Adaptability

Adaptability

Blurred image of people in white robes spinning in a circular motion on a wooden floor, creating a sense of movement and flow.
The child has no control at all and the adult tries to control too much. But there is a third way.
A split image features a sketched portrait of a bearded man above, with rippling water merging into Leonardo Da Vinci-style sketches below.
What made Leonardo da Vinci last wasn’t magic — it was process — and his study of fluids can help us win the long game.
The word "change" appears three times; the top two are crossed out in purple, while the bottom one—creativity highlighted—is circled in purple, all on a black background.
Creative thinkers are unafraid of the ambiguous spaces where innovation often resides — and this trait is vital when navigating change.
Collage with a steam locomotive, a globe with a syringe, and train tracks sparks curiosity, overlaid by the text "The Nightcrawler" on a dark grid background.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
A white brain model is wrapped in colorful electrical cables, set against a plain blue background.
Curiosity is often considered a personality quirk. Neuroscience paints a different picture.
A man with a beard and short hair smiles at the camera; the background features abstract green, purple, and black-and-white graphic patterns—capturing a confident presence that suggests he may share valuable leadership advice.
The cofounder and CEO of red-hot billing platform Metronome unpacks his leadership journey.
A collage features a masked life-saver in surgical attire, a palm tree scene, and bold text reading "The Night Crawler" against a geometric background.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
A stylized collage featuring an X-ray of human lungs above and a dandelion dispersing seeds below, set against green and beige backgrounds, evokes the easy, slack flow of breath and gentle change.
In nature, business, and life, survival doesn’t belong to the optimized — it belongs to those with a built-in buffer.
A grid of connected translucent spheres on a light blue background represents network leadership, with one central sphere colored orange instead of grey.
The rapid crash of Nokia was triggered when key information gatekeepers became bottlenecks. Here’s the key lesson.
Two men pose for a formal portrait; one wears a dark shirt and the other a suit and tie, set against a patterned background evocative of Alex Garland’s visual style, divided into green, gray, and blue sections.
Want to know how to handle work-life pressure? Big Think asked Warfare co-directors Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza.
Illustration of a clock showing 10:10 with zoomed-in views highlighting both '10' markings, on an orange background.
Surprisingly, multimodal large language models struggle to read time on analog clocks.
A smiling person in a black and white photo is set against a vibrant, Spotify-themed background with abstract patterns and shapes.
Spotify's Co-President, CPO and CTO chats with Big Think about the science of discovery, Swedish innovation, C-suite podcasting, and more.
Map highlighting an area in Europe, centered on the Netherlands and surrounding countries, with a red overlay labeled "PDF.
Common knowledge says the maximum size of a PDF is as big as 40% of Germany — but that’s a gross underestimate.
A person sits on a stool against a blue background with black and white geometric diagrams, including lines, circles, squares, and triangles.
Honing your skills as a strategic thinker does more than solve problems as they appear; it can be a fast track to the top.
Intricate 3D red maze with vertical walls, viewed from an angle, showing complex pathways and geometric design.
Those who know who they are — and what they truly value — refuse to compromise their authentic direction to placate others.
A satin bowerbird stands on the ground, artfully surrounded by blue objects like an artist's palette, with dried twigs in the background, a testament to nature's evolution.
In his book, "Birds, Sex and Beauty," Matt Ridley explores why learning isn't always nature versus nurture.
A foot in a brown shoe stepping on a banana peel against a blue background, illustrating one of the humorous fixes for success.
Professor of leadership Michael D. Watkins identifies ways high-performing teams can be sabotaged — and offers simple fixes for each.
Illustration of two connected neurons with green and orange bodies, featuring detailed blue nuclei, against a black grid background.
A fresh view of intelligence — spanning living systems from bacteria to human civilization — challenges the idea that it’s merely problem-solving.
Discover our new feature release: a user-friendly interface that lets you select interests like Self-Motivation, Leadership, and Management to personalize eLearning recommendations. Tailor your experience and unlock content that aligns with your goals.
Turn onboarding insights into personalized learning journeys with Big Think+ recommendations.
A weaver's resilient hand skillfully crafts vibrant, geometric patterns into the woven fabric.
Many expect AI to follow a familiar pattern — technological disruption followed by adaptation — but what are we losing in return?
Image of three yellow road signs with black right arrows, set against a purple background featuring a faint outline of a brain.
Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff on how to spot and break free from cognitive scripts that limit personal growth.
A person in a suit holds a paper with a smiley face over their head, giving the thumbs-up with the other hand—perhaps caught in the people-pleaser trap, masking true feelings for approval.
The road to “uncaged leadership” means reimagining your professional identity and value. Here’s how.
Large white text reading “maybe” in quotation marks, with a purple scribble behind it, is shown on a black background.
When plans fall apart, adaptability can build something better.
A blue compass rose emblem with a fractured design symbolizes navigation through the struggles of addiction, set starkly against a black background.
Big Think spoke with author and psychiatrist Elias Dakwar about addiction, rock bottom, and the moment you realize your compass is broken.
Collage featuring Donald Trump on 'The Apprentice', Kim Kardashian on a red carpet, a film script, and a camera operator, capturing the behind-the-scenes essence of reality TV.
From Allen Funt to Donald Trump, author Emily Nussbaum explains how reality TV has blurred the lines between, well, reality and TV.
Man peering through a glass container with measurement markings, focused expression, blurred foreground.
“Can we push these cells to do something other than what they normally do?" asks developmental biologist Michael Levin. "Can they build something completely different?”
LEGO minifigure dressed in a suit sits at a desk with a computer monitor, phone, and a mug labeled "World's Best Boss.
Steve Jobs once quipped that Apple's professional managers "knew how to manage, but they didn't know how to do anything."