Success
The Peter Principle, Measured: When Top Sellers Become Managers
In a large study of sales workers, top sellers were likelier to be promoted, and their teams tended to sell less afterward. How to check your next rung.
Success
Case studies and principles about achievement, careers and decisions. Every story is a documented, real one — no invented anecdotes, no celebrity gossip.
Success
Sydney Opera House: 4 Years Planned, 14 Built — Why Plans Run Late
The Sydney Opera House opened ten years late. Thesis students, on average, finished after their own worst case. Why plans run long, and one simple check.
Success
The bullet-hole plane and why success stories can mislead you
Abraham Wald's 1943 bomber memos anchor the famous survivorship-bias story. What he actually wrote, and one question to ask before copying a success story.
Success
Van Halen's No-Brown-M&M's Rule and the Art of the Cheap Check
Van Halen's rider banned brown M&M's. David Lee Roth said it was a quick test of whether venues read the contract. Here's how to use a cheap check.
Success
The 10,000-Hour Rule Was Never a Rule. Here's What the Data Says
Ericsson's violin study never set a 10,000-hour threshold. Here's what practice research measured, how much it seems to explain, and what counts as practice.
Success
Nokia wasn't lazy. It was afraid.
The usual story says Nokia got complacent. A study built on interviews with its managers points to fear instead, and it shows up in ordinary work too.