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Minute of Genius

Short articles to turn your downtime into 'Aha' time.

Battle scene from the comic fantastic opera 'The Seafarer' by Paul Klee is a surrealist image of a spear fisherman and three giant fish monsters.
How Your Expectations Are Limiting Your Success
Between the obstacle and the river, which would you choose? As a creative coach and consultant I’ve noticed how often people struggle and suffer in the gap between where they are and where they think they should be. Life lived versus life expected.Co...
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Painting: Joyous Note by Karl Schrag has an abstract blue and black background with a single stem of bright red flowers front and center.
Three Simple Ways to be Happier at Work
Wouldn’t it be great if you could enjoy your work more without making any big changes? Here are three simple ways to get there…#1 - Realize that More Worry Doesn't Create More SuccessWorry is awesome — truly! It's a great little helper for creating b...
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Feast of the God 1948 by Max Ernst is a surrealist painting using primary colors to depict what could be animal gods dressed in robes like people.
Dissolve Overwhelm This Holiday Season
The holiday season is upon us. This is the time of year when visions, or nightmares, of family gatherings, business parties, and end-of-year deadlines loom large. There's a mix of anticipation, apprehension, and maybe even disbelief as you wonder whe...
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ntitled. 1938. by Ad Reinhardt is an abstract painting of brightly colored rectangular shapes on a gray background.
Want Higher Quality Productivity? Stop Focusing on Your To-Do List!
Ever get lost spending hours on a project, in your work, or with a hobby, and lose track of time? That’s because what you focus on expands in your mind creating an experience of relaxed productivity, timelessness and flow. It feels great to be in tha...
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Artwork: Street Light (Lampada ad arco) by Giacomo Balla is a futurism painting depicting the bulb of a street lamp giving off flecks of light in all colors.
What You Think About Resilience is Wrong
In school, my professors would require us to begin by stating our assumptions before presenting solutions to complex problems. It's easy to see how understanding a person's foundational assumptions is useful for comprehending the steps they take to s...
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Artwork: Sun by Arthur Dove is an abstract image where the sun, which resembles a sunflower, dominates the image.
How to be Productive and Creative at the Same Time
How do creative people stay in the flow and productive when circumstances are not ideal and the pressure of deadlines feels real? It’s a question we’re often asked.Everyone wants to experience focus, flow and productivity while at work, but it often ...
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Artwork: The art of conversation by Rene Magritte depicts a forest where some three of the trees are white pillars. There are two men, tiny compared to the trees and pillars, who are standing in front of the pillars.
The Four Qualities of a Deep Listener
Have you ever noticed your thoughts wandering while you were trying to listen to someone? While most, if not all, people have had this experience, many don't appreciate the full impact their thoughts have on their ability to listen.While listening to...
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Artwork: America (Baseball) by R.B. Kitaj is a popart painting of a baseball game where the viewer is in the stands looking down on the action.
How to Stay Cool Under Pressure
Ever heard the term Inside Baseball? Well, here’s another take on it.If you’ve watched a baseball game, you’ve seen a pitcher brush-off what the catcher signals to pitch the batter. As a writer I often feel like both pitcher and catcher.  &...
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Artwork: Hatsuhana doing penance under the Tonosawa waterfall by Utagawa Kuniyoshi is a drawing in the ukiyo-e style. It shows a woman dressing in a kimono sitting with a waterfall beating down on her head.
The Critical Thing You Don't Know About Overwhelm
Many people start to feel overwhelmed when they have a lot going on; so isn't it strange that most advice for dealing with overwhelm asks you to do more? The advice varies, but usually falls along the lines of: make time for self-care, practice medit...
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Artwork: The 2nd Day of Creation by M.C. Escher is a black and white line drawing depicting a turbulant sea with rain and storm clouds above.
How to Banish Negative Thinking
Everyone’s had the experience of being weighed down by negative thoughts: like thinking you’ve screwed up completely, you’ve lost your edge, or you’re not keeping up. There are many different models for what to do with negative thinking, from re...
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Artwork: Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. This piece of the image shows her famous smile and mischevious sideways glance.
Are You Too Creative?
Humans are creators. Creating is what we're designed for. Notice how the most miserable retirees are the ones sitting around doing nothing? To live is to create and each person is drawn to create something unique to them. It may be as simple as a mea...
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Artwork: Blue cinema by Rene Magritte shows a woman in an evening gown standing in front of palace pillars with red curtains framing the scene. There is a sign to the right of her that says, Cinema Bleu.
Stop Trying. Start Creating.
Are you trying more than you’re creating? Do you need to know the end of something before you begin?Let’s see...Maybe you’re fine with going to a movie and sitting through to the end. Most people are. Maybe you even watch the credits roll. I do. Mayb...
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Artwork: The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai is a wood block print in the ukiyo-e style. It shows 3 Japanese fishing boats that are about to be overcome by a giant wave.
How to Keep Afloat During a Crisis
I have not steered a company through a pandemic before, I’m guessing you haven’t either. I was required to take the helm when my father dropped dead one day with no business partner as backup. He was a dentist, the only one in the practice, so w...
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Artwork: Symmetry Drawing by M.C. Escher is a kaleidoscope of olive green fish, orange turtles, and blue birds.
The Best Way to Solve Big Problems
Have you ever noticed how sometimes everything looks like a problem and sometimes little to nothing does? Some mornings I get on the highway in rush hour traffic (or at least I used to) and everyone seems out to get me in their multiton vehicle. Othe...
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Artwork: Brown Sail, Wing on Wing, Nassau by Georgia O'Keeffe depicts an up close view of a sailboat mast with its mainsail out to the right and its jib open to the left.
How to Pivot With Clarity
It seems everywhere I turn now I see the word pivot. It's like the “Red Car Syndrome.” You notice one on the highway and the next thing you know you see them everywhere. I’ve noticed “pivot,” and with good reason. The global pandemic has caused so mu...
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