Author name: Dan Pink

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50 centuries of work = 5 important lessons

Cornell professor Karl Pillemer admits he’s an advice junkie.  Yet even amid the groaning self-help shelves at his local bookstore, he felt something was missing. As he asks in 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans (Amazon, BN.com, IndieBound), “Why, if we have so many professional advice givers, are so many people […]

2 signs to help you make a choice

Our mail bag of emotionally intelligent signage this month shows the many ways businesses are deploying signs to influence people’s choices. Here are two examples that take very different approaches. In Norway, Coca-Cola used the two ways to exit a subway station to demonstrate the differences between two drinks it was promoting at local McDonald’s restaurants.

3 tips for TED speakers (and other talkers)

Okay, so yeah. TED is amazing. It’s a culture-shaping, era-defining, not entirely uncontroversial extravapalooza that has earned the mind share, eyeballs, and admiration of tens of millions of global citizens. I had a chance to do a TED Talk a few years ago. And last year, my pal Bruno Giussani, one of TED’s impresarios, asked

600 ways to say thank you

Earlier this month, we hosted Harvey Mackay on Office Hours. Last week, I received a thank-you note that was memorable — and in its own Godinesque way, remarkable. You can read all five pages here, but the image below should give you the gist. Some of you might not dig this particular approach. But it’s

My Favorite Tools: Ginormous Stickies

Drumroll, please. We’ve got a brand-new video feature here on the PinkBlog. Think of it as the baby sibling of Pink’s Travel Tips. The first episode — 173 seconds of pure viewing pleasure — is below.

The power of habits — and the power to change them

Human beings, we’ve been told, are creatures of habit. If we do something one way on Tuesday, odds are we’ll do that same thing the same way on Wednesday. Sometimes that helps us. Think about those who floss regularly and can’t imagine otherwise. Other times, it can rot our brains and hollow our souls. Think

Root canals, baptisms, and emotionally intelligent parking signs

As always, the Pink, Inc., mail bag is brimming with emotionally intelligent signs sent by readers around the world.  Here are two that attempt to use signage and humor to enforce parking regulations. John Huntoon snapped this photo when he went to visit his dentist in Cardiff by the Sea, California: And several readers have

Can a tomato make you more productive?

My quest to get more and better work done is endless — but not nearly as endless as my willingness to blab about that quest with anyone who’ll listen. In the last few months, a few wise souls who’ve counseled me have leaned in, Mr. McGuire-like, and whispered in my ear a single word: Pomodoro.

Would getting rid of cash make our lives easier and better?

On Sunday night I did something that, when you stop and think about it for a moment, was weird. Accompanied by SaulonSports, I drove to Ray’s Hell Burger to pick up dinner for ourselves and our fellow Pinks. We asked for five burgers. And the folks behind the counter gave them to us in exchange for —

How to say No . . . especially to things you want to do

Last night, I had a breakthrough: I realized that personal productivity is the new dieting. (Like all evening epiphanies, this one is subject to future revision, refinement, and rejection.) Here’s what I mean. A century ago, America didn’t have much of a weight loss industry. Why?  Lack of demand. Back then, calories were generally scarce and

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