To a significant degree much creative and innovative thinking is a rejection of conventional knowledge. Indeed, a strategic orientation to creativity may target conventional wisdom as a fundamental tactic. Outside the Mainstream will regularly bring articles, columns and research that challenges the conventional.
Adam Grant, 5 Myths About Introverts and Extraverts at Work Get ready to be challenged. Grant shoots down a number of old chestnuts built primarily on the MBTI. Long overdue, his research deals with how the two styles approach matters as diverse as networking, public speaking, relationships and even sales. So you won't want to forget the ambiverts in the middle of the continuum. This will curdle some stomachs.
Susan Dominus, How to Get a Job with a Philosophy Degree. I've been holding this for February, about when graduating seniors start to get really serious about their job hunt. The recommendations don't just apply to philosophy. And this is not just for seniors, but also for their parents. Maybe we need to learn not to be totally focused on ...
Peter Beinart, What Liberal Zionists Should Say When We're Called Naive. If you get tired of the endless Israel/Palestine arguments, this is a smart, new take on the issue in Haaretz by the well-known Peter Beinart. It's nuanced, clear, different and intriguing. Essentially, Beinart goes the third mile, arguing that though most Palestinians wish Israel didn’t exist, that doesn’t mean they can’t accept it as a tragic reality in exchange for a state of their own. And this, too, will curdle some stomachs.
Ana Marie Cox, If the 1% Wants Class Warfare, Maybe It's Time to Start Fighting Back. With Tom Perkins WSJ article on income equality and speaking for the top 1%, the politics takes a new turn. Although Perkins backed off publicly from his statement that progressive radicalism is the descendant of Kristallnacht (the night when the Nazis carried out a series of attacks on Jews in Berlin). Perkins and his 1% economist see themselves as the underdog. Perkins thinks higher taxes will mean the "economic extinction" of the 1%. Nonsense! Cox is just the right person to go after Perkins, and she does a fine job.
Robert Samuelson, Why the UAW Lost. Since the attempt to unionize the Vokswagen plant in Chattanooga was supported by VW, many have interpreted the failure. But no one has done a better job of that than Samuelson. His interpretation serves as an analysis of the current state of the worker and unionism in America. He analyzes why, in spite of the union's non-adversarial and collaborative approach, the vote failed.
Scott Berinato, Dan Ariely on 23andMe and the Burden of Knowledge. This past December the genetic testing services $99 kit for home use was withdrawn by the FDA for regulatory review. Coincidentally, Dan Ariely, the celebrated MIT behavioral economist, had seen the early offer. Curious, he'd made the kit available to his lab people and taken the test himself. When he got the results, he knew he wanted to put his research lens on it, because "this was standard, classic, even an exggerated case of information overload. I wanted to analyze it from the point of what we can do with this information, and what we should do." Berinato's interview is a tour de force with Ariely. You'll also want to read some of the comments on Berinato's interview. Just fascinating from the get-go.
Flickr photo: Anne Marie Grgich