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.
Case study
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.
Motivation
Paying kids for scores didn't raise them. Paying them to read did.
Four US cities paid kids for test scores, grades, behavior or books read. Only two saw reading gains. What that suggests about writing your own goals.
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.
Wealth
The janitor who left almost $8 million, and the part you can't copy
Ronald Read, a Vermont janitor, left close to $8 million. Some of how he got there can be repeated. Some of it was timing and luck.
Wealth
Ben Franklin's 200-Year Money Experiment, and Where It Leaked
In 1789, Ben Franklin left £1,000 each to Boston and Philadelphia and projected huge compound growth. Here's where 200 years of real compounding leaked.
Wealth
Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves? What Florence's 1427 tax rolls say
A proverb says family wealth vanishes in three generations. Florence's 1427 tax records and the Vanderbilt story suggest it's only half-true.
Mindset
Apollo 13 Never Said 'Failure Is Not an Option.' Here's What Worked
The famous Apollo 13 line came from a 1995 film. What really saved the crew was a fix built from bags and tape — and a lesson about limits.
Motivation
5,000/1: What Leicester City's title says about luck and effort
Leicester City won the 2015–16 Premier League at 5,000/1. Split the season into luck and effort, and a more useful lesson appears: stay ready.
Wealth
What Isaac Newton Really Lost in the South Sea Bubble
Newton didn't go broke in 1720. He took an early profit, bought back in, and lost more than he'd made. What the records show, and the trap that caught him.
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.
Motivation
The 61-year-old farmer who won a race by not going to bed
In 1983 Cliff Young won a race from Sydney to Melbourne while his rivals slept. What his win says about the unwritten rules in your own week.