Failure meant a stripping away of the…
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The Power of Saying No: Southwest Airlines’ Simple Strategy
One curious thing about Southwest Airlines is what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t offer business class. It doesn’t offer food (unless you count the peanuts). It doesn’t go to Asia or Europe. It doesn’t use wide-body jets like 777s. It doesn’t do freight. It doesn’t join any airline partnerships. It doesn’t assign seats. It doesn’t…
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4. From Devastation to Triumph: A Basketball Story of Perseverance
Steve Nash is one of the best point guards in NBA history. Throughout his 18-season career as a player, he made more than 9 out of every ten free throws across 1,300-plus games. His three-point percentage was 42.8%*. Most impressively, he contributed more than 10,000 assists^. He attributed his success to preparation. “If every basketball player…
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Why Can’t A Musician Also Be A Plumber?
Philip Glass is an influential composer and pianist. His operas, symphonies, and chamber music are highly regarded. Three of his film scores were nominated for the Oscars. While establishing his career, Glass supported himself by working as a plumber*. Once during a service visit in New York City in the 1970s, he came across Robert Hughes,…
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Fix The Minor Issues Now
The other day I knocked over my cup while working from home. Water spilled all over the desk, the wall, and the power strip on the floor. It was lunchtime, and my mind was occupied with heating my meal. Annoyed, I grabbed a towel, halfheartedly wiped down the areas that looked wet, and headed to…