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Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better

WE don’t need more freedom; we need more helpful boundaries. David Epstein, author of Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, says we don’t need to work outside the box as much as we need to be working inside the right box. We instinctively add to solve a problem when the best course of action is to subtract. Boundaries provide clarity. Ideas are plentiful. Figuring out what not to do is the key. You need constraints. Constraints are so important that engineer and designer Tony Fadell admonishes, “If you don’t have constraints, then make up constraints!” Constraints make room for learning. Constraints make you think. Epstein explains: As the cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham has written: “Contrary to popular belief, the brain is not designed for thinking. It’s designed to save you from having to think.” Because the brain is naturally inclined to avoid effortful thinking and to rely instead on familiar patterns, complete freedom tends to lead to unoriginal ideas, simply repeating what is known. Constraints push the brain beyond its default tendencies, forcing it to engage in deeper problem-solving. Total freedom, then, is the enemy of creativity, and constraint its companion. “In other words,” says Epstein, “when anything is possible, it becomes nearly impossible to do anything new. Complete freedom, paradoxically, leads to conformity.” In a chapter entitled The Remix of Everything, he explains that Martin Luther King, Jr. borrowed and remixed to create his messages. He “grew up in the folk-preaching tradition—beginning with watching his father—in...

2026/9/5
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Leading Thoughts for September 3, 2026

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Jenna Nicholas on hope: “Hope is more than a lofty ideal; it's a lifesaving force. Ultimately, hope encourages us to think expansively while integrating our vision into our daily actions, both big and small. It also challenges us to remain realistic and grounded. We may never achieve a human utopia on earth, but hope doesn't require us to remake the world in some sparkly image of perfection. Instead, we can stay focused on making the next positive changes, both personally and professionally, that support those around us and our vision of integrated, healthy progress.” Source: Enlightened Bottom Line: Exploring the Intersection of Spirituality, Business, and Investing II. Lloyd Blankfein on a partnership culture: “It takes more time to treat your partners as owners. It takes time to inform people, entertain objections, and, sometimes, accede to contrary views. It means more iterations and slower decision-making. But the decisions are likely to be better, and the outcomes better accepted, because people were consulted and listened to, even if they didn't get their way in the end.” Source: Streetwise: Getting to and Through Goldman Sachs * * * Look for these ideas every Thursday on the Leading Blog. Find more ideas on the LeadingThoughts index. * * * Follow us on Instagram and X for additional leadership and personal development ideas.  ...

2026/9/3
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First Look: Leadership Books for September 2026

HERE'S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in September 2026 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month. The Executive Condition: The Hidden Health Crisis of High-Performing Leaders by Denis Cronson High performers aren't burning out—they're breaking down. The Executive Condition exposes how modern leadership accelerates biological decline and then shows executives how to turn health into their next strategic advantage. Leadership performance is built on biology—and that foundation is failing. Sleep debt becomes personality. Stress hardens into culture. Decision quality narrows even as résumés grow longer. Boards notice it late. Teams feel it early. And the body—quietly, relentlessly—keeps the score. For too long, modern leadership has rewarded the very habits that erode it: relentless pace, chronic sleep loss, performance martyrdom, and identity fused to output. The result is a hidden crisis at the top of organizations: leaders who still look successful while their cognition, metabolism, emotional range, and judgment quietly decline. This is not a character flaw. It is an operating-system failu Leadership Intelligence: Science-Backed Strategies for Mastering 21 Everyday Management Challenges by Caroline Webb In times of great change, great leadership is crucial—and our current times are no exception. Today, along with the demands that leaders have always faced—balancing short-term progress with long-term planning; delivering strong results without burning people out—we're also in an era of major technological disruption. As that change accelerates, the instinct to lean hard into AI can feel...

2026/9/1
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LeadershipNow 140: August 2026 Compilation

Here is a selection of Posts from August 2026 that you will want to check out: What Launches an Organization or Initiative Isn’t What Sustains It from @AdmiredLeaders No Excuses: Lesson #1 from a Lifetime of Leadership by @TomBrady When you’re explaining, you’re losing Write Down Your Purpose Statement and Read It Each Day by @JonGordon11 Your Culture Is Built by What You Celebrate by @daveferguson Why Every Leader Needs a Point of View by @PhilCooke The 6 Leadership Lessons You Need When Everything Is on the Line by @BrianKDodd 4 Secret Habits of the World’s Best Performers by @BrianKDodd Deep Work: How to Actually Focus When Your Brain Has Been Trained to Scroll by Michela Allocca @breakyourbudget Ordinary Abundance Our lives today are a gallery of past generations’ heroic efforts to do the same. 6 Ways Great Leaders Find Value Where Everyone Else Sees None by @BrianKDodd Who Gets to Decide? Why the Future of Leadership Is Becoming More Decentralized by @DanielBurrus The Decisions You Delay Will Eventually Make Themselves by @PhilCooke The Danger of Outsourcing Your Thinking to AI by John Spence @AwesomelySimple Nothing Past 1967 by @donhornsby When a founder is gone, there’s a real temptation to become a tribute act. How Does a Leader Become a Leader? by @SusanMazza The 4 Stages of Leadership Drift by @BrianKDodd on Leadership 10 Ways to Strengthen Your Self-Confidence by @FSonnenberg Betrayal by @jamesstorck Say Less: When More Words Mean Less Impact by @Julie_WG You Spent a Fortune on...

2026/8/31
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You Need AI Literacy: Here’s How to Get It

WORRIED about AI? You’re not alone. About three-quarters of adults have concerns about where AI is taking us. And no wonder. Doomsayers predict that AI could destroy humanity. Evangelists promise that it will usher in a golden age. The truth is that nobody knows exactly what’s coming. But you can prepare yourself to succeed. Consider a thought experiment. Two explorers are trekking through a hostile jungle. One is “jungle literate,” knowledgeable and experienced. The other is a novice. The experienced explorer studies the terrain, recognizes danger, and chooses a sensible route. The novice blunders ahead without understanding the risks. It’s easy to predict who is more likely to make it through safely. We can expect a similar divide in the workplace. AI-literate professionals will be better positioned to navigate an uncertain future. Those with limited understanding risk falling behind. It’s a jungle out there, and strategic AI literacy can help you navigate it. I’ve watched a similar transition before. When personal computers surged into business, much of the early attention went to learning word processors, spreadsheets, and other programs. Those skills mattered, but computer literacy became broader: understanding what computers could do, recognizing where they could add value, and knowing enough to work effectively with technical specialists. AI literacy is developing in much the same way. Knowing how to prompt ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude is useful. But strategic AI literacy is broader. I chose the word strategic deliberately because the goal is more than AI proficiency. It is to...

2026/8/28
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Leading Thoughts for August 27, 2026

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Dave Rossi on the growth journey: “In athletics, we’re used to having coaches. We expect a trained eye to point out our mistakes, give us adjustments, and help us fine-tune our game. Most people don’t think of applying that same level of observation and correction to themselves. What if you were both the athlete and the coach? What if your inner growth demanded the same film review, the same humility to be corrected, and the same willingness to adjust?” Source: Alphas Die Early: For the Man on a Mission — And the Women Who Love Him II. Owen Fitzpatrick on reframing to change the view: “Reframing is a skill that, as leaders, we absolutely must have. It involves changing the language used to describe a situation or event. It helps to get others to look at things from different perspectives, influences how important something is perceived to be, and dictates what matters most in a situation. Change perspective and ask, ‘Whose point of view are we looking at this from? What’s another way of looking at this? How big will this be a year from now? What’s most important here?’” Source: Inner Propaganda: Leading Hearts and Minds Through Turbulent Times * * * Look for these ideas every Thursday on the Leading Blog. Find more ideas on the LeadingThoughts index. * * * Follow...

2026/8/27
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Learning to Be Excellent

EXCELLENCE is a mindset. The right mindset is what differentiates top performers from others. A mindset is simply the way you approach the circumstances you are faced with. It is a chosen approach to life that either propels you forward or leaves you drifting. Your mindset is a choice. Choose wisely. In Learned Excellence, Eric Potterat and Alan Eagle say that “learning excellence starts with developing a deeper understanding of ourselves: how we act, why we act that way, and what drives us.” In other words, our identity. Too often we worry too much about what people think of us, and it affects our performance. Our focus should be on our identity—what we value—and our reputation will take care of itself. Behave from our values, not our reputation. Eric defines his personal identity with ten words: wonder, stay hungry, stay humble, stay connected, loyalty, listen, laugh. He adds, “I have used it to guide every important decision of my life, and I counsel my clients to do the same.” Our identity defines our mindset. But how do you practice the mindset you’ve chosen? My answer: the controllables. Among all the top performers I have worked with or interviewed, the ones at the top will talk about controlling what they can control and not worrying about the rest. This is a skill that is difficult to master, but in my experience, it is through the controllables that one can best evolve into and practice a mindset. What can you control?...

2026/8/24
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AI Likes Kissing Up to You

Personal Tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal, Nicole Nguyen, wrote in Why I Told My Chatbot to Stop Kissing Up to Me, “AI is trained in part on what people like, and people prefer the brown-nosing, says Myra Cheng, a computer-science Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University and lead author of a March study on agreeable AI. Participants rated sycophantic AI responses significantly higher in quality and, after interacting with a more obsequious model, said they were more likely to return to the AI.” The study found that “AI affirmed users’ actions 49% more often than humans, even when queries involved deception, illegality, or other harms. In three preregistered experiments, even a single interaction with sycophantic AI reduced participants’ willingness to take responsibility and repair interpersonal conflicts, while increasing their conviction that they were right.” This is foreboding. If you take AI to be an authority in your life, the pressure to take responsibility and self-correct is muted. If you are always right, the incentive to take your cues from AI will drive you to return again and again at your own peril. Follow us on Instagram and X for additional leadership and personal development ideas.  ...

2026/8/23
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Mastering Uncertainty

WE all face uncertainty. The question is: how can we keep performing when faced with the disorder of uncertainty? Life will not happen according to our expectations. Peak performance at all times is not realistic. Instead, success is about optimal performance. Rich Diviney states in Masters of Uncertainty that “True success in life and business hinges instead on optimal performance, which means delivering your ‘best’ in the moment, whatever your best looks like in that moment. Sometimes your best is about persevering, moving forward step-by-step in the midst of challenges, embracing the messy, grueling, and unpolished reality.” Diviney’s Mastering Uncertainty Method comprises three steps: Move Horizons, Keep Going, and Stay Cool. Move Horizons Asking what I know now and what I can control keeps you in the here and now without overthinking and spiraling into negative thinking. Levels of uncertainty are determined by three key factors: Duration (How long will this situation last?), Pathway (What should I do next?), and Outcome (What is the goal?). “Moving Horizons is a process where you remain anchored in the present while actively shaping your own Duration, Pathway, and Outcome. Life’s unpredictability often leaves us without clear timelines, defined steps, or guaranteed outcomes for our challenges.” It’s how we best deal with uncertainty one step at a time. Through this process, “you sequentially grow the sphere of what you know and control.” Keep Going As you progress, keep setting goals that are not too big but just outside your comfort zone. A rightly...

2026/8/21
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Leading Thoughts for August 20, 2026

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Creator of the iPod, iPhone, Tony Fadell on building a company: “I needed to learn. And the best way to do that was to surround myself with people who knew exactly how hard it was to make something great—who had the scars to prove it. And if it turned out to be the wrong move, well, making a mistake is the best way to not make that mistake again. Do, fail, learn. “The critical thing is to have a goal. To strive for something big and hard and important to you. Then every step you take toward that goal, even if it’s a stumble, moves you forward. And you can’t skip a step—you can’t just have the answers handed to you and detour around the hard stuff. Humans learn through productive struggle, by trying it themselves and screwing up and doing it differently next time.” Source: Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making II. Maynard Webb on finding inspiration: “Inspiration often starts with frustration. It begins with what seems like intractable problems—and then an unwillingness to accept that there are not any answers. I keep these intractable problems in my head and keep a lookout for answers or insights that can come from anywhere. “Even if you do not have the answers you need right now, I promise you that your solutions...

2026/8/20
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