"... there's a gap between what science knows and what business does." This is the mantra that Dan Pink repeats throughout his book, describing how we unintentionally demotivate through our mistaken beliefs about how motivation works.

The most striking thing I heard was the number of people who said "I'll see you next year" to each other as they were leaving. This has become something more than a conference.

In 25 years or so, we'll look at the current morass as only a small step above assembly-language programming. Here's what I think programming will be like then.

A participant in a recent writing workshop used this phrase to describe what her executive clients hoped for. That sudden flash of insight is what I'm looking for, too.

This book should be required reading for anyone considering business school. By methodically exposing their extremely shaky foundations, it strongly suggests they are doing far more harm than good.

Apparently the founder of Kayak.com does this, in an attempt to not only prevent poisonous people from destroying teams, but to go in the other direction and create exceptional teams.

Just over a year ago, James Ward & I published "First Steps in Flex." Our goal was to make Flex easy by creating the shortest examples and chapters we could, to give you just enough to get started. We've just finished making free screencasts of all the chapters in the book.

I think my subconscious mind has been figuring this out over the past number of years.

The Java Posse Roundup Early-Bird pricing expires January 31 -- that's this Sunday.

We're cranking out MBAs 10x faster than we did 10 years ago. Is there any real value in an MBA, or is it just an irresistible money-mill for universities? I'm reading a book that makes a rather strong case that all management is built on illusions.

This year's conference will be March 16-19, with a free "Alternative Languages Hackathon Day" on March 15. It's during ski season in Crested Butte, CO, and also during a spring break so register and get your lodging early!

Malcom Gladwell's latest book is a selection from his New Yorker columns. The underlying theme is what I call "wrong correctness," which is fascinating because there are enormous possibilities to be mined, but only if we can learn how to create a new approach to business.

I finally bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner yesterday. It completely changes my cleaning experience. Design that asks and answers the right questions can completely change other experiences, too.

I drove down to Boulder last weekend to participate in an open-spaces Python conference, speak at an eyes-forward programming conference, and attend a workshop on TurboGears 2. Here's what I learned.

I'm reading Po Bronson's "What Should I Do With My Life?" which is brilliant on many levels. For one thing, it's the anti-self-help book; it's just stories from talking to people, and by no means is everyone successful.