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

Push against the norm that you must always be achieving outcomes. There is a lot of reasons to push against any norms that have you believing that the outcome always has to be success. This belief in success and #competition has been come institutionalized in much of the modern society. However, if you talk to the growing mental health industry, you often find out that the root of many of our prob...

If you think about the level of analysis in your decision, making, often the outcomes are determined before you even get to make a choice. Remember that your choices may not be yours to be made Further, if you feel guilty about certain outcomes or choices, that you believe you have to make, realize that many of your choices are the result of higher levels of analysis. Moreover, the outcomes that y...

In the grand scheme of life, there are two groups that I consistently encounter. The first group appears to be passengers of life, not quite sure of their destination and simply letting the world unfold around them. They exist in a state of constant reaction rather than taking the reins and actively steering their life's course. The second group? They're the dreamers, always verbalizing ambitious...

How do we explain the world given the data that we actually have? There’s no good solution. The world is far more complicated than the models that we have access to. We can do our best given with what we have, but ultimately we’re limited in the way that we actually analyze the world.

The electric vehicle transition will happen much more quicker than we all anticipate. Recognizing this will be important for a future economy.

In order to lead a fulfilling life, it's important to balance two aspects: feeling sincere #gratitude for where you are and acknowledging the issues that exist in the world. On one hand, you should appreciate the fact that you're alive and cherish your unique life, no matter your circumstances. Most of us do something special that others would love to try. However, it's crucial not to become compl...

Research is more concerned with statistics for the sake of statistics, then truly understanding what’s going on behind the scenes. Rather than think about how we can add more statistical test which we don’t really understand, we should be focused on clarity and simple ideas. The goal is to come up with something that is intuitive for other people to understand, however, intuition requires a great...

There is no work life balance. It’s just a mess, and sometimes you spend more time with work and sometimes you spend more time with life. Stop feeling guilty about not having work-life balance. Start realizing that whatever happens in your life is your life, and these demarcations that we artificially have in our brains are not helpful. What is helpful is for you to let go of some of the guilt tha...

I talk about what education actually does, and how it actually provides you opportunities to see the world differently. Education is not a guarantee for success, but in allows you to see the world like you didn’t see it before.

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has raised concerns about its potential use by individuals for malicious purposes. The speed and efficiency of AI could be exploited by those seeking to cause harm, such as through cyber attacks or the development of autonomous weapons. The risk of AI being used for malicious purposes highlights the need for greater regulation and oversight of AI sys...

We often hear that colleges and universities are being run by #administrators, and universities are to client centric. However, are they? We need to consider what it means to run a modern organization. When you are constrained by revenue sources, you have to think about gaining efficiencies either through labor or through technology. While many new technologies can that can change higher education...

Data analysis will never be done. You have to learn how to analyze the many layers of the onion a date analysis however, after some point, you have to learn to let go and believe what you have done is good enough to report.

Always strive to do your best and focus on activities that add value to your life. You may encounter people who seem critical or unsupportive, but remember that the issue lies with them, not you. Those who are truly content and secure with themselves wouldn't discourage others from pursuing their goals. It's important to understand that working on personal growth doesn't always guarantee immediate...

I don’t like strategy, and the idea that we teach people to be transactional. None of my relationships that have been transactional and “strategic” have been a positive experience in my life. The relationships that are inherently nonrational and non-strategic are the ones that had the most value, and I would be most willing to offer opportunities in those relationships. Being transactional, or “bu...

What you realize with collaboration is that people are not talking about real collaboration, but they’re talking about transactions. Collaboration will negatively lead to poor outcomes. You have to build a long run, trusting relationship first, and that it’s just difficult to do a priori. Just have a transaction instead.

Failure is often glorified in the popular press, but I think that it is only glorified by those that have not experienced failure in their life. For those of us who experience significant failure, you never want to glorify it. It’s much more akin to grief, then glory.

Startup life and PhD life are quite similar, as both involve pursuing uncertain activities with insatiable demands and requiring resources beyond your capacity. In order to manage this, it's essential to understand how much you can realistically achieve in a single day and accept that as your daily accomplishment. To cope with this challenging environment, you need to develop psychological mechani...

ChatGPT is like a research assistant or intern that kind of understands what’s going on, but not really. It has a superficial understanding, and you have to constantly check to make sure that it is correct. My job has now become a manager of artificial intelligence robots.

The most important thing that matters is the power of hope. Hope is the only reason many of us get up and get going. Hope is the only reason that many of us decide to survive. Nothing matters more to human endeavors than the squishy and nonrational thing called hope. I hope is the reason why people work towards difficult things, or try to fight against oppression. I hope never seems like it should...

When you feel like you're falling behind, remember that you're only at the beginning. Nothing truly great in this world happened in just a few weeks. Significant achievements often take decades to accomplish. Simply put on your blinders and continue moving forward.

I explain that is important to reflect where you came from, to investigate the path that you’re going to take going forward.

How do you overcome feeling stupid in your PhD? What should you do?

I discuss the importance of technology and community in creating a platform.

I make the comparison between car, sales and PhD life, and talk about how they’re similar. I make the comparison between thinking of long-term versus short-term growth, and what that actually might look like in both arenas.

Academia involves continuous hard work. Think back to high school and recall the students who studied constantly. These students typically enter academia and continue their habits as they age. The key to progressing in academia is consistent effort. It's not uncommon to face moments where your work goes unnoticed, but success is often achieved through even more work. Although this may sound discou...