Adaptability

Adaptability

A woman with straight hair and bangs, wearing a dark top and necklace, poses against a light purple background with abstract squiggly lines and a white rectangular frame, reminiscent of an rf kuang book cover.
Kuang discusses the rituals, routines, and words of advice that have helped her write six best-selling novels in one decade.
An illustration of a Roman-style ruin labeled "Common Law" is overlaid with concentric semicircles labeled Industrial Revolution, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Generative Models.
Common law has long balanced innovation and accountability. Can it do the same for AI?
Illustration of a yellow space shuttle launching against a starry sky, with abstract blue and orange graph elements in the foreground.
One of the many reasons I love my job is that, on any given week, I get to talk with a dozen or so smart, thoughtful L&D leaders to hear […]
A large jagged rock juts out of rough ocean waves, with water crashing against its base under a cloudy sky—standing firm like true leadership amidst the storm.
In a world of fast answers, leadership shaped by suffering is radical — and transformative.
Black and white illustration of a 19th-century steam-powered paddleboat, reminiscent of the one commandeered by Robert Smalls, docked by the shore with smoke rising from its central smokestack.
In this excerpt from "The First Eight," Congressman Jim Clyburn shares the story of Robert Smalls, the man whose audience with Lincoln may have saved the Union army.
A bald man in a blue suit and white shirt stands outdoors in Silicon Oasis, smiling, with autumn leaves and a blurred building in the background.
We chat with Mark Klarzynski, founder of PEAK:AIO, on how his company became an international player in data storage for the age of AI.
A grayscale portrait of a smiling man is overlaid on classical artwork with pink and black graphic elements, evoking a sense of desire. The text at the top reads "THE NIGHT CRAWLER.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
A color-coded map of Asia shows four migration phases from China, with arrows pointing toward Papua New Guinea and the Andaman Islands, both circled in yellow.
The plan — conquer China and push west to attack the Ottomans — was peak imperial hubris, as the Spanish themselves eventually realized.
An older man sits on a chair gesturing with his hands in front of a blue background featuring a black sinusoidal waveform and an arrow.
Why the most enduring organizations stop chasing trends and start designing systems that prioritize people over processes.
A silhouette of a person playing the trumpet symbolizes jazzy leadership, overlaid on a blue and white world map with radiating lines and data points.
In most organizations, contradictions are treated as problems to be fixed. But what if they’re actually the point?
The cover of "All That We See or Seem" by Ken Liu features blurred colorful lines and glowing blue text on a dark background, perfectly capturing the enigmatic spirit of all that we see or seem.
A preview of the latest novel by the Hugo- and Nebula-winning author.
An orange arrow looping to the right is overlaid on a collage of black-and-white portraits of philosophers.
Philosophers rarely change their minds. These thinkers did — often at social and professional cost.
Book cover for "The Devil Emails at Midnight" by Mita Mallick, featuring a bold red background, white and black text, and a partial clock showing midnight—hinting at themes like toxic positivity lurking beneath the surface.
What happens when your boss decides to weaponize positivity in the workplace?
Book cover of "Disrupt Everything and Win" by James Patterson and Patrick Leddin, PhD, featuring a striking yellow background with bold black and white text, stylized burst lines, and the unmistakable style of James Patterson.
Trailblazing isn’t limited to the executive suite: Cultures of disruption happen when people at every level step up to lead change.
A digital collage features the title "THE NIGHTCRAWLER," a robotic dog inspired by China tech, vintage storefronts, and abstract purple geometric shapes.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
Collage featuring "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" text, a black-and-white photo of a person, tree roots reminiscent of smart forests, and code fragments, all overlaid on a gray grid background.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
A small, irregular brown stone with holes—possibly linked to Denisovans—is shown next to a 1990 U.S. dime for size comparison.
In “The Secret History of Denisovans,” Silvana Condemi and François Savatier trace the story of our mysterious hominin ancestor.
A storytelling collage featuring a man inspecting barrels, a person holding a skull mask, another man observing the mask, and the text "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" in bold black and orange.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
A man with a bald head and beard sits on a chair with arms resting on his lap, in front of a yellow rectangle with black lines and dots extending outward.
Why talent alone isn’t enough to achieve your goals.
Illustration of a silhouetted person inside a circular pattern, with arrows and waves directing from a yellow sphere on a green grid background.
A playbook for L&D leaders who want to drive growth, not just deliver training
Two people sit on a deck at night, illuminated by red light, looking up at a star-filled sky with mountains silhouetted in the background.
It’s something to wrestle and live with, says behavioral scientist Arthur Brooks.
Book cover of "The Generalist Advantage" by Mansoor Soomro, PhD, featuring a circular diagram of four generalist types—Ultra, Domain, Hybrid, and Skill Generalist—highlighting the unique generalist superpowers each type offers.
From Apple to Airbnb to OpenAI the generalist mindset has been an invaluable source of advantage — and we can all learn from these successes.
Book cover featuring a shovel scooping a pile of dirt, titled "Shoveling Sh!t" by Kass and Mike Lazerow, with a foreword quote by Gary Vaynerchuk at the top—a true pivot masterstroke in business storytelling.
If your world-beating idea is not working you might need to change direction — and Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom provides the perfect case study.
Two glowing spheres connected by a thin line suggest a quantum link above a red, knotted rope, with abstract wave patterns in the background.
A meditation on quantum physics, creative endurance, and the unseen forces that shape what lasts.
Book cover with a blue background titled "Brand Global, Adapt Local: How to Build Brand Value Across Cultures" by Katherine Melchior Ray with Nataly Kelly, featuring insights on cultural intelligence, set on an orange background.
To be culturally intelligent, you must be curious and open-minded — and the benefits can be transformative.
Book cover of "The Systems Leader" by Robert E. Siegel, featuring overlapping orange geometric shapes and the subtitle exploring systems leadership and cross-pressures in today's companies.
The corporate world is no cake walk — as a leader you need a framework that can equip you for the cross-pressures.
A flowchart with a large question mark at the top leads to boxes containing photos, abstract patterns, and arrows connecting each step on a textured green background.
Annie Duke, a poker champion turned decision scientist, talks with Big Think about how to choose well under uncertainty.