We're pioneering a theory of human intelligence that has been called “groundbreaking" (The US Army), "mind-blowing" (Malcolm Gladwell), and “life-changing” (Brené Brown).
Studies show our methods substantially increase creativity, innovation, resilience, and self-efficacy across populations as diverse as US Army Special Operations, elementary school students, and business leaders.
These are methods that can be taught, learned, and practiced.
01. Intuition
The Yellow Scale (1907) by Czech artist Frantisek Kupka, born on this day in 1871.
What surprises you about this painting?
Jill from Columbus, OH noticed the slouch. What story might explain the slouch?
First name / Reader, would you like to be featured in an upcoming issue?
Singer-songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen was born on Sept. 21, 1931.
He's not looking for another.
Here, Cohen invokes his creative lineage, stretching back to Sappho over three thousand years ago, by sharing the poet's secret to making their listeners feel love: admitting something vulnerable.
English scientist Michael Faraday was born on September 22, 1791.
How to Become a Scientist
Part I: The End
Michael Faraday discovered many fundamental laws of physics and chemistry. Einstein kept a picture of Faraday on his study wall, saying that the 19th century scientist “had made the greatest change in our conception of reality.”
Part II: The Beginning
Faraday's father was a blacksmith who could only afford to provide his son with a basic education— reading and math.
This prompt works best if you pause here and try to imagine the middle — what degree of action must Faraday take for a boy with virtually no education to become a transformational scientist?
Part III: The Middle
Faraday apprenticed himself to a bookbinder, learning all he could from the books they made. He sought out friends from the local university. When his apprenticeship ended and Faraday was left to his own devices, he scored an invitation to a series of lectures by English chemist Humphry Davy. This is when Faraday took his shot. He wrote 300 pages of notes on Davy's lectures, bound them into a book, and sent it— his one precious copy — to Davy himself.
His risk paid off. Davy eventually hired Faraday as his assistant and the boy who came from so little began the formal scientific work that would pave the way for Einstein.
What did you just do?
These prompts grow your ability to identify emerging possibilities, develop your true EQ (hint: it's knowing what you feel, not deducing what someone else does), and boost your commonsense so you can discern which course of action suits your situation.
