Dip into any field of art—literature, painting, music, dance—and you’ll quickly discover that the concept of “originality” is problematic. 

Was Shakespeare the most original playwright of his time, or just the cleverest borrower of plots and characters? Was Picasso an iconoclast, or by so obviously defying the “rules” did he also show them reverence? 

When I was immersed in the world of literary scholarship, much of my thinking was shaped by theories of “intertextuality.” Intertextuality ackno…

Every piece of external communication you produce serves as an ambassador for your startup, from a short email confirming a meeting to grant applications and social media posts. Among all these delegates you send out into the world to convey your value proposition, the pitch deck bears an overwhelming burden.

We tend to expect a pitch deck to accomplish amazing things. We assume that, in just a dozen or so slides, it will intrigue the audience, argue a complete business case, outline a comprehe…

It's not just in fairy tales that gifts often come with curses. Like Midas with his golden touch, who ends up turning his daughter into a metallic statue, leaders can possess great strengths that come with hidden dangers. One of those strengths, believe it or not, is their capacity for visioning.

That’s right—your ability to see a blazing path through the conventional to a breakthrough approach or a revolutionary product may actually be a liability. Leaders who are true visionaries see the fu…