Our Inspirations
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.
"Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have."
- Steve Jobs
Our Philosophical Canon
Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow by Lenore Skenazy
Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown, M.D. and Christopher Vaughan
A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the 21st Century by Oliver Van DeMille
Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope by Johann Hari
The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined by Salman Khan
Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life by William Deresiewicz
The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives by William Stixrud, PhD and Ned Johnson
Your Child’s Strengths: Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them by Jennifer Fox, M.Ed.
Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms by Timothy D. Walker
A School of Our Own: The Story of the First Student-Run High School and a New Vision for American Education by Samuel Levin and Susan Engel
Free at Last: The Sudbury Valley School by Daniel Greenberg
Other Media
Sold a Story
Emily Hanford
In this gripping podcast, Emily Hanford investigates an explosive story on how American public schools were sold a particular approach to teach kids how to read—and it never worked. For decades, millions of kids have languished under this approach, injuring their self-esteem and flattening their educational trajectory.
The Myth of Average
Todd Rose
Todd speaks about the ineffectiveness of a one-size-fits-all education that is the common paradigm in traditional schools. He then paints a vision of the future where personalized learning can work better for everyone.
Changing Educational Paradigms
Sir Ken Robinson
Sir Ken Robinson explains how the "epidemic of ADHD" and traditional schooling environments are interrelated, and how schools often educate away our children's creativity.
More Influential Books
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success and How We can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential by Carol S. Dweck
Nurtureshock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive by Marc Brackett
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion by Marshall Rosenberg
Nature Play at Home: Creating Outdoor Spaces that Connect Children with the Natural World by Nancy Striniste
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way we Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
The Outdoor Scientist: The Wonder of Observing the Natural World by Temple Grandin PhD
The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk MD
How to Sit by Thich Nhat Hanh
Montessori: How to Raise an Amazing Child by Tim Seldin
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
A Pattern Language: Town, Buildings, Construction by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, Max Jacobson, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, and Shlomo Angel
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry, MD PhD, and Oprah Winfrey
The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg
The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It by Warren Farrell PhD and John Gray
French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules by Karen Le Billon
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
