When the war finally came to an end, I was at a loss as to what to do…. I took stock of my qualifications. A not-very-good degree, redeemed somewhat by my achievements at the Admiralty. A knowledge of certain restricted parts of magnetism and hydrodynamics, neither of them subjects for which I felt the least bit of enthusiasm. No published papers at all…. Only gradually did I realize that this lack of qualification could be an advantage. By the time most scientists have reached age thirty they are trapped by their own expertise. They have invested so much effort in one particular field that it is often extremely difficult, at that time in their careers, to make a radical change.… more

Haven’t yet found that unique holiday gift? Try a Kiva gift certificate. Your recipient can go online and select an entrepreneur to support. When the loan is repaid, the process starts again.

Kiva has become a popular and effective microfinance site, helping some of the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. To date, more than 123,000 people have loaned more than $12.4 million to 18,000 entrepreneurs. Check out this post at VC Guy Kawasaki’s blog breaking down the lessons that any entrepreneur can learn from the Kiva phenomenon.… more

As far as I’m concerned, this essay by Warren Bennis may very well be the best encapsulation of what successful leadership actually is: The Character of Leadership.… more

Consulting giant McKinsey has published its list of eight business technology trends to watch. Scanning the list, it’s rather apparent that many of the trends they see — which aren’t really new trends to discover actually — show a growing need for a generalist approach. In particular, the linking and matchmaking role that comes with smart partnering and outsourcing as well as the leveraging of specialist activities through introductions and translation seem to play prominently.… more

Just to remind us that academia has a sense of humour, here’s a list of the 10 most bizarre scientific research papers.

(via Cup of Java)… more

London-based creativity coach Mark McGuinness has recently published an excellent e-book titled Time Management for Creative People (PDF). Good stuff. Originally published with BoDo, Mark started it as a way of maintaining creative focus while managing various creative and business interests. And he’s generously sharing it (under Creative Commons license) to “help any creative generalist become more focused and creative across multiple domains”. Required reading for anybody who makes a living from ideas.… more

A university freshmansenior emailed me a few weeks, introducing himself and expressing frustration with how seemingly difficult it is to meet and connect with other “people who like thinking generally, innovating, and who aren’t afraid to run with the ideas that come out of it.”

Sure, generalists by nature tend not to huddle together, but interesting and ambitious creative people are everywhere. My advice to him was this:

As for connecting you to other open-minded people, you’re in a better position to do that than it sounds like you think you are. You’re in university – lots of very smart and ambitious people from all sorts of disciplines and backgrounds.… more

Great tune by the Cold War Kids. Hospital Beds – an unlikely subject for a song, no?

Whoever is branding this surging band is doing an amazing job. The album cover, all of their videos, website news posts, and other facets of their identity carry a distinctive black-and-white Depression-era style which is – and this is key – consistently applied everywhere and over time.… more

As someone who has always been a little interested in e-book and e-paper technology, I’ve been following the raucous blogstorm that’s surrounded Amazon’s launch of their Kindle e-book reader last week. If you’re not aware, it’s a $399 white-shelled, black-and-white screened, portable e-book reader that can wirelessly download e-books, blogs, and magazines. Whatever it is, and whatever you call it – Amazon prefers “revolutionary wireless reading device” – it’s definitely got a lot of people talking but very little of that talk has been kind to Bezos and team. Take, for instance, Seth’s restrained disappointment or Scoble’s vicious tough love.… more

I’m a musician. As a musician, I’m interested in all different kinds of music. Music to me is not about one particular thing. It’s about reaching out. And of course travelling involves a lot of influences socially as well. So I see and hear many things and all that ends up somehow in my music. — Paul van Dyk, techno DJ and producer… more