Since becoming a journalist, each time I engage with subjects I become more radicalized.

Occasions when you can change your mind should be cherished, because they mean you're smarter than you were before.

What must underlie successful epidemics, in the end, is a bedrock belief that change is possible, that people can radically transform their behavior or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus.

Success is deeply rooted in time and place. You may have the drive to read tons of books on biology. But if there are no books on biology in your library, and the library is never open, your drive is meaningless.

What does it say about a society that it devotes more care and patience to the selection of those who handle its money than of those who handle its children?

Lands' End has undergone three major changes over the past couple of decades. The first was the introduction of an 800 number, in 1978; the second was express delivery, in 1994; and the third was the introduction of a Web site, in 1995. The first two innovations cut the average transaction time-the time between the moment of ordering and the moment the goods are received-from three weeks to four days. The third innovation has cut the transaction time from four days to, well, four days.

Often a sign of expertise is noticing what doesn't happen.