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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad.” — Salvador Dalí

This surreal image, featuring Salvador Dalí mid-air as cats, water, and furniture fly around him, isn’t a composite. It took 28 tries, real thrown cats (no CGI in 1948), and a wildly creative photographer (Philippe Halsman) to pull it off. What we’re seeing isn’t just an absurdist spectacle; it’s a full-body commitment to imagination. Dalí called it “painterly physics.” But more than that, it's a lesson in what’s …

“As I speak, I create. As I create, I become.”

There’s a quiet kind of power that most people overlook. It’s not found in strategy decks or performance reviews. It doesn’t come from hustle or productivity hacks. It begins in something more elemental, more ancient – something we do every day without fully understanding its potential. It starts with our words. What we say, out loud or even just to ourselves, doesn’t merely describe our lives; it shapes them.

You may know “abracadabra” as a magician’…

What if slowing down and looking carefully could transform how we lead, connect, and collaborate? In this deep and reflective episode, museum educator and Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) expert Dabney Hailey shares how structured observation and shared dialogue can spark insight across fields—from classrooms and galleries to corporate teams and healthcare settings. Drawing from her years facilitating art-based inquiry, Dabney explores how listening, uncertainty, and slowing down can deepen ou…

“True power lies in the tension between control and surrender.”

There’s an art I have fallen in love with, one you might not expect from a leadership advisor. It’s not particularly common or practical, but I find myself returning to it again and again as a metaphor for everything I believe about how great leadership is formed. That art is glass blowing.

Several years ago, my wife gave me a class as a gift. I stepped into that workshop as a curious novice, surrounded by fire, fragile material, and …

“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.” — Deepak Chopra

We live in a world saturated with noise—not just the audible kind but the subtler, more insidious noise that fills our inboxes, our minds, our calendars, and our inner narratives. The mental chatter that says you are behind is the most challenging noise we have to deal with. The open tabs that split your attention, the pressure to respond quickly, decide faster, and achieve more—noise is everywhere. And yet, real,…

Workplace culture isn’t just about perks and policies—it’s about designing the conditions where people thrive. In this thought-provoking conversation on workplace culture, Bree Groff—author of Today Was Fun and senior advisor at SYPartners—dives into how leaders can craft environments where workdays are more joyful, sustainable, and human. From navigating “squiggly” career paths to finding fulfillment without burnout, Bree unpacks how purpose, fun, and culture intersect in the modern workplace…

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” — Rumi

Adaptability is one of humanity’s greatest superpowers. We’ve evolved over billions of years to survive every imaginable environment, from deserts to frozen tundras, to jungles, and even skyscrapers. But that very strength carries a hidden danger: We can adapt to almost anything... even what slowly kills us.

Walk through the streets of New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world,…

“Architecture should speak of its time and place but yearn for timelessness.” — Frank Gehry

Standing beneath the soaring arches and intricate stonework of the Natural History Museum in London, you can’t help but feel a sense of reverence. Designed by Alfred Waterhouse in the 19th century, the building is more than just a museum; it’s a cathedral of curiosity. Every arch, tile, and carved creature invites us to learn about the natural world and to marvel at our place within it. There’s something p…

I mistook the doubts for failure—

the cracking skin, the restless ache,

the slow unraveling of plans once held

like gospel in my clenched fists.

This wasn’t the script I was promised.

Midlife, they said, would be

a summit with a view—

not a room with no doors,

not the sound of my own voice

echoing questions I feared to ask.

But here, in the hush between identities,

I feel it.

The hush is not absence.

It’s a womb.

The world calls it a crisis.

But what if it’s a chrysalis?

Butterflies know.

To fly, you must first …

“The world is but a canvas to our imagination.”

Have you ever looked around your life – your work, your schedule, your inbox – and realized the vibrancy you once felt has quietly drained away? What once felt alive, multidimensional, and pulsing with potential now seems… gray and drab. Not necessarily broken, or disastrous, just muted – like someone slowly turned down the saturation on your experience of being alive. This isn’t a crisis; it is a signal.

We are not born into a grayscale world. As ch…