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How many times have you used the words good or bad today? From checking your weather app to monitoring the progress youve made on your to-do list, to scrolling through social media, opportunities to make snap evaluations abound. And the more you sort things into these categories, the more instinctive making these judgments becomes. You may find yourself filtering everything that comes your way in terms of good or bad. A dark cloud triggers bad, a social media post of baby animals triggers good, a news story about a political scuffle triggers bad. Whether you think something is good or bad, or worthy of a like or not, is an important piece of information. But if that categorization is the only thing thats on your mind, the only lens through which you interpret the world, youll miss out on a lot. Im a philosopher who specializes in happiness, well-being and the good life. I study how ones state of mind influences ones experiences of the world. In my recent book, The Art of the Interesting, I explore the ways the evaluative perspective squashes your ability to experience psychological richness and other positive dimensions of life. The more you instinctively react with a good or a bad, the less of the world you take in. Youll be less likely to engage your mind, exercise curiosity and have interesting experiences. Evaluation narrows your mind When you instinctively label something as good or bad, you focus only on the features that make that thing good or bad. You look outside, and all you see is the darkness of the clouds, threatening your plans for the day. You dont notice the cooling shade those clouds create, nor the dramatic ways the wind makes them morph. You dont notice the flowers unfurling, nor the child walking by who is also looking up at the clouds, but with a wide-eyed look of wonder. When snap evaluations reign, you effectively shut yourself off from a wide range of possible experiences. When everything around you is just good or bad, nothing can be perplexing, mysterious, or intriguing. Nothing can be simply new, or simply challenging, or simply stimulating. Nothing is interesting, for your mind has filtered out these possible sources of cognitive engagement. It sees what it expects, and nothing else. Open your mind for more psychological richness Snap evaluations narrow your perspective and limit your minds potential to connect and engage with other aspects of your experiences. But you can unlock this potential simply by resisting any instinct to judge and instead viewing the world without trying to evaluate what you see. Right away, youll start to notice more, and youll activate your minds internal drives for curiosity and exploration. Freed from the dead-end judgments of good/bad, you can explore what is novel, allow yourself to be challenged, and tackle the complexities inherent to human experiences. Traffic jams can become sources of intrigue, rather than just a bad way to start your day. Delicious meals wont just taste goodtheyll spark your curiosity and stimulate your creativity. Youll go from seeing a coworker as difficult and irritating to recognizing them as an individual with human imperfections whos deserving of your compassion. Youll also feel the pains, struggles, and rewards that arise through these mental engagements. Youll experience rich, intense moments and a greater range of emotions. Youll find your life chock-full of unusual and unique experiences with very few instances of boredom and monotony. Over time, your mind will become more adept at finding connections, exercising creativity, and operating from a place of cognitive complexity. Youll start to view the world more holistically, as full of connections waiting to be discovered. All of these are signs that your life has become more psychologically rich. Expand your mind, expand your sense of self Psychological richness and, more generally, experiences of novelty and interestingness are valuable on their own. But theres evidence that theyre also important due to their effects on your sense of self. When you engage in new, interesting activities, you not only broaden your horizons and develop fresh perspectives, but you also become more confident in your ability to do whatever comes next. In these ways, you expand your very sense of self. The connection between psychological richness and self-expansion is intuitive. Novel, interesting activities stimulate the mind, challenging it to engage and explore. This process can expand your confidence in your abilities and provide you with a greater sense of control over your environment. As ones sense of self expands, ones very presence within the world shifts. One recent study explored the influence of psychological richness on pro-environmental behavior. While its common to feel sad, anxious, angry, powerless, and helpless in the face of climate change, developing psychological richness can transform these negative attitudes. Researchers found that people who experience psychological richness were more willing to engage in sustainable activities. They believe this correlation is mediated by self-expansion, which helps subjects feel more confident that their actions would have an impact on the daunting problem of climate change. Cut out good and bad, go for interesting instead Everyone has the capacity to develop a sense of presence and agency in the world that enhances the very experience of life. A habit of snap evaluations inhibits this capacity, but you can train your mind to be more apt to engage and explore. The easiest way to do this? Stop saying, or thinking, good and bad. When you find yourself inclined to do so, force yourself to say something else. Start right now and begin your journey to engage with the world in a more rewarding way. Lorraine Besser is a professor of philosophy at Middlebury. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
At Apples annual WWDC keynote, the highest-level subject is always the future of its software platforms. And the big news in that department usually stares us right in the face. In 2023, for example, it was the debut of Apple Vision Pro, the companys entry into the headset market and its first all-new experience since the Apple Watch. Last year brought Apple Intelligence, its branded take on what AI should look like as a core element of computing experiences. And then there was Monday mornings WWDC 2025 keynote, as streamed online to millions and screened to a select audience of in-person attendees at Apple Park. After Apples embarrassing inability to ship the AI-infused update to Siri it showed off at WWDC 2024, it was hardly surprising that this years event didnt bet everything on whipping up a further AI frenzy. That alone set it apart from last months Google I/O keynote, whose topics consisted of AI, AI, and more AI, with some AI drizzled on top. [Photo: Apple] Apple did introduce some new AI during the keynotequite a bit of it. Overall, though, the event felt like an act of counterprogramming. Instead of positioning itself as a leader in AIor at least quashing fears that its a laggardthe company seemed happy being itself. From the unified new design to old features (phone calls!) turning up in new places (the Mac!), it focused on giving consumers even more reasons to own and use as many of its products as possible. Herewith a few of the impressions I took away from my morning at Apple Park: Liquid Glass is classic Apple, in the Steve Jobs sense. In 2012, one of Tim Cooks first dramatic moves after succeeding Jobs as CEO was to oust software chief Scott Forstall. That led to a reorganization that put Jony Ive in charge of design for software as well as hardware. Ives influence was seen in the iPhones iOS 7 upgrade the company shipped the following year. It ditched the lush skeuomorphism of the iPhones software up until that time for a far flatter look, bringing to mind the understated, Dieter Rams-like feel of an Ive MacBook, manifested in pixels rather than aluminum. Ive left in 2019, but the principles he instilled have informed Apple software ever since. [Photo: Apple] But now theres Liquid Glass, a new aesthetic Apple is rolling out across its portfolio of platforms. Its glossy, dimensional, pseudorealistic, and animateda dramatic departure from iOS 7-era restraint, but reminiscent of both earlier iOS releases and also older Apple software all the way back to the first version of the Macs OS X in 2000. That was the one with buttons that Jobs said people would want to licka memorable design imperative that is suddenly relevant again. As my colleague Mark Wilson writes, Liquid Glass isnt about adding new functionality to Apple devices. It might not even be about making them easier to usein fact, when an interface introduces transparency effects and other visual flourishes, legibility is at risk. It does, however, look cool in a way thats classically Apple, and which the Apple of recent years had deemphasized. The iPad has left limbo . . . for Macland. For years, Apple seemed to have reached a mental standstill with the iPad. The company clearly wanted its tablet to be something distinct from a Mac, but it also appeared to be short on ideas that were different than the Mac, especially when it came to building out iPadOS as a productivity platform. End result: The platform has foundered rather than matured. [Photo: Apple] With iPadOS 26, the iPad will finally see a lot of meaningful change all at once, and most of it is distinctly Maclike. Its getting a menu bar. Windows that float and overlap. A more full-featured Files app and, for the first time, a Preview app. Even the quirky circular cursor gives way to a more conventional pointy one. As an unabashed iPad diehard, I admit to my fair share of trepidation about all this. The iPads abandonment of interface cruft in favor of considered minimalism is a huge reason why Ive been using one as my primary computer since 2011: I dont like to wrangle windows or scour menus for the features I need, hidden among those I dont. Maybe Apple has figured out how to retain whats great about the iPad even as it gives in to the temptation to borrow from the Mac. But Im alarmed by the apparent disappearance of the iPads foundational multitasking features in the first iPadOS 26 beta, and hope theyll return before the software ships this fall. VisionOS is still evolving, and thats good. Its been two years since Apple unveiled the Vision Pro and 17 months since it shipped. Rumors aside, we still arent any closer to clarity on how the $3,500 headset might lead to a product that caters to a larger audience than, well, people who will pay $3,500 for a headset. Even Tim Cook says it isnt a mass-market product. Still, Apples enthusiasm for spatial computing doesnt seem to be flagging. As previewed during the WWDC keynote, VisionOS 26 looks downright meaty, with more realistic-looking avatars for use in video calls, features for watching movies and playing games with Vision Pro-wearing friends, widgets you can stick on a wall or place on a mantel in the real world, AI-powered 3D effects for 2D photos, partnerships with companies such as GoPro and Sony, and more. None of these additions will prompt radically more people to spring for a Vision Pro in its current form. But assuming that the headset doesnt turn out to be a dead end, Apples current investment could help a future, more affordable version offer compelling experiences from day one. Its still unclear whether ChatGPT is a feature or a stopgap. Apples own AI assistant, Siri, was acknowledged only at the start of the keynote, when Craig Federighi, senior VP of software engineering, mentioned last years announcements and the decision to delay the newly AI-savvy version until it meets Apples high-quality bar. Another AI helper did pop up several times during the presentation, though: ChatGPT. For example, it powers a new Visual Intelligence feature that will let users ask questions about the stuff on-screen in any app. The keynotes example: Upon seeing an image of a mandolin in a social post, you can ask, Which rock songs is this instrument featured in? Given that the new Siri features Apple revealed a year ago remain unfinished, adding a dash of ChatGPT here and there is an expedient way to maintain some AI momentum. But does the company see integrating the worlds highest-profile LLM-based assistant as an attractive user benefit in itselfor just a placeholder until it can offer similar technology thats entirely under its own control? Im still not sure. At WWDC 2024, Federighi also talked about incorporating other AI models, such as Googles Gemini, but no news has emerged on that front since. Even during a pivotal, unpredictable time for the tech industry, one of the WWDC keynotes purposes remains straightforward. Apple needs to get consumers excited for the software it will ship in the fall, which isnt necessarily synonymous with blowing them away through sheer force of AI breakthroughs. In a Bluesky conversation, one commenter suggested to me that people arent actually clamoring for AI at alla take that has a whiff of truth to it even if it isnt the whole story. Ultimately, users want pleasant products that help them get stuff done, whether in a personal context, a work environment, or somewhere in between. After last years WWDC, assuming Apple will ship everything it brags aboutat least in a timely fashionis dangerous. But its easier to envision the confident vibe of this years keynote paying off, because so much of it involved the company playing in its comfort zone.
Category:
E-Commerce
As the pace and complexity of business accelerate, enterprise leaders are under pressure to deliver more, faster: more growth, innovation, and resilience. And yet, despite bold visions and thoughtful strategies, many organizations still struggle to execute effectively. Its not because leaders fail to plan; they lack real-time visibility and alignment. In my role working closely with product and technology leaders across industries, a consistent pattern emerges: Strategy is often clear at the top, but somewhere between the boardroom and the frontlines, execution becomes fragmented. Priorities get lost in translation. Resources are misaligned, and risks are spotted too late. What started as a solid strategic plan ends up slipping out of reach. This disconnect between strategy and execution isnt a minor inefficiency; it poses a systemic risk. When leaders lack real-time visibility into how work is progressing across their organization, even the best-laid plans can derail. The impact is both tangible and costly: Missed revenue from delayed go-to-market initiatives Rising costs from duplicated work or misaligned efforts Operational risk from bottlenecks or blockers no one saw coming Erosion of culture over time, weakening alignment, and organizational health A lack of connected insight Enterprise leaders dont suffer from a lack of data; they suffer from a lack of connected insight. Dashboards and status updates are often backward-looking, fragmented across systems, and disconnected from the actual work. This creates a lag between whats happening and what leaders think is happening, making it challenging to anticipate risks or adjust course in time. But with AI, we now have access to radical, objective visibilityinsights grounded in real-time data rather than subjective reporting. More importantly, AI empowers them to lead proactive change across large, complex organizations by predicting challenges early and helping navigate transformation with speed and precision. This shift marks a new era in leadership, one where execution is no longer just about tracking work but about driving continuous change and adaptability at scale. Modern platforms can help Modern work management platforms are evolving to meet this challenge by providing leaders with real-time visibility and control while preserving the autonomy and agility of their teams. These solutions connect strategy to execution, enabling organizations to deliver impact with greater speed, consistency, and confidence. Effective execution tools combine control and agility without forcing trade-offs, enabling leaders to maintain oversight while empowering teams to stay productive. They leverage explainable AI to flag emerging risks, clarify their root causes, and prioritize urgency, supporting more informed, proactive decision making. These tools also embed visibility directly into the workflows where teams operate, driving consistent data usage and ensuring strong adoption across the organization. Bridge strategy and execution To lead effectively in todays landscape, enterprise organizations must rethink how to bridge the gap between strategy and execution. This means evolving beyond static planning cycles and siloed reporting, enabling real-time coordination across teams, projects, and priorities. Specifically, leaders need: Live portfolio visibility to monitor execution in real time and surface emerging risks Standardized frameworks that align teams without creating bottlenecks or rigidity Workforce intelligence tools that ensure the right people are working on the right priorities AI-powered insights that not only flag risks early but also help explain and prioritize them These capabilities are not just nice-to-haves; they reflect the most common and urgent needs we hear from enterprise leaders. Delivering them requires once-unimaginable AI tools designed to enable leaders to act swiftly, navigate confidently, and adapt at scale. The future of enterprise success wont be defined by the boldest ideas alone but by the ability to consistently turn those ideas into outcomes. Achieving this starts with asking the right questions: Can you see how your top priorities progress in real time? Are your teams clearly aligned with your strategic goals? And are you leading proactively, or simply reacting after the fact? Execution is no longer a downstream function. Its a leadership imperative. In the age of AI, the systems we rely on to manage work must enable agility, speed, and transformation like never before. Daniel Lereya is chief product and technology officer at Monday.
Category:
E-Commerce
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