<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">Paul Kane/Getty Images</div></div>Does <keyword id="6425654" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="dyslexia">dyslexia</keyword> come with hidden advantages?
It's counterintuitive - dyslexia is, after all, classified as a learning disability - but it's a central question in Malcolm Gladwell's new book, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0316204366" target="_blank">David and Goliath</a>."
Gladwell proposes that some of the world's most accomplished people succeeded precisely because of this disability. "Dyslexia - in the best of cases - forces you to develop skills that might otherwise have lain dormant," he writes. "It also forces you to do things you might otherwise never have considered."
His claims aren't unfounded. These 17 famous founders, <keyword id="6407546" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="CEOs">CEOs</keyword>, and business leaders have one thing in common: dyslexia.
They certainly didn't let it hold them back.

17 Business Titans Who Overcame Dyslexia

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>About 16 years ago, the world started relying more on texting and email as a form of communication, and this made then 30-year-old Daymond John anxious, <a href="http://dyslexia.yale.edu/daymondJohn.html">he told the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity</a>.He had already achieved more success than he ever imagined with his clothing line FUBU, which brought in $350 million in annual revenue at its peak, but he worried that his poor spelling and reading comprehension would suddenly make him appear unintelligent and out of his league.To make matters worse,&#xa0;his confidence took a hit&#xa0;when he underwent media training and&#xa0;struggled to&#xa0;read the teleprompter.After a friend pointed out that John&#xa0;often followed the inverse directions on his&#xa0;GPS, he finally decided to see a professional, who diagnosed him as dyslexic. He suddenly had an explanation for many events in his life, including the beginnings of his path to entrepreneurship, the "Shark Tank" investor&#xa0;told LinkedIn executive editor Dan Roth <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/LinkedInPulse/daymond-john-fubuentrepreneurshipdyslexiapt2">in a recent interview</a>.As a kid in elementary school in Queens, New York, John excelled in math and science but did poorly with anything requiring extensive reading and writing. His father would often angrily yell at him to stop slacking, John&#xa0;told Yale's dyslexia center. His school eventually diagnosed him with a general "learning disability," but due to a lack of information on dyslexia, his parents still believed that his bad language arts grades had something to do with his attitude.John came up with his own solution at Bayside High School. He enrolled in the business co-op program, where he spent alternating weeks in the classroom and at the First Boston investment bank in Manhattan."I started to realize how much business was being done," he told Roth. He found his passion in business, where he could use his love of numbers to create something.After he&#xa0;founded FUBU in 1992 and as he&#xa0;developed as an entrepreneur, he found that while he still dealt with reading and writing difficulties, his mind was highly visual. He&#xa0;mapped business plans in his head, he told Roth.Learning that he was dyslexic allowed him let go of any shame he once had, and he would confirm with his colleagues that he correctly understood documents he was working with.For his book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0316204374/">David and Goliath</a>," author Malcolm Gladwell found that 3% to 5% of the general population has dyslexia. Meanwhile,&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/business-titans-who-overcame-dyslexia-2013-10?op=1">a seemingly higher percentage of highly successful business leaders</a>&#xa0;- including Virgin Group chair Richard Branson, designer Rommy Hilfiger, and Susan G. Komen foundation CEO Nancy Brinker - are dyslexic.In his research, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwell-dyslexia-advantages-disabilities-2015-7">Gladwell said at a 92Y panel in July</a>, he found a recurring theme in these stories, one that aligns with John's life: The challenges of dyslexia were difficult enough that they could compel the afflicted to stop trying to excel, but isolated enough that they could be overcome by building existing strengths. All of the successful dyslexic people overcame their struggle with reading comprehension to enhance another skill, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-dyslexia-as-advantage-2015-4">as Branson did with close listening and memorization </a>and as&#xa0;John did with visual and analytical thinking.Today, John likes to say he's "blessed with dyslexia," and he encourages others not to conceal it as he once did.You can watch the second half of John's LinkedIn interview below:<div> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <a href="//www.slideshare.net/LinkedInPulse/daymond-john-fubuentrepreneurshipdyslexiapt2" title="Shark Tank's Daymond John on Founding FUBU and Being Dyslexic " target="_blank">Shark Tank's Daymond John on Founding FUBU and Being Dyslexic </a> from <a href="//www.slideshare.net/LinkedInPulse" target="_blank">LinkedIn Pulse</a> </div></div>&#xa0; <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/daymond-john-shark-tank-fubu-hustle-being-broke-2015-10">'Shark Tank' star Daymond John on the advantages of being broke</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="hmcmc4eDoTCnAFhI0EmxGNJmFi0HZ3oN" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

'Shark Tank' investor Daymond John explains how his dyslexia helped shape him into an entrepreneur

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Wall Street titan Gary Cohn, the president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs, celebrated his 25th anniversary at the bank last week.Cohn, 54, actually has an incredibly inspirational backstory, which is detailed in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling-ebook/dp/B00BAXFAOW">Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller "David And Goliath."</a> And since the summer interns have just arrived, we thought we'd share it again.&#xa0;As a kid growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, Cohn was diagnosed with dyslexia, a reading disorder.&#xa0;He struggled in school. By the time he was in sixth grade, he had attended four different schools. Teachers and classmates had written him off as an "idiot." Cohn has even said publicly that he was a "horrible" student.&#xa0;What's more is his teachers were unsure of his trajectory in life. One teacher even told his parents if they were really lucky that he <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-cohn-honored-by-teach-for-america-2015-4">might grow up to be a truck driver</a>.Cohn graduated from high school. He also graduated from American University in 1982.&#xa0;After college, though, Cohn didn't immediately have a job or any interviews lined up. He did have <a href="http://www.american.edu/media/20090510_Kogod_School_of_Business_Speaker.cfm">"passion for financial markets,"</a>&#xa0;but that was pretty much it. By July, he took&#xa0;a job&#xa0;<a href="http://www.american.edu/media/20090510_Kogod_School_of_Business_Speaker.cfm">"to appease" his father</a>&#xa0;selling window frames and aluminum siding for the home products division of United States Steel in Cleveland.Around Thanksgiving, he went on a work trip to the company's offices in Long Island. Cohn convinced his manager to give him Friday off to visit New York City for the first time. There, he headed for Wall Street and the commodities exchange at Four World Trade Center. From the observation gallery, he watched the action in the trading pits with other Wall Street hopefuls.&#xa0;<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>That's when he came up with a clever plan to make an introduction to one of the brokers. &#xa0;He left the visitors' gallery, and waited by the security entrance to the trading floor for a few hours. Nothing happened. He was about to give up."And then literally right after the market's closed, I see this pretty well-dressed guy running off the floor, yelling to his clerk, 'I've got to go, I'm running to LaGuardia, I'm late, I'll call you when I get to the airport,' I jump in the elevator, and say, 'I hear you're going to LaGuardia.' He says, 'Yeah,' I say, 'Can we share a cab?' He says, 'Sure.' I think this is awesome. With Friday afternoon traffic, I can spend the next hour in the taxi getting a job," Cohn told Gladwell in the book.&#xa0;It was truly a brilliant move, and one that most people wouldn't have the guts to do.&#xa0;It turned out the man he was sharing the cab with was also running the options business for one of the big brokerage firms. Cohn didn't know what an option was, but he pretended like he did.&#xa0;"I lied to him all the way to the airport," Cohn told Gladwell. "When he said, 'Do you know what an option is?' I said, 'Of course I do, I know everything, I can do anything for you.' Basically by the time we got out of the taxi, I had his number. He said, 'Call me Monday.' I called him Monday, flew back to New York Tuesday or Wednesday, had an interview, and started working the next Monday. In that period of time, I read McMillan's<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Options-Strategic-Investment-Lawrence-McMillan/dp/0735204659">&#xa0;</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Options-Strategic-Investment-Lawrence-McMillan/dp/0735204659">Options as a Strategic Investment</a>&#xa0;book. It's like the Bible of options trading."&#xa0;(By the way, Gladwell notes that it still takes Cohn about six hours to read 22 pages.)After a few years working on the floor of the commodities exchange, Goldman Sachs reached out to him. In 1990, Cohn accepted a position in Goldman's commodities trading unit, J. Aron. In 1994, he was made partner-one of the most coveted titles on Wall Street.Now he holds one of the top spots at the Wall Street investment banking giant. What's more is he has said that he wouldn't be there without his dyslexia.&#xa0;"The one trait in a lot of dyslexic people I know is that by the time we got out of college, our ability to deal with failure was very highly developed," Cohn told Gladwell. "And so we look at most situations and see much more of the upside than the downside. It doesn't faze us. I've thought about it many times, I really have, because it defined who I am. I wouldn't be where I am today without my dyslexia. I never would have taken that first chance."&#xa0;Bottom line: You have to take risks.&#xa0;If &#xa0;you have an inspirational story about your first experience on the Street, or perhaps a cautionary tale about an experience in your early days at work to share as a lesson for the younger generation, feel free to email jlaroche@businessinsider.com. We can keep you anonymous if you wish.&#xa0; <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-models-pose-with-bear-2015-4">Two models in Russia just posed with a 1,400-pound bear</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="dobDNwdDrBMVZujpjC92M8SlR9FEI06Y" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Goldman Sachs's second most powerful executive pulled an audacious move to get his first job on Wall Street

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has disclosed he has cancer,&#xa0;and that he will reduce some of his previously planned travel during a period of treatment.In a letter to shareholders, Blankfein <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lloyd-blankfein-has-lymphoma-2015-9">revealed that he has a "highly curable" kind of lymphoma</a> and will undergo chemotherapy in the&#xa0;coming weeks&#xa0;in New York.Gary Cohn, chief operating officer at Goldman Sachs, will fill in for Blankfein at various public events during the period, according to a person familiar with the matter.Blankfein had been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/goldmans-cohn-its-bubble-ish-right-now-but-there-might-not-be-a-bubble-2015-9">due to speak at a New New York event last night</a>, but cancelled at the last moment. Cohn took his place.&#xa0;Cohn is a&#xa0;safe&#xa0;pair of hands.&#xa0;He has spent 25 years at the bank. He has served as a top exec at Goldman alongside Blankfein since 2006.&#xa0;He also has an incredibly inspirational backstory, which is detailed in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling-ebook/dp/B00BAXFAOW">Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller "David And Goliath."</a>&#xa0;As a kid growing up in Cleveland, Cohn found out he had dyslexia, a reading disorder. He struggled in school. By the time he was in sixth grade, he had attended four different schools. Teachers and classmates had written him off as an "idiot." Cohn has even said publicly that he was a "horrible" student.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>What's more is his teachers were unsure of his trajectory in life. One teacher even told his parents if they were really lucky, he <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-cohn-honored-by-teach-for-america-2015-4">might grow up to be a truck driver</a>.Cohn graduated from high school. He also graduated from American University in 1982.After college, though, Cohn didn't immediately have a job or any interviews lined up. He did have <a href="http://www.american.edu/media/20090510_Kogod_School_of_Business_Speaker.cfm">"passion for financial markets,"</a> but that was pretty much it. By July he took a job <a href="http://www.american.edu/media/20090510_Kogod_School_of_Business_Speaker.cfm">"to appease" his father</a> selling window frames and aluminum siding for the home-products division of United States Steel in Cleveland.Around Thanksgiving, he went on a work trip to the company's offices in Long Island. Cohn persuaded his manager to give him Friday off to visit New York City for the first time. There he headed for Wall Street and the commodities exchange at Four World Trade Center. From the observation gallery, he watched the action in the trading pits with other Wall Street hopefuls.That's when he came up with a clever plan to make an introduction to one of the brokers. He left the visitors' gallery and waited by the security entrance to the trading floor for a few hours. Nothing happened. He was about to give up."And then literally right after the market's (sic) closed, I see this pretty well-dressed guy running off the floor, yelling to his clerk, 'I've got to go, I'm running to LaGuardia, I'm late, I'll call you when I get to the airport,'" <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=oICRAwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT87&amp;dq=literally+right+after+david+and+goliath&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=Ym9sVaPrKZDisASbzoCoAg&amp;ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&amp;q=literally%20right%20after&amp;f=false">Cohn told Gladwell</a> in the book. "I jump in the elevator, and say, 'I hear you're going to LaGuardia.' He says, 'Yeah,' I say, 'Can we share a cab?' He says, 'Sure.' I think this is awesome. With Friday afternoon traffic, I can spend the next hour in the taxi getting a job."It was truly a brilliant move, one most people wouldn't have the guts to make.It turned out the man Cohn was sharing the cab with was also running the options business for one of the big brokerage firms. Cohn didn't know what an option was, but he pretended as if he did.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>"I lied to him all the way to the airport," Cohn told Gladwell. "When he said, 'Do you know what an option is?' I said, 'Of course I do, I know everything, I can do anything for you.' Basically by the time we got out of the taxi, I had his number. He said, 'Call me Monday.' I called him Monday, flew back to New York Tuesday or Wednesday, had an interview, and started working the next Monday. In that period of time, I read McMillan's "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Options-Strategic-Investment-Lawrence-McMillan/dp/0735204659">Options as a Strategic Investment</a>"book. It's like the Bible of options trading."(By the way, Gladwell notes, it still takes Cohn about six hours to read 22 pages.)After a few years working on the floor of the commodities exchange, Cohn was contacted by Goldman Sachs. In 1990 he accepted a position in Goldman's commodities trading unit, J. Aron &amp; Co., which is where Blankfein got his start. In 1994 he was made partner - one of the most coveted titles on Wall Street.Now he holds one of the top spots at the Wall Street investment-banking giant. He has even said he wouldn't be there without his dyslexia."The one trait in a lot of dyslexic people I know is that by the time we got out of college, our ability to deal with failure was very highly developed," Cohn told Gladwell. "And so we look at most situations and see much more of the upside than the downside. It doesn't faze us. I've thought about it many times, I really have, because it defined who I am. I wouldn't be where I am today without my dyslexia. I never would have taken that first chance." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-college-system-trouble-loans-debt-2015-5">Mark Cuban has a brilliant strategy to get the best college degree for less money</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="83b3FhdTqNxb7mgEehPDqKtpf33lmJSW" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Goldman Sachs' 2nd-most-powerful executive is going to be the public face of the bank for a while

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">CBS/YouTubeBill Gates as a kid.</div></div></div>Around age 11, Bill Gates started to become a problem for his parents.As his intellectual capacity grew, so did his argumentativeness. He refused to do the things his mom asked of him, like cleaning his room and showing up on time to dinner, according to <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124061372413054653">The Wall Street Journal</a>.It came to a head one night when Gates was about 12 years old. The "tempestuous" know-it-all got into a "nasty" shouting match with his mother, according to The Journal, and his father threw a glass of water in his face. Soon after, Gates told a counselor: "I'm at war with my parents over who is in control."Gates' adolescent behavior might seem like nothing remarkable - many of us went through similar stages of rebelliousness without growing up to be multibillionaires.Yet a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279807627_Student_Characteristics_and_Behaviors_at_Age_12_Predict_Occupational_Success_40_Years_Later_Over_and_Above_Childhood_IQ_and_Parental_Socioeconomic_Status">new study</a>, published in the journal Developmental Psychology and cited by the <a href="http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/minds-business/obnoxious-sixth-graders-grow-up-to-become-high-earners.html">Association for Psychological Science</a>, suggests that there is in fact a connection between defiance and rule-breaking in adolescence and earning a high income later in life.Back in 1968, nearly 3,000 sixth-graders living in Luxembourg took intelligence tests and answered questions about their feelings toward school. Their teachers also filled out questionnaires about the students' behavior. At the time, researchers assessed the students' family background as well.In 2008, researchers revisited this data in order to see which childhood traits predicted career success and income. They were able to get in touch with 745 of the students, who were now about 52 years old.Some of what the researchers found wasn't especially surprising. For example, more studious kids (as rated by teachers and by the kids themselves) went on to land better jobs.But the researchers were surprised to find one childhood characteristic - beyond IQ, parents' socioeconomic status, and the amount of education the students attained - that predicted higher adult income: rule-breaking and defiance of parental authority.At this point, the reason why rule-breaking preteens go on to become high-earning adults is unclear. The researchers say it's possible that people with rule-breaking tendencies are more inclined to stand up for themselves, which could lead to greater financial success.Meanwhile, other research has yielded similar findings: <a href="http://www3.nd.edu/~cba/Nice--JPSPInPress.pdf">One study</a> found that agreeable (i.e. nice) adults tend to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/agreeable-personality-and-leadership-2015-5">make less money than disagreeable adults.</a> And <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-entrepreneur-psychological-profile-2015-3">Malcolm Gladwell argues</a> in his book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling-ebook/dp/B00BAXFAOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1412959853&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=david+goliath&amp;tag=bisafetynet-20">David and Goliath</a>" that entrepreneurs like Apple founder Steve Jobs and IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad were more successful because they were disagreeable, allowing them to take social risks and decline requests that weren't in their best interests.Of course, this research isn't a reason to encourage your sixth-grader to run wild in school or at home. But if you notice a defiant streak in them, know that it isn't an inherently bad thing. It could help facilitate their success (and maybe even help them become the next Bill Gates) down the road. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/personality-traits-lead-success-2015-12">5 signs you're going to be extraordinarily successful</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="FuN2wzdjp6-LTKe4rbr65lYD54TWQd4T" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Researchers say this disagreeable personality trait displayed by Bill Gates as a kid may predict success in adulthood

Over 1,000 people from around Wall Street sent their top reads to Stifel Nicolaus's Dave Lutz for his annual Spring Break reading list.
Here are the 13 books most frequently mentioned by those around the Street, from finance to fiction. The synopses are from Lutz's list.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left" style="width:479px"><div class="image on-image">Amazon</div></div>1. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Boys-Boat-Daniel-James-Brown-ebook/dp/B00AEBETU2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393443927&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+boys+in+the+boat">The Boys in the Boat</a> by Daniel James Brown
Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics
2. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-Laura-Hillenbrand-ebook/dp/B003WUYPPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393443946&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=unbroken">Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption</a> by Laura Hillenbrand
As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.
3. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling-ebook/dp/B00BAXFAOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393443969&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=david+and+goliath+malcolm+gladwell">David and Goliath</a> by Malcolm Gladwell
In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks
4. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Frackers-Outrageous-Inside-Energy-Revolution-ebook/dp/B00C5R7CHK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444060&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+frackers">The Frackers</a> by Gregory Zuckerman
The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters - Everyone knew it was crazy to try to extract oil and natural gas buried in shale rock deep below the ground. Everyone, that is, except a few reckless wildcatters - who risked their careers to prove the world wrong
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">Amazon</div></div>
5. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Survivor-Marcus-Luttrell-ebook/dp/B000QRIGLC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444075&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=lone+survivor">Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10</a> by Marcus Luttrell
Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to be very close to Bin Laden with a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive
6. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Son-Philipp-Meyer-ebook/dp/B009NF6YLM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444100&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+son+philipp+meyer">The Son</a> by Philipp Meyer
An epic of the American West and a multigenerational saga of power, blood, land, and oil that follows the rise of one unforgettable Texas family, from the Comanche raids of the 1800s to the to the oil booms of the 20th century.
7. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Monkey-Carl-Hiaasen-ebook/dp/B00AP2VR8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444114&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=bad+monkey+carl+hiaasen">Bad Monkey</a> by Carl Hiaasen
Here is Hiaasen doing what he does better than anyone else: spinning a tale at once fiercely pointed and wickedly funny in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of what's left of pristine Florida-now, of the Bahamas as well-get their comeuppance in mordantly ingenious, diabolically entertaining fashion.
8. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lef%C3%A8vre-ebook/dp/B0085DZ91O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444136&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=reminisces+of+a+stock+operator">Reminiscences of a Stock Operator</a> by Edwin Lefevre
First published in 1923, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is the most widely read, highly recommended investment book ever. Generations of readers have found that it has more to teach them about markets and people than years of experience. This is a timeless tale that will enrich your life-and your portfolio.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image">Amazon</div></div></div>9. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln-ebook/dp/B000N2HBSO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444149&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=team+of+rivals">Team of Rivals</a> by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.
10. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman-ebook/dp/B00555X8OA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444170&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=thinking+fast+and+slow">Thinking, Fast and Slow</a> by Daniel Kahneman
Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities-and also the faults and biases-of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior.
11. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Buy-Side-Street-Traders-Spectacular-ebook/dp/B00ALBR6JG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444185&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+buy+side">The Buy Side: A Wall Street Trader's Tale of Spectacular Excess</a> by Turney Duff
Portrays an after-hours Wall Street culture where drugs and sex are rampant and billions in trading commissions flow to those who dangle the most enticements
12. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Second-Machine-Age-Prosperity-Technologies-ebook/dp/B00D97HPQI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444202&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=second+machine+age">The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies</a> by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
The best strategies for survival and offer a new path to prosperity. These include revamping education so that it prepares people for the next economy instead of the last one, designing new collaborations that pair brute processing power with human ingenuity, and embracing policies that make sense in a radically transformed landscape.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">Amazon</div></div>13. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Circle-Dave-Eggers-ebook/dp/B00EGMQIJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393444233&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+circle">The Circle</a> by Dave Eggers 
When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The captivating story of one woman's ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.

13 Books That Wall Streeters Love And Think You Should Be Reading

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div></div>When he was in school, many of Virgin chairman Richard Branson's teachers considered him stupid and lazy.His mind was quite active, but he had a difficult time focusing, which in retrospect he attributes to not having his dyslexia accommodated, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/richard-branson-and-the-dyslexia-advantage/2012/11/07/67a05b2a-2906-11e2-bab2-eda299503684_story.html">he told the Washington Post in 2012</a>.But as he grew older and began building his empire of businesses, he learned about the mechanics of his learning disability and adapted his management style to it. This actually made him a better manager, he wrote in his 2012 book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591845688/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1591845688&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=PI63TO2ROYKT5AAO" target="_blank">Like a Virgin</a>," and it became what he considers his "greatest strength."Dyslexia is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-find-what-causes-dyslexia-2013-12">a cognitive rather than intellectual condition</a> that causes difficulties with reading comprehension. Scientists estimate that dyslexia affects anywhere from 3% to 10% of the global population, but as Malcolm Gladwell points out in "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316204374/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0316204374&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=EVOZWGNADPQ6CJII" target="_blank">David and Goliath</a>," a seemingly larger percentage of powerful businesspeople <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/business-titans-who-overcame-dyslexia-2013-10">were born dyslexic</a> and partially credit overcoming its challenges to their success.<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-04-09/richard-branson-entrepreneurs-and-real-world-education">Branson recently told Bloomberg West's Cory Johnson</a> that his dyslexia has helped him keep communication efficient, and showed him the importance of delegation. Branson explained:I need things to be simple for myself. Therefore Virgin, I think, when we launch a financial service company or a bank, we do not use jargon. Everything is very clear-cut, very simple. I think people have an affinity to the Virgin brand because we don't talk above them or talk down to them...If you have a learning disability, you become a very good delegator. Because you know what your weaknesses are and you know what your strengths are, and you make sure that you find great people to step in and deal with your weaknesses.And actually, whether you are dyslexic or not, I think delegation is such an important thing for a good leader to be good at doing. Too many leaders want to cling onto everything themselves and do everything themselves and never let go. Therefore, they never grow a group of companies like Virgin.He credits dyslexia with another of his signature management techniques: the habit of always taking notes. He writes in his 2014 book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591847370/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1591847370&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=3ONFQNK7CBEP4BOL" target="_blank">The Virgin Way</a>" that he learned as a child that if he ever had a chance at remembering anything, he'd need to jot it down. To this day, he says he carries a notebook everywhere.The handwritten note habit <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-productivity-hack-2014-9">has come in handy in management, negotiation, and even legal situations</a> - he's submitted his notebooks as evidence in lawsuits, he says.It's one of the "most powerful tools" in his "bag of business tricks," Branson writes. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-hates-public-speaking-2014-9">Richard Branson Hates Public Speaking -&#xa0;Here's How He Gets Over It</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="FqMTRwcDrWe2erAVU47Ge05Xj7qWPemr" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Richard Branson explains why he considers dyslexia his greatest business advantage

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div></div>The Steve Jobses of the world have something in common.In fact, according to organizational psychology research, they share at least four personality traits: <h2 class="p1">They're generalists rather than specialists.</h2>A <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053535713001236">2013 Swiss-German study</a> found that while employees are specialists, entrepreneurs are generalists. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/personality-difference-between-entrepreneurs-and-employees-2015-2">Founders have a diverse set of skills </a>- after all, they have to manage the many tendrils of a business. Plus, they tend to have a diverse network of relationships, one that they can call on when launching companies."It is the jacks-of-all-trades across a whole portfolio of individual resources and not the masters-of-one who are likely to become entrepreneurs," write authors Uschi Backes-Gellner and Petra Moog. "The mere social butterflies or the mere computer nerds are not likely to become entrepreneurs because they are both too imbalanced and thereby less likely to be successful as entrepreneurs."Stanford University economist Edward P. Lazear first proposed the "jack of all trades" theory. He found that Stanford MBAs who took a broader range of classes and had held a wider range of jobs were <a href="http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ521/orazem/Papers/Lazear_entrepreneurship.pdf" target="_blank">more likely to start their own thing</a>. A <a href="http://www.scopus.com/record/display.url?eid=2-s2.0-0344120743&amp;origin=inward&amp;txGid=CC2F43E52B536BC094B3781D1223C428.f594dyPDCy4K3aQHRor6A%3a1">follow-up German study</a> replicated those results. <h2 class="p1">They're outrageously self-confident. </h2><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/01/27/do-9-out-of-10-new-businesses-fail-as-rand-paul-claims/" target="_blank">A third of American small businesses collapse within their first five years</a>. Two-thirds fail within 10.According to Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, it takes a special breed to take on that kind of risk. "A lot of progress in the world is driven by the delusional optimism of some people," <a href="http://www.inc.com/daniel-kahneman/idea-lab-daniel-kahneman-entrepreneurs-need-to-be-optimists.html">he told Inc</a>. "The people who open small businesses don't think, 'I'm facing these odds, but I'll take them anyway.' They think their business will certainly succeed."The data backs this up: In a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0883902688900201" target="_blank">1988 Purdue University study</a>, 33% of 3,000 entrepreneurs thought that they're businesses had a 100% chance of success. A <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883902696000031" target="_blank">1997 University of Houston</a> study found that entrepreneurs are biased to think they can prevent anything bad from happening to their businesses. A <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2297699">2013 study from Erasmus University Rotterdam</a> found that entrepreneurs think they will live longer than everybody else. Sometimes, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886913002018" target="_blank">that confidence lapses into narcissism</a>.<h2 class="p1">They're disagreeable. </h2>In his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling-ebook/dp/B00BAXFAOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1412959853&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=david+goliath">"David and Goliath,</a>" Malcolm Gladwell argues that innovative people are disagreeable: They don't really care what other people think of them.He argues: Innovators need to be disagreeable ... They are people willing to take social risks - to do things that others might disapprove of.That is not easy. Society frowns on disagreeableness. As human beings we are hardwired to seek the approval of those around us. Yet a radical and transformative thought goes nowhere without the willingness to challenge convention.He provides compelling examples: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gladwell-entrepreneur-personality-traits-2014-10">Steve Jobs didn't sweat stealing the graphic user interface from Xerox PARC</a>, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwell-on-ikea-founder-personality-trait-2014-10">IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad gladly outsourced from Sweden to Poland</a> while the countries were hostile to one another.It's redeemed in the research. A University of Illinois-University of Pennsylvania study found that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-haters-might-be-more-successful-2014-6?utm_source=slate&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_term=partner">disagreeable people are better at declining requests on their time</a>, giving them better control of calendars. <h2>They're conscientious.</h2>In <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883902603000934" target="_blank">a 2003 study led by Pennsylvania College of Technology</a> management professor Mark Ciavarella, researchers asked 111 people that had started their own businesses between 1972 and 1995 to take personality tests. The researchers were looking for any founders' personality traits that correlated with companies making it past the "adolescent" stage, or over eight years.The <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883902603000934" target="_blank">only "significant predictor" was conscientiousness</a>, or the propensity to plan, organize, and take care of responsibilities. "The results suggest that an entrepreneur needs to evolve into a manager to shepherd a new venture to long-term survival," Ciavarella and his colleagues write.But conscientiousness isn't just good for founders: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/conscientiousness-predicts-success-2014-4">The trait is linked with earning more, feeling more satisfied with your job, and living longer</a>. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-headphones-tricks-2015-2">14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="o2OGM3czpWcydnvhjbkDBd6feXPuExiD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Psychologists say successful entrepreneurs have these 4 personality traits

Whether grouch, gadfly, or sourpuss, every office has a hater: somebody who just doesn't like anybody or anything. 
In a weird way, that disagreeability can be an asset.
According to <a href="http://psycontent.metapress.com/content/b71840280m110742/?genre=article&amp;id=doi%3a10.1027%2f1864-9335%2fa000198" target="_blank">new research</a>, hateorade can be good for productivity by virtue of the way that your "dispositional attitude" - whether you generally like or dislike things - shapes your behavior. 
New York magazine's new <a href="http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/06/haters-gonna-potentially-be-more-productive.html?utm_source=cheetah&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;om_rid=AAENTM&amp;om_mid=_BTpITjB86ucvrX" target="_blank">Science of Us website</a> has a nice recap of the paper: 
In two studies, participants reported all of their activities over a one-week period and also completed a measure of dispositional attitudes. Although haters (someone with a low dispositional attitude) and likers (someone with a high dispositional attitude) did not differ in the types of activities they pursued, haters tended to do fewer activities throughout the week than did likers. Nearly 15 percent of the differences in how many activities people conducted during a typical week was associated with being a hater versus a liker.
That curmudgeonly selectiveness is a net positive for skill development, study authors Justin Hepler of the University of Illinois and Dolores Albarracin of the University of Pennsylvania argue.
Getting excellent at something takes lots of time - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwell-explains-the-10000-hour-rule-2014-6">10,000 hours is a popular, if contentious, rule of thumb</a> - so it follows that if you're doing fewer things in a week, as a hater would, then you'll make speedier progress in that area of study. 
The authors said as much <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140619125419.htm?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmind_brain+%28Mind+%26+Brain+News+--+ScienceDaily%29" target="_blank">in a statement</a>: 
... likers may adopt a jack-of-all-trades approach to life, investing small amounts of time in a wide variety of activities. This would leave them somewhat skilled at many tasks. In contrast, when haters find an activity they actually like, they may invest a larger amount of time in that task, allowing them to develop a higher skill level compared to likers. 
This same pattern could also be relevant to attentional control. For example, likers may have more difficulty sustaining attention on a task because they perceive so many interesting and distracting opportunities in their environment. In contrast, because haters like so few things, they may be unlikely to be distracted when they are doing a task, and thus their generalized dislike may actually benefit their attentional control.
Of course, the study's not exactly conclusive.
What's missing here is context.
It would be great to see how grumpiness predicts skill development in different roles. "Generalized dislike" might be functional in a setting where you're not interacting with humans (and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/signs-youre-a-narcissist-2014-4">their pesky feelings</a>) all the time, but would be less helpful in highly social gigs - say sales or management. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/myers-briggs-personality-test-is-misleading-2014-6">Like any part of personality profiling</a>, we need to consider the world in which the person is working.
But it's still quite interesting to have research that takes a behavior that we tend to judge as "bad" - that of being a hater - and shows its more positive qualities, in the same way that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/neurotic-people-can-be-super-successful-2014-5">neuroticism can be channeled into critical thinking</a>. 
Similarly, in "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0316204366" target="_blank">David and Goliath</a>," Malcolm Gladwell argues that entrepreneurs tend toward <a href="http://enc.tfode.com/Disagreeability" target="_blank">disagreeability</a>, or not needing social approval. For the entrepreneur, not needing others' approval is one vehicle by which they bring their vision into the world. 
He <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=oICRAwAAQBAJ&amp;q=disagreeability#v=onepage&amp;q=disagreeable&amp;f=false" target="_blank">writes</a>: 
[C]rucially, innovators need to be disagreeable. By disagreeable, I don't mean obnoxious or unpleasant. I mean that on that fifth dimension of the Big Five personality inventory, "agreeableness," they tend to be on the far end of the continuum. They are people willing to take social risks-to do things that others might disapprove of. 
That is not easy. Society frowns on disagreeableness. As human beings we are hardwired to seek the approval of those around us. Yet a radical and transformative thought goes nowhere without the willingness to challenge convention
But a hater, of course, would probably just be annoyed by all this psychobabble.

Why 'Haters' Might Be More Successful Than 'Likers'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">Courtesy of Simon T. BaileySimon T. Bailey, author of "Shift Your Brilliance." </div></div>Almost three decades have passed since I graduated from high school and then from college. I was as lost as a goose in a blizzard. I had no concrete plans, very little guidance, and didn't do any significant travel outside of my hometown, Buffalo, N.Y. I was so happy to escape to Atlanta, Georgia, but little did I know that in my cluelessness it would cost me time, money, and energy. 
Eventually, I discovered, in the words of Sir Ken Robinson, "success is not a linear path, but a series of detours, full of twists and turns."
I wish someone would have pulled me by the ear and told me the raw truth. Maybe they did or didn't. Nevertheless, it didn't sink in. I don't want this generation to repeat my mistakes, so here are 13 things I want them to know as they receive their diplomas. 
1. Embrace seasoning. When I worked at Disney, there were some promotions that bypassed me, and I often wondered why. It took me a few years to realize there were a few missing ingredients in my flavor profile. Seasoning is embracing the character-building moments when you don't know what you don't know, but you are going to figure it out. Seasoning is acquiring the mental agility and emotional bandwidth to attain and retain whatever life brings you. 
It would take the seasoning of a relationship, a mentor, and a failure to help me attain the right flavor. Roger Hammer said it best: "I send a lot of horses out to the fairs for seasoning, to educate them. Some of them come around, and some don't." 
2. Do the unthinkable. I was recently talking with a guy name Robert at a conference. He shared with me that he had significant retail experience and heard that Microsoft was opening a retail store similar to Apple. He heard through the grapevine that they were mainly hiring people who had worked at the Apple Store. 
Well, he didn't have the inside track on landing the job or any hopes of getting in through traditional means of getting the job at Microsoft so he did something unreasonable. He sent an email directly to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. He scoured the internet to find his email address. Two weeks later he received an email response from Steve's assistant who passed his name onto the appropriate person within Microsoft. No risks. No rewards. 
Robert succeeded because he did something the average person would never do. Contact the CEO directly. This bold move put him a cut above the rest. While everyone was sitting by the phone waiting for the recruiter to call them or listening to crickets, he took the bull by the horns and made it happen. What are you going to do? 
3. Forgive and move on. Stop crying over spilled milk. It happened. Let it go and move on. You are wasting precious energy worrying or trying to fix or change someone or something. It is what it is. The future moves toward you when you let go of whatever has been holding onto you. Dr. Christen Mirescu from Princeton says, "When the brain is worried it slows down and doesn't produce neurogenesis, which is the process of growing neurons that help the brain grow." 
4. Habits are more important than goals. You hear all of the motivation and personal development experts advising you "set a goal." I have discovered that there are some goals I set and didn't reach. Why? Was it because I was dumb, slow, or excluded from the lucky sperm bank? No. When you do something over and over again and don't need to think about it, then it becomes ingrained in your subconscious as a permanent behavior. Do you really have to think about driving or riding home? No, you just do it. 
When you have a desire or a goal that is deeply important to you but never change your habits, the goal will never become a reality. A habit forms a belief and belief creates behavior and behavior produces an outcome. Change your habits. Change your life. 
5. Every day is an interview. People are sizing you up in three seconds. Look your best at all times. Smile. Be nice. Say hello to the person who can do nothing for you. Greet the receptionist of the business with a warm hello and handshake if appropriate. Introduce yourself. Listen more, and talk less. Speak clearly and thoughtfully. Have a point of view, and don't wait for someone to read your mind. 
6. Relationships are the currency of the future. When my parents dropped me off in Atlanta they made sure I was surrounded with an extended support group that would look out for me. Well, I didn't know how to engage them by calling to check in, ask if there was anything I could do for them, or be available to volunteer or help any way I could. Because the well was empty and in the words of Harvey Mackay, I didn't dig it before I was thirsty, there was nothing for me to draw from in the time of need. 
I wish someone would've told me to cultivate relationships. They will become critical to your future. 
7. Don't get a job. Instead, go to work. We are living in a world where the companies and businesses that will thrive in 21st century are cultivating four skill clusters: digital-age literacy, such as grasping economic concepts; inventive thinking, such as self-direction and the ability to work independently; effective communication, such as interpersonal skills; and high productivity, which is prioritizing, planning, and managing for results.
I wish someone had told me to find a place of employment that would help me develop these four skills clusters - instead of chasing after a paycheck. I made decent money but lacked the critical-thinking skills I needed back then. 
8. Find your lane and work it. You may not have the ability, talent, or gift of Shakespeare, Einstein, Usain Bolt, or Lady GaGa. Don't sweat it. Your gift is one that needs to be uncovered and mastered. What do you do well? What do people compliment you on? When you are operating at the optimal level what are you doing? That's your lane. Learn all you can. In high school, I thought I wanted to be an accountant, but a teacher reminded me that I have a communication gift. WOW … thank you Mrs. Rita Lankes. 
9. Beware of micro memes. A micro meme is a piece of cultural information, like a custom or an idea, that's passed on from person to person. It behaves like a flu and sometimes travels faster than speech. 
It comes from the Greek word "mimema," meaning something imitated. It travels from mind to mind. Every day you are bombarded with memes and micro-messages but you have to choose what you think and believe. Embedded in movies, commercials, books - in every form of media there is a message behind the message. Beware of what you hear and see, and ask yourself whether you really believe what is being shared. 
10. Say "yes." By the time you are 17 years of age, you've heard "no" over 150,000 times and "yes" only 5,000 times. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain and nervous system to change structurally and functionally as a result of input from the environment. When you say "yes" to your future, you are releasing neurotransmitters as neurons to infuse the synaptic nerve with hope and belief in yourself. You exist in the 21st century because the world needs you NOW. 
11. Focus on producing results. Gone are the days when people could skate by on producing dismal results, lackluster performance, and anemic strategies with no accountability. Everything in business is under microscopic investigation. Produce or be invited to find your happiness elsewhere.
Recently, I was leading a session for 40 executives of a major Fortune 500 company that was already No. 1 in its region. However, the president made it very clear that while celebrating its past successes, each person needed to have the hair on the back of their neck standing up and their hair on fire as they contemplated how they would drive results for the new fiscal year. 
12. Create a paradigm shift. In the scientific field, a pattern, example, or sample is considered to be a paradigm. A paradigm shift occurs when a new thought, idea, product, or service is introduced that challenges the previous way of experiencing or doing something.
For instance, in 1978 Masaru Ibuka introduced the Sony Walkman, which at the time was all the rage and was flying off the shelves of retail stores. On Oct. 23, 2001 - 30-plus days after 9/11 - we were introduced to the grandchild of the Sony Walkman: Apple's iPod. This invention disrupted the entire music-industry paradigm and forever shifted the way music is consumed. Assess where you are, and decide to be a paradigm buster. 
13. Be desperate and change. In his latest book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0241959594/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1400534860&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=David+and+Goliath" target="_blank">David and Goliath</a>," Malcolm Gladwell shares an amazing story about University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino: "In 1978, when he was 25 years old, Pitino used the full-court press to take the school to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 24 years. Pitino says he has many coaches come to Louisville every year to learn the press. They turn around and email him and tell him that they can't do it. He tells them, 'We practice every day for two hours. The players are moving almost 98% of the practice. We spend very little time talking.'"
The coaches who came to learn from Rick Pitino were not desperate enough to change. Gladwell makes the point that to beat the Goliath in your life, you have to be desperate enough to do the unconventional.
Simon T. Bailey is the author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shift-Your-Brilliance-Harness-Power/dp/0768404576/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1400534804&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=shift+your+brilliance" target="_blank">Shift Your Brilliance</a>" and a weekly columnist for American City Business Journal.

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