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The Power of Being an Amateur
 In today's business culture, expertise is currency. We celebrate mastery, reward pattern recognition, and prize leaders who can quickly distinguish signal from noise. But in doing so, we've created an unexpected trap for ourselves: The more you become "somebody" in your chosen field (recognized, accomplished, authoritative), the more your thinking tends to calcify, limiting your flexibility and creativity. The management scholar Erik Dane has called this problem "cognitive entrenchment," and the researchers Huy Phan and Bing Hiong Ngu have documented it widely across professions.
Editor's Note: Neuroscience suggests that this practice, which I call strategic amateurism, is essential to becoming a dynamic leader. Researchers have shown that when we try something unfamiliar, the brain's reward system activates, releasing dopamine and forging fresh neural connections, which are the building blocks of neuroplasticity. Experiencing novelty doesn't just stimulate the brain; it pushes it to reconfigure itself in real time, expanding cognitive flexibility. Other studies suggest that new challenges can not only accelerate skill development but also sharpen the range of thinking leaders draw on in their day-to-day jobs. Continued here |
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WorkWhat large-scale US military action against Venezuela could look like Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S. military, weapons systems and emerging technology. She joined Newsweek in January 2023, having previously worked as a reporter at the Daily Express, and is a graduate of International Journalism at City, University of London. Languages: English, Spanish.You can reach Ellie via email at [email protected]. WorkThe 65-year-old theory that helps explain why the Democrats keep losing Democratic strategists think the party has a messaging problem. Post-election autopsies overflowed with countless cross-tabs of how Democrats underperformed with demographic after demographic. There are endless debates about which words poll better (should Democrats stop using microaggression?) as if anybody were even listening. WorkWork WorkWorkWorkWork WorkChicagos criminals are learning more lucrative tricks - Visitors to Chicago often worry about gun crime. The president certainly does-on August 25th, he called the city "a disaster" and a "killing field" as he threatened to send in National Guard troops. This year however violence is dramatically down. Robberies have fallen a third on last year. The city is on track for its lowest murder rate in more than a decade WorkInside Amazon's 'hardcore' culture reset - Business Insider In the past year, the company has slashed layers of management, increasing worker-to-manager ratios by 15%. He's enforced strict cost discipline, down to monitoring how employees' company-issued phone use is work-related. He's updated performance metrics and pay structures. He's sent the vast majority of corporate employees back to the office five days a week. He's created a "bureaucracy mailbox," to which employees are encouraged to flag unnecessary processes or rules that could be streamlined or eliminated; Amazon says the initiative has already led to 375 changes. WorkWork WorkHow Modi Is Sending Trump a Message It was a sight to behold. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined Chinas Xi Jinping and Russias Vladimir Putin in Tianjin on Monday, laughing, trading smiles, and even holding hands. WorkWorkIs Ghosting Inevitable? - The New Yorker Any new technology created for the purpose of human connection also creates an opportunity for novel forms of missed connection: the envelope returned to sender, the unanswered phone call, the forlorn voice mail. We replace face-to-face interaction with layers of mediation, each with its own chance of breakdown. The fear of losing touch is rooted in human nature; in eleventh-century Japan, women of the imperial court fretted in the hours following a tryst, as they waited for the customary morning-after poem from their lover. Proust wrote that the silence of the person one loves is more cruel than the silence of prisons. Social media, which was supposed to bring humanity closer together, has also created a smorgasbord of new ways to be rejectedD.M.s left on read, posts gone unliked, friends unfriendedthat can engender the age-old fear of being ignored. Facebook users might recall a time when a declined friend request or unrequited poke could be sources of anxiety. But worse than blatant rejection is the absence of any signal, the total disappearance of the other party. This vanishing act, called ghosting, has become a persistent feature of twenty-first-century life. Dominic Pettman, a cultural theorist and professor of media at the New School, in New York City, examines this contemporary phenomenon in Ghosting: On Disappearance, a slim new monograph published this month by Polity. Just as we inevitably invented the car crash when we invented automobiles, we also created ghosting when we created the internet, Pettman writes. Work WorkWorkWorkChina should not fuel an arms race, says a close watcher of its nuclear policy - THE HIGH-PROFILE display of nuclear might that China staged at its latest military parade on September 3rd showcased a full spectrum of land-, sea- and air-based systems. Remarkably, for land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles alone, it unveiled three new systems simultaneously, including a silo-based missile probably intended for large-scale deployment in the open terrain of north-west China. Work WorkChina is using the private sector to advance military AI - WSJ In a study published in January last year, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University showed how artificial intelligence could be used to deploy weapons systems in automated kill webs" that would adjust in real time to battlefield changes during combat at sea. WorkWorkWorkWorkHow a five-toed running shoe became cool-to fashion people - WSJ When Nicolaia Rips was in middle school, she remembers the dorkiest kid" wearing Vibram FiveFingers, utilitarian running shoes with articulated toes meant to simulate the feeling of being barefoot. Still, the fashion writer couldnt help but buy a pair after seeing them pop up on her Instagram feed. WorkWorkWorkWorkWorkWorkWorkUN Watchdog Says its Lost Knowledge Of Irans Nuclear Work - Bloomberg Iran's blackout of international inspections has led to a critical loss of knowledge about the country's nuclear work, the United Nations atomic watchdog wrote in two restricted reports, their first circulated among diplomats in the wake of Israeli and US attacks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program in June. WorkWorkExtreme Heat Makes Your Body Age Faster - WIRED The researchers are not talking about the effects of solar radiation on the skin, but biological aging. Unlike chronological agethat answer that you give when asked how old you areyour biological age reflects how well your cells, tissues, and organs are functioning. Biological age can be calculated by looking at physiological and molecular markers in the body as well as by using various tests, for instance by measuring lung function, cognitive ability, or bone density. WorkAI Music: The Infinite Jukebox - FT Generative AI models trained on vast swaths of popular music can create songs almost indistinguishable from human-made work. For some, they represent the future of pop music. WorkWorkWorkWorkFDA approves at-home Alzheimer's shot to effectively slow disease The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new version of an Alzheimer's disease drug that can be given as a quick at-home weekly injection, offering patients a far more convenient option than lengthy infusion-center visits. It will be widely available from October 6, 2025. WorkWorkHow to Go From Quiet to Commanding - Inc Youre smart, capable, and consistently deliver results. But in meetings, your voice disappears. As an executive coach with over two decades of experience, Ive helped hundreds of introverted leaders find their voice, speak up, and lead with impact. WorkWorkWorkFlorida officials say the state will work to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates Florida will work to phase out all childhood vaccine mandates in the state, building on the effort by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to curb vaccine requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. DeSantis also announced on Wednesday the creation of a state-level "Make America Healthy Again" commission modeled after the initiatives pushed by federal Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On the vaccines, state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo cast current requirements in schools and elsewhere as an "immoral" intrusion on people's rights and parents' ability to make health decisions for their children. Some vaccine mandates can be ended by the state Health Department and others would require legislative action. 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