The Edit: Bright Ideas Delivered

This week we’re asking what it takes to solve an ancient mystery, swapping our passions for our pain points, and practicing the 2 minute rule.

What does it take to solve a 2,500 year old mystery??

Cambridge PhD student, Rishi Rajpopat, recently decoded a grammatical problem that has puzzled scholars since the 5th Century. After plugging away at the?ancient Sanskrit rule?for 9 months, he took a break over summer to focus on activities he enjoyed — swimming, cooking, and meditating. When he went back to work, within minutes, patterns started emerging, and it all started to make sense. Sometimes, all it takes is a little rest!?

Is it time to stop following your passions?

We’re often told that the key to a happy life is to follow our passions, but does this really hold true? Maybe we should?follow our blisters?一 those challenges we return to again and again 一 instead. Whether it’s writing, data analysis or public speaking, pursuing these proverbial blisters might be the key to a satisfying career.?

It’s not who you know, it’s what you know

Creating an agile workplace requires new, more adaptive ways to find, retain, and grow talent. According to the?CEO of LinkedIn, this means shifting to a skills-first approach. Your professional connections, education, and previous job roles used to be the?main guide for hiring choices, but now what you can do takes precedence. The future is now!?

Why 2 minutes could be enough time to kickstart a new habit?

When it comes to habit building, James Clear of Atomic Habits suggests it’s all about scaling habits down into smaller tasks. The art of simply showing up to the gym is more likely get you long term results, instead of promising to go for a certain amount of time every week. In other words, start small with the?2 minute rule!?