R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness

In our pursuit of ambitious goals, we often construct an idealized vision of the future—a destination where all our sacrifices culminate in ultimate fulfillment. We trade the comforts of today for the promise of a better tomorrow, investing in alternatives we scarcely understand. Yet, upon arrival, we may find that this envisioned future is not the utopia we imagined. It is the illusion that achie...

Almost always being serious prevents you from trying anything that is worthwhile. Everything is a growth process, and you have to start with an open heart.

Venturing means that you do things that nobody else is done before and as a consequence, you have to feel isolated alone. By simply changing the conversation from you feel isolated in the alone and scared to. I have courage and I’m doing something that nobody else is done before, you become the hero in your own story. A simple change in the way that you are communicating. The story makes an enormo...

The R3ciprocity Project didn’t come from following a conventional path. It began with an attempt to create a university spinoff in the traditional way, but over time, I realized I needed to abandon the conventional approach entirely. No one was going to do it for me. Few people believed I could succeed. The weight of doubt was heavy, but I decided to build it anyway, staying true to what I believe...

Venturing often leaves me emotionally exhausted. The constant trade-off between today and tomorrow, between immediate comfort and uncertain future gains, rarely feels good. At the end of the day, I don’t feel triumphant—I feel drained. The only way I’ve learned to cope with this exhaustion is to change how I view the work. I treat it as play, refusing to take what I’m doing too seriously. I ignore...

The Importance Of Psychological Safety In Academia

Much of the world is ambiguous, and it always will be. You’ll never know the “right” answers until many years down the road. You won’t even know if the choices you’re making now are correct or what your alternatives truly were. Most people feel this uncertainty deeply, and when you venture into something new—whether it’s a project, a career, or a personal challenge—you’ll feel the weight of that a...

We glamorize big life decisions—getting an education, starting a family, launching a venture. These choices are celebrated as bold, exciting, and life-changing. But the truth? Doing them is far different from the stories we’re told. The reality is small, mundane choices, made over and over again. You repeatedly take away from today to invest in an uncertain tomorrow, unsure if you’re making the ri...

Entrepreneurship, innovation, and even education are often celebrated as inherently positive pursuits—acts of courage, creativity, and vision. At their core, they are simple in theory: taking something away from today to invest in tomorrow. Yet beneath this idealized view lies a far more unsettling reality. The truth is, we don’t know if we’re taking too much or too little away from today. We don’...

Research, especially at a high level, can feel like a deeply thankless job. You work alone, face endless struggles, and rarely get recognition. But over the years, I’ve learned to push through by reflecting on how fortunate I truly am. I come from an immigrant family. My parents didn’t finish high school. My grandmother, an orphan, raised her family in the harsh conditions of Northern Ontario just...

Most people won’t take the time to truly understand what you’re about. They only see a few words, a few actions, and then get angry or frustrated when it doesn’t fit their expectations. What they miss is this: you do things with good intentions, because they matter to you—not always because they’re rational or about success. Loving what you do often lacks rationality, and that can make others unco...

To make significant change, you must first believe that the world can be changed. Change isn’t instant—it’s like waves wearing down rocks on the beach. Over centuries, those rough, jagged rocks are transformed into smooth stones, not because it was easy, but because the waves were persistent and resilient against physical limits. The lesson? Be like the waves. Keep showing up. Be resilient enough...

Growing up with nothing can actually give you a significant financial advantage—if you’re taught the right skills. When you start with less, you learn to save aggressively, spot opportunities that others overlook, and perform “arbitrage” by doing things others won’t. Unlike those born into wealth, you’re not bound by expectations, standards, or lifestyle inflation that hold many people back. With...

We know the flashy depictions of wealth and success—fancy cars, private jets, and entourages of scantily dressed followers—are pure fiction. Most successful and wealthy people live unassuming, quiet lives. And yet, time and time again, we fall for these cartoonish, comical depictions of success. Why do we buy into this fantasy land, even when we know it’s not real?

In the tech industry, everyone talks about co-founders and collaboration, but being a solopreneur—running the show on your own—can actually have major benefits .

Chasing publications, citations, and tenure often defines success in academia, but this relentless pursuit can leave you feeling empty and unfulfilled. The truth is, the most meaningful work in research and innovation often lies in doing things that are hard, messy, and underrewarded—work that doesn’t immediately get recognition or pay off. Real fulfillment comes from finding purpose, setting your...

Fall of Syria reflections.

The implausible can become plausible, you simply often just have to wait enough time.

Doing research during a #PhD can feel like being in a toxic relationship—it’s seductive and abusive at the same time. It’s like the “hot” guy or girl that tells you that you are terrible, but love bombs you periodically. It’s a slot machine where most of the time you get goose eggs and every once in a while, you get a home run. Just when you’re ready to give up, it pulls you back in, convincing yo...

In our household, we’ve decided not to give allowances. Instead, our kids earn money by working. This approach has taught them resilience and given them a sense of control over their own financial decisions. By working for what they earn, they’re learning valuable skills, like independence and making thoughtful choices—skills that will serve them well later in life. It’s not just about the money;...

After years as a #strategy professor, I no longer believe in most of the frameworks I once taught. The idea of “getting ahead at all costs” feels hollow to me now. I’ve found that the less I think like a strategist and the more I act like a “human being”—kinder, more thoughtful, and less fixated on outcomes—the more fulfilling my life becomes. Instead, in my strategy and innovation courses, I teac...

I’m fascinated by what motivates us to tackle tasks that seem hard, miserable, or even pointless in the short term. Why do people voluntarily pursue challenges like earning a PhD, climbing mountains, or doing chores like washing dishes? These are things most would avoid, yet many of us find meaning—or even pleasure—in them. Is it curiosity, purpose, or something deeper that drives us? I want to ex...

Focusing solely on performance can destroy someone’s heart and spirit. True improvement comes from emphasizing effort, resilience, and the process itself. When people are encouraged to get back up and try again, their performance naturally improves as a result. Performance should never be the primary focus—it’s a byproduct of refining how things are done and how they feel during the process. Wheth...

Every day you see the stock market climbs makes you nervous. However, you can’t predict where the stock market will be. If you believe it will crash, and you stay out of the market you’ll miss out on many opportunities that you cannot predict.

One of the most important things I’ve learned is learning how to not care so much. Learning how to say no and learning how to feel like you’re disappointing others. You have to learn how to do this in order to grow as a person into create a space for yourself.