Most of us would protest that of course we love our children without any strings attached. But what counts is how things look from the perspective of the children

Contrary to what you think, your company will be a lot more productive if you refuse to tolerate competition among your employees.

If unconditional love and genuine enthusiasm are present, praise isn't necessary. If they're absent, praise won't help.

When test scores go up, we should worry, because of how poor a measure they are of what matters, and what you typically sacrifice in a desperate effort to raise scores.

Don't let anyone tell you that standardized tests are not accurate measures. The truth of the matter is they offer a remarkably precise method for gauging the size of the houses near the school where the test was administered.

Non-cooperative approaches, by contrast, almost always involve duplication of effort, since someone working independently must spend time and skills on problems that already have been encountered and overcome by someone else. A technical hitch, for example, is more likely to be solved quickly and imaginatively if scientists (including scientists from different countries) pool their talents rather than compete against one another.

Whoever said there's no such thing as a stupid question never looked carefully at a standardized test.