Colin's Blog

Welcome to TED Tuesdays on the blog. Each Tuesday, I will post a video from TED with a little commentary from me on why I think it’s worth sharing.

Staying with the career/work theme from last week (for no particular reason) Alain de Botton talks about philosophies of success and failure. Alain is a pretty smart guy (understatement) so anything he says is worth listening to, but I found this presentation to be especially engaging and relevant.

So what I want to argue for, is not that we should give up on our ideas of success. But we should make sure that they are our own. We should focus in on our ideas. And make sure that we own them, that we are truly the authors of our own ambitions. Because it’s bad enough, not getting what you want. But it’s even worse to have an idea of what it is you want, and find out at the end of a journey, that it isn’t, in fact, what you wanted all along.

http://www.ted.com/talks/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_philosophy_of_success.html

Welcome to TED Tuesdays on the blog. Each Tuesday, I will post a video from TED with a little commentary from me on why I think it’s worth sharing. I don’t want to compete with TED itself, so I’ll be reaching back several months for these.

This first TED Tuesday features Dan Pink talking about the science of motivation and the surprises about what works and what doesn’t.

When I first saw this presentation, I had to resist the urge to send it to every boss I’ve ever had (save one) with a note saying: “You’re doing it wrong.”

the Results Only Work Environment that Dan describes is exactly what I’ve always felt made the most sense, so it was validating to hear an “expert” say what I’ve been thinking.

Please feel free to leave your own comments about the video below.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html